WGPA

Havemeyer Sanitary Market
Source: Brooklyn Public Library

165 Havemeyer Street
Photo: brooklyn11211.com

The above photo is a view north on Havemeyer Street between South 3rd and South 2nd Street, circa the 1940s. The Havemeyer Sanitary Market was a public market constructed by the City of New York in 1939 or 1940, and was intended to replace pushcarts on the streets of the neighborhood (pushcarts, or the elimination thereof, were a particular obsession of Mayor Laguardia).

To the right is a picture of the site today, complete with a building that brooklyn11211.com calls "soul-deadening"? Mind you the old market was no architectural gem, but at least it served a public purpose. This apartment building is an instant eyesore with no redeeming social value.

And below, a picture of three of the six rowhouses to the north of the Sanitary Market, which still stand today. The buildings probably date to before the Civil War (they appear on an 1869 map of Brooklyn), and while they are all there, they have certainly seen better days.

153 - 159 Havemeyer

April 12: Masonry demo in progress.

The demolition of the BRT Power Plant on Kent Avenue entered a slow-motion phase a while ago. In the last week or three, they have finally gotten to removing most of the masonry, revealing the coal pockets that were housed in the north portion of the building.

Coal pockets? Indeed. These massive iron bins were used for storing coal to fire the boilers which in turn ran the turbines that provided the power to the BRT system. The coal would have been delivered by barge and hoisted up into the pockets, from whence it was fed by gravity to the boilers below.

If this type of infrastructure turns you on, get on out to the site quick. Once Con Ed figures out how to take these things apart, they will probably disappear pretty quickly.

April 17: View from the Water Taxi at Schaefer Landing.

The Forman Building at Broadway & Driggs has been getting a new paint job for some months now. We went by the other day and noticed that the sidewalk bridge was down, revealing the building in all its glory.

The Forman Building is a cast-iron-fronted building originally constructed as the Sparrow Shoe Factory Warehouse in 1882. Designed by William B. Ditmars, the building is notable for floriate decoration that seems to anticipate Art Nouveau decoration. The building was heard by LPC for designation (ages ago), but no action was taken, leaving it in landmark limbo.

Two events of note are happening on Wednesday (April 22):

First, Councilmember Diana Reyna, Esteban Duran & the Open Space Alliance for North Brooklyn are sponsoring & facilitating a community forum on North Brooklyn's open spaces, parks & neighborhoods. The event (celebrating Earth Day) will take place at El Puente, 211 South 4th Street (@ Roebling) in Williamsburg, at 6:30 p.m., and is open to the public.

Second, Greenpoint Renaissance Enterprise Corporation (GREC) is hosting a meeting about the status (and state) of the Greenpoint Hospital. The City issued an RFP two years ago to redevelop a portion of this historic site. A number of proposals were submitted, but to date, no action has been taken. HPD will be at the meeting to give an update on the status of the RFP process and to answer community questions. Also at 6:30, at the Swingin' Sixties Senior Center, 211 Ainslie Street (corner of Manhattan Avenue).

99 South 4th Street
Lee Engineering, architects

This eyesore comes to the Southside courtesy of Lee Engineering of Corona, Queens. We would say that it is easily the ugliest, most out of place new building in Williamsburg, but truth be told, its hard to be that absolute around here. Perhaps we need a Warren Commission to get to the bottom of that issue.

107 South 4th Street
Standard Architects, architect

What makes 99 South 4th Street all the more awful is the comparison to another new building (actually an Alt-1) three doors away. This one (107 South 4th Street) was designed by John Conaty of Standard Architects, a local (Northside) firm that understands that in the right hands, contextualism can mean contrasting forms and non-traditional materials. It is not matching materials and cornice heights (and before anyone asks, the Lee atrocity would not look better with a cornice). Even the garage on the Standard building manages to become a part of the streetscape.

Like much of the Southside, this block contains a number of nice buildings that date back to the Williamsburg's (and Williamsburgh's) early days. Shown below, the four buildings to the left of 99 South 4th and the buildings to either side of 107 South 4th were all constructed prior to the Civil War. At one point in time, this block was home to some of Williamsburg's more prosperous businessmen and middle-class professionals. The buildings are generally simple in decoration and detailing, typical of the period - another concept that the folks at Standard seem to grasp. And one that is lost on engineers from Queens.

South 4th, looking east from Berry Street

Williamsburg Walks is coming back for another year. This year it is being organized by L Magazine and NAG and will run for eight weeks in June and July. On Monday, there will be an informational meeting on the event. Recently, there has been press about some merchants whose business was hurt by last year's event. Williamsburg Walks is a good event, so we hope that the businesses sit down with the new hosts and figure out ways to make the event work better.

When:Monday, April 27, 7:00pm
Where:Swinging Sixties Senior Center, 211 Ainslie
Street @ Manhattan Ave

On Tuesday, the North Brooklyn Story Project will be holding a fundraiser at Union Pool. The project (which is part of NAG's town hall initiative, is an oral history project for North Brooklyn. The concert features the Blue Album Group, Rebecca Schiffman and the Roulettes.

When: Tuesday, April 28, 8:00
Where: Union Pool (Union & Meeker)

Now the Gowanus Canal has its own superfund mascot. Where is the Newtown love?

Tomorrow night, Act Local is putting on a concert to benefit the drama department of Automotive High School. Automotive High's music and drama departments were cut this year and they were considering cancelling their school play but now the creative community of Williamsburg and Greenpoint is coming together to support them.

The main attractions are Japanther, Ninjasonik and the Automotive High Hip Hop Jazz Band. If that's not enough excitement for you, there is also a raffle (Spiewak, Teddy's, the Mark, Beehive and more). The concert is organized by Act Local, the same group that put together the Don't Demo Domino concert for WPA a couple of years back (thanks, Mikki!).

This is another great show for another great cause.

Where: Automotive High Auditorium (Bedford, across from McCarren Park)
When: Thursday, April 30 - doors at 7:00 pm (show at 8:00 pm).