Tobacco Warehouse

April 17th, 2009

Tobacco Warehouse

Reprinted from NY Times, The City section 12Apr2009, by Michael Pollak:

Within These Walls

Q. As the Q train crosses the East River, I’m looking at a large space just north of the Brooklyn Bridge on the Brooklyn side: brick-colored walls several stories high, with no doors, windows or roof, surrounding an empty space. What is it?

A. A parkland performance space named for what it used to be: the Tobacco Warehouse.

Built in the 1870s by the Lorillard family as a tobacco customs inspection center, it was saved from demolition in 1898 and repaired in 2002 by the State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

Its 18,000-square-foot interior, free of columns, is used for concerts, weddings, special events and video shoots, according to the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy.

It sits at the inside edge of Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park, and plans are to incorporate it in the future Brooklyn Bridge State Park, a 1.3-mile stretch along the East River from north of the Manhattan Bridge to Atlantic Avenue.


To apply for a permit to hold an event in the Tobacco Warehouse, please contact Andrew Williams at andrew.williams@orphp.state.ny.us or (212) 866-2005.

2 Responses to “Tobacco Warehouse”

  1. electronic cigarette Says:

    I love these old buildings, lots of history.

  2. Dumbo NYC, Brooklyn » Archive » Why Did NY State Park Claim That Tobacco Warehouse is Not Used for Public Recreation? (DumboNYC.com) Says:

    [...] 04Nov2010} {City Envisions Full-Fledged Re-use for Tobacco Warehouse, 31Aug2010, Brooklyn Eagle} {Tobacco Warehouse, [...]

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