Dumbo NYC

Subject: July 4 Celebrations in Dumbo?
I was wondering if you would be so kind as to put up a post on places to watch the fireworks on Friday in and around DUMBO (including how early you need to stake your claim to get a spot, any food/drink restrictions in the parks, how crowded it gets, etc.)

Fireworks start at approximately 9pm. The Brooklyn Bridge Park, Fulton Ferry Landing, and Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park are perfect locations to view the East River fireworks. Since traffic will be busy, take the subway to the parks if possible since parking will be very limited. As was last year, the following streets will be closed from 8 pm to 10:30 pm:

• Hicks Street between Atlantic Avenue and Old Fulton Street.
• Furman Street between Old Fulton Street and Atlantic Avenue.
• Old Fulton between Prospect Street and Furman Street.
• Columbia Heights between Montague Street and Old Fulton Street.

If you live in or have friends who live in buildings in Dumbo, their rooftops are also a great place to watch the fireworks.

If you would like to share photos of your July 4 celebrations or fireworks, email photos to dumbonyc@gmail.com or add them to the DumboNYC Flickr Photo pool. Go to Macys.com for full fireworks details.

As part of the Brooklyn Bridge 125th anniversary party, the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership has recently been working with Artichoke, a British company that puts on extraordinary events in public spaces to bring a public art event to Brooklyn. In 2006, Artichoke mounted The Sultan’s Elephant, the largest piece of free theater ever seen in London, which closed the streets to traffic and attracted an audience thought to be over a million people strong over four days.

Artichoke’s latest project – slated to premier simultaneously in Brooklyn and London – is inspired by Victorian dreamers: people who imagined the impossible, from suspension bridges to metal steamships, from canals through the countryside to viaducts through mountain ranges. Artichoke is now collaborating with the artist Paul St George to create a pair of telectroscopes that will be open to the public here and in London, providing an extraordinary window across the world.

Event:Telectroscope: The London-Brooklyn Connection
Artist: Paul St. George, presented by Artichoke with the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership
Dates: May 22 – June 20, 2008
Location: Fulton Ferry Landing, Old Fulton Street, Brooklyn. Near the Brooklyn Bridge.
Contact: Katie Dixon, 718-403-1600, www.telectroscope.net

 (Photo courtesy of bargemusic.org)

What: Jeff Newell’s New-Trad Trio
When: February 28, 2008, 8PM
Where: Bargemusic is at Fulton Ferry Landing under the Brooklyn Bridge.

Jeff Newell’s New-Trad Trio will present a uniquely contemporary look at traditional American music, from Hank Williams to Cole Porter to 19th Century hymns, in the intimate chamber music setting offered by Bargemusic. With a beautiful view of the Lower Manhattan skyline, this trio of musicians will allow the story unfold, following the common thread that unites all of American music. (Jeff Newell-saxophone, Tricia Woods-piano, Marcus Rojas-tuba)

See www.new-trad.com or www.bargemusic.org for more information.

According to the Massy Knakal website, the previously mentioned townhomes on Old Fulton Street (near Grimaldi’s Pizza) is under contract. The buildings have been on the market for almost a year and was listed for $7.5million and reduced to $7.0million. According to a previous comment, the buildings have some structural issues and would have to be fixed to prepare for re-development.

The plans call for a residential rental project with the addition of one floor. A source, who wished to remain anonymous, familiar with the deal stated to DumboNYC that there will be a mix of 1 and 2 BR apartments with high end finishes. The construction will most likely begin in approximately 6 months, and plans are being finalized. The townhomes were sold to a “very experienced developer”.

Previously: {Three Vacant Buildings on Old Fulton Street, 18Jan07}
{Massey Knakal Realty}

The Geography and Map Division of the U.S. Library of Congress holds more than 4.5 million items. A small fraction of them are available digitally online, including maps of Brooklyn. Below are details of a map from 1872. Manhattan Bridge and the Brooklyn Queens Expressway hadn’t been developed yet, so there is no Pearl Street Triangle or Cadman Plaza. In the detail of what is now known as Dumbo, there used to be a “Talman Street” (?) parellel to York and Prospect Streets, now Bridge Park 1. Other streets that no longer exist are Charles Street and Green Lane, now part of the Farragut Housing Project.

 [+larger] Map courtesy of Library of Congress, 1872

 [+larger] Map courtesy of Library of Congress, 1872 (detail)

{Brooklyn (New York) [1872?] Map, M. Dripps}

This Honda minivan isn’t as nice as the Audi’s previously shown on DumboNYC, but spotted another auto shoot on the Fulton Ferry Landing in today’s Autoblog.

Previously: {Img: Audi Photos on Fulton Ferry Landing, 13Apr2007, DumboNYC}

The approx. 2300 sq.ft. commercial space at the The Fulton Ferry condos is leased to Ignazio’s and is “arriving this fall”. Anyone have any info on what it is?

Previously: {Fulton Ferry Condominiums Progress Report 12/7/06, 07Dec2006, DumboNYC}

 (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}

Not really directly related to Dumbo, but I spotted a couple of Audi’s promotional photos taken on the Fulton Ferry Landing. They must’ve done this early morning to avoid all the pedestrians and tourists in that area.

 (Click for larger)

 (Click for larger)

 (Click for larger)

{Audi A5 to get S line treatment, Autoblog.com}

The Fulton Ferry condos, located almost directly under the Brooklyn Bridge, at the corner of Water Street and Old Fulton Street in Dumbo, looks to be close to being completed. Some would consider the location to be on the border of Brooklyn Heights and Dumbo, but there’s no argument about the fantastic views overlooking Manhattan. Not to be confused with Fulton’s Landing of Jersey City, NJ, the building is literally 50 steps to the Fulton Ferry Landing and the riverfront directly across from The River Cafe and the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory.

There are only 13 units in the building, and the style looks consistent with the neighborhood’s character (despite the building’s trapezoidal shape). The ground floor has 2282 square feet of commercial space and a parking space for each of the units. Maintenance/cc and taxes aren’t listed, but the average price per square feet is $746.26 and average price is $1,167,162. Not bad at all for the space and location, but looks like all units are under contract except for unit 3A, listed by Brooklyn Bridge Realty. Are there any buyers out there who knows the move-in date or what the commercial space will bring to the area?

Click on photos for larger version:

Fulton Ferry Condo (fultonlanding.com)
4 Water Street, Brooklyn, NY