NY Times Updates Us On Old Fulton St Plans

May 20th, 2007


 (Photo from NY Times)


 (Photo from NY Times)

The NY Times updates us on Old Fulton Street:

THE Brooklyn block leading down to the Fulton Ferry Landing, a neglected little row of brick structures at 1-25 Old Fulton Street, has looked like a ghost town for years, even while a boom has swept through Brooklyn Heights and Dumbo on either side.

Now change is around the corner, as the new 85-acre Brooklyn Bridge Park moves ahead, its L shape wrapping around the waterfront from Atlantic Avenue to Jay Street, with Old Fulton Street as its apex.

This neglected row will become the gateway to one of New York’s most spectacular parks, but there is a trade-off: the plan also calls for the demolition of the art moderne Department of Purchase building, at the foot of the street.

DumboNYC previously featured 11, 13, and 15 Old Fulton Street buildings (which are still on the market). The article says “The building at No. 5 Old Fulton was a tobacco warehouse for a time, and at No. 11, Robert R. Story made saddles, harnesses and engine hoses…At No. 15, Valentine, Bergen & Company operated a wholesale grocery, which sold a fruit vinegar with a maiden on the label declaring, “I am soulfully intense.”..By 1898, No. 11 Old Fulton Street was a lodging house.”

Over the last five years Dumbo has become as expensive as Brooklyn Heights. But right next door, Old Fulton Street is still just that — old.

Most of the storefronts are empty, although pizza lovers sometimes stack up outside Grimaldi’s (formerly Patsy’s) at No. 19. The ferry dock can be crowded when New York Waterways starts ferry service — this year, that happened in late April — but generally the brick row has an old-time, melancholy air.

According to the article the Purchase building demolition will begin in the fall and the site will become open parkland. The building had been used by the city’s Office of Emergency Management and currently by the chief medical examiner.

{From Ghost Town to Park Gateway, 20May2007, NY Times}
{Three Vacant Buildings on Old Fulton Street, 18Jan2007, DumboNYC}

Filed in Dumbo in Media, Fulton Ferry Landing, Old Fulton Street at 3:24 pm
View Comments
  • Rascal
    You don't know much about the press, do you, Frankie? Fact is, less than 10% of daily news publication is actually sourced and provided by reporters. The rest is derived directly-and in many case verbatim-from press releases on bahalf of a multitude of interests. What's in it for the publication is simple: fill editorial space at little or no cost.
  • frankie
    What would the New Yorks Times have to gain by making enticing developers to revitalize this area? It makes perfect logic that if this is one of the entrances to the park the area would benefit.
  • Rascal
    As far as I can tell, this is PR plant to entice development, not a report about it having gotten underway. The entirety of the information provided regarding the "plan" for this block is the following: "This neglected row will become the gateway to one of New York’s most spectacular parks." The rest is background.
blog comments powered by Disqus
Other Posts of Interest