WGPA

In today's Post, Julia Vitullo-Martin (who, it should be remembered, wrote an op-ed against the landmarking of Austin Nichols) pens a nice piece in favor of more landmarking in general. In addition to Carroll Gardens, Vitullo-Martin calls out houses of worship for special attention. This is something we have been paying particular attention to.

Special bonus - a slide show of 10 endangered buildings worth saving.

Tomorrow evening, NAG will be holding a working meeting to further develop their organizing agenda for 2009. Based on ideas generated by the community at the Oct 2, 2008 Town Hall Organizing Meeting and on feedback from a survey completed by community members, the working meeting will start to develop the following issues as NAG's priority organizing issues for 2009:

Preserving Affordable Housing Options for Residents
Improving Open Space and Access to the Waterfront
Offering Safe and Quick Transportation Options For the Neighborhood
Improving our Quality of Life and Preserving Community Character

This is an opportunity for folks to help develop the priorities for the coming year(s) for this important neighborhood advocacy group.

What: Kicking off NAG's 2009 Organizing Agenda

When: Thursday December 4, 2008 at 7pm

Where: Holy Ghost Church Hall Basement, 160 North 5th Street (between Bedford and Driggs)

Bushwick Inlet Park: proposed plan (via GL)

From the Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park:

Come learn about your neighborhood's future 28 acre waterfront park & get updates on progress

Bushwick Inlet Park will stretch along Kent Avenue from N. 9th Street to Quay Street

Get involved now to ensure your park is built and learn how you can be a steward for it once it's here

We will be brainstorming ideas, forming committees, and setting short and long term goals for the park and friends group

Lend a hand - if you have a skill we probably need it!

Artists, graphic designers, park lovers, neighborhood residents, writers, creative minds, community organizers and more!

When: Monday December 8, 2008 @ 7pm
Where: 136 Milton Street (Greenpoint Reformed Church) between Manhattan Ave and Franklin Ave

The Times rewrites a press release from the Trust for Architectural Easements:

After years of battles between preservationists and the New York City Council, the old Austin, Nichols & Company Warehouse in Williamsburg is now formally protected thanks to the donation of a historic-preservation easement to the Trust for Architectural Easements.

So does that does mean we can (re)landmark it now?

Ulmer Brewery office building (1886, Theobald Engelhardt)
Photo: markamav at Flickr

Not sure how we missed this one, but at last Tuesday's LPC hearing the Ulmer Brewery complex in Bushwick was calendared for designation. This is the first step in the designation process - next up, a public hearing at LPC.

The proposed landmark includes the main brewhouse (photo below; constructed in 1872) and an addition (ca. 1880); the office (above), engine house and machine house (1886, Theobald Engelhardt, architect); and the stable and storage building (c. 1893, Frederick Wunder, architect). Despite the difference in date of construction and architects, the complex is unified by the use of the round arch style. This style was popular for German-owned factories in Williamsburg and Bushwick in the late 19th century (as at Domino).

William Ulmer founded the brewery in 1871 as the Vigelius & Ulmer Continental Lagerbier brewery. By 1878, Ulmer was the sole proprietor, and over the next two decades, he embarked on a series of expansions. Prior to Prohibition, there were two dozen breweries in Brooklyn, 11 of them in this small 14-block area of Bushwick that became known as Brewers Row. While portions of other breweries survive today, Ulmer may be unique in that most of the historic complex is still standing.

The Ulmer Brewery closed in 1920, following the enactment of Prohibition.

Ulmer Brewery (1872, architect unknown)
Photo: Forgotten NY

Thanks to QueensCrap (via Bushwick BK) for catching this.