Dumbo NYC

The rainstorm this past Saturday created some temporary waterfalls of our own in Dumbo Brooklyn. One of our readers sent the following pics to us with the subject line “Water Street Indeed”. Leave it to mother nature to upstage the current “Waterfalls” project.

 (From blackoutny)

30,000 bicyclists came through Dumbo on Front Street yesterday in the annual 5 Boro Bike Tour. The tour began in Battery Park and ended in Staten Island in the 42 mile event through New York City.

A few more photos on Flickr.

Also: {Last year’s tour}

 1938 [+ enlarge]

 March, 2008 [+ enlarge]

In this series of “Dumbo Streetscapes Then and Now”, a 1938 photograph by Percy Loomis Sperr of the corner of Front and Jay Street looks southwest from the west side of Jay Street. A previous Then and Now post is also on the corner but facing northeast.

Both the old and new photos have some common elements: the Manhattan Bridge approach and the 110 York Street building on the left and the small sliver of the existing building at 126 Front Street (the building where Superfine and Spring are located) on the right. The 70 year old photo shows three 2-3 story structures replaced by a 33 story residential building, J Condo (100 Jay Street), built in 2006. In both photos, the fire hydrant stays where it is. The 110 York building is the Scarano Architect headquarters, which added the Jetsons-like structure on top.

On the back of the NY Public Library photo:
“Jay Street, west side, south from Front Street, showing in the background the approach to the Manhattan Bridge”, April 4, 1938

{New York Public Library photo of Front and Jay Street, 1938}
{Google Street View, corner of Jay and Front St.}
{Dumbo Then and Now, series, DumboNYC}

 (135 Plymouth Street building; rear of building on corner of John and Adams Street) Is this part of an old patio?

Shortly after the designation of the Dumbo Historic District, the LPC posted the Dumbo Designation Report (warning: large 7.5MB pdf file). The report is full of historic information on the 91 historically significant buildings that make up the Dumbo Historic District. The report includes essays and building profiles:

The DUMBO Historic District, consisting of approximately 91 historically significant buildings,contains one of the finest collections of nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century industrial architecture in New York City. These buildings illustrate the history of industrial design beginning with pre-Civil War brick counting houses, extending through the second half of the nineteenth century and first years of the twentieth century, when most factories were built of slow-burning mill construction, with massive wooden columns and beams and brick facades, into the early twentieth century, when new technologies, including the use of steel and, most prominently, reinforced concrete, became popular for factory construction.

The 239 page report describes each of the 91 buildings with photos of many of them at towards the end of the report. It’s dense with information, but an interesting read if you’re looking for a historical perspective of a particular building in Dumbo.

{PDF map of Dumbo Historic District boundary}

As reported yesterday in the Newswire and Curbed, the Empire Stores buildings in the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park have structural issues with deteriorating brick window frames. The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation today announced the temporary closure of Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park and will install sidewalk bridging to protect pedestrians from “possible falling brick.”

Also, according to a Brownstoner post from yesterday, construction on the Brooklyn Bridge Park is likely to begin next month, which involves the demolition of the Department of Purchase building, which is nearby the Empire Stores. Both the Empire Stores and the Purchase Building are part of the proposed Brooklyn Bridge Park.

{NY State Park: Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park}
{Temporary Closure of Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park}
{Dumbo’s Empire Stores Fighting Gravity, Park Closed, Curbed}

The Landmarks Preservation Commission has granted landmark status to the Dumbo Historic District.

The Commission voted unanimously 8-0 this afternoon to protect the blocks and 91 historic buildings in Dumbo. The new historic district is bound by John Street to the north, York Street to the south, Main Street to the west and Bridge Street to the east. According to the LPC, the Dumbo area was “essential to Brooklyn’s rise as a major American industrial center and was the home of some of the most important industrial firms in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century America including Arbuckle Brothers (coffee and sugar), J. W. Masury & Son (paint), Robert Gair (paper boxes), E. W. Bliss (machinery), and Brillo (steel wool). The buildings in the district reflect the extraordinary diversity of Brooklyn’s industrial development, with manufactured and processed goods including coffee, tea, sugar, machinery, paint, varnish, paper boxes, shoes, soap, ale, and steel wool. By the early twentieth century, Brooklyn was the fourth largest manufacturing center in the entire country and a significant portion of this manufacturing was done in DUMBO.”

The Dumbo Historic District also protects its dramatic streetscapes. The Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge soar over the Belgian Block streets, some with remnants of the old Jay Street Connecting Railroad along Plymouth Street, to connect the former warehouses. In 1959, the Jay Street Connecting Railroad ceased to operate. Commission Chairman Robert B. Tierney states:

“DUMBO’s distinctively designed buildings and sublime vistas survive to this day, and still define its character, even as it has evolved into a largely residential neighborhood. This designation will ensure that this still-evolving neighborhood retains its unique historic character.”

Now the City Council needs to sign off on the designation. City Councilman David Yassky has publicly supported Dumbo landmarking and testified at the LDC that Dumbo is worthy of preservation.

LPC Press Release: Landmarks Preservation Commission Designates Dumbo As New York City’s 90th Historic District (pdf)

Previously:
{Dumbo Historic District Landmark Moving Forward, 31Oct07}
{LPC Public Hearing for Dumbo Historic District Tomorrow, 29Oct07}
{Dumbo Landmarking Calendared for 30Oct2007, 01Oct07}
{LPC Voted 8-0 to Consider Dumbo a Historic District, 26July07}
{Dumbo Historic District to Be Calendared Today, 24July07}
{NY Times Highlights Dumbo Neighborhood Association, 4June2007 }
{Any Feedback from the LPC Meeting?, 19April2007}
{Dumbo Landmarking Meeting on Thursday at 10am, 17April2007}

Although The Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing for Landmarking Dumbo took place last week, the commission will take comments in writing until Nov. 6. Please take a moment to send an e-mail to comments@lpc.nyc.gov, or better yet, write a postcard with your name and address and reasons for Landmarking Dumbo to (must be postmarked no later than Monday to be considered):

Landmarks Preservation Commission Chairman Robert Tierney
1 Centre Street, Ninth Floor,
New York, NY 10007

Previously:
{Landmark Hearing of Dumbo Receiving Media Attention, 31Oct07}
{Dumbo Historic District Landmark Moving Forward, 31Oct07}
{LPC Public Hearing for Dumbo Historic District Tomorrow, 29Oct07}
{LPC Voted 8-0 to Consider Dumbo a Historic District, 26July07}
{NY Times Highlights Dumbo Neighborhood Association, 4June07}
{Dumbo Landmarking Meeting on Thursday at 10am, 17April07}
{DNA Urge Residents and Businesses to Save Dumbo, 2Feb07}

 AMNY cover, 31Oct07, showing Dumbo’s Pearl Street Triangle

Today’s AM New York reports that landmarking of buildings and districts are booming. “In fiscal year 2005, only 46 buildings were landmarked. In fiscal year 2007, 1,158 buildings received protection, the highest number since 1990. The commission has also been aggressively landmarking in other boroughs, such as Queens and Staten Island.” As reported earlier today, the Dumbo Historic District looks to be moving quickly and may be designated as early as the end of this year.

Dumbo has been on a media blitz lately with the Landmark hearing that occurred yesterday. The NY Times’ Cityroom Blog has a feature on Dumbo as well as a nice slideshow showing some historic buildings in Dumbo with historical descriptions. Click on the photo below to go to their slideshow:

{Landmarking booms as developers loom, 31Oct07, AMNY}
{Slide Show: Historic Streets of Dumbo, 31Oct07, NY Times}
{A Hearing on Dumbo, and Several Landmark Votes, 29Oct07, NY Times}