Dumbo NYC

It’s been a while since I’ve posted “Dumbo Streetscapes Then and Now” photos. Here, we are looking north down Jay Street (towards Manhattan) from Front Street. Step outside to the right out of the York Street Station on the F train and this is the view you see. In the first photo, the 68 Jay Street building is front and center with a sliver of 20 Jay Street behind it and a faint view of the Empire State Building across the river. This 70 year photo (1937), by photographer, Percy Loomis Sperr, show the water towers on the 68 Jay Street building (currently removed, except for the base). On the right side of the photo, there are buildings which no longer exist. The Jehovah’s Witness lot (85 Jay Street) currently occupies a parking lot there. On the back of the photo:

Jay Street, west side, north from a point south of Front Street, to the East River. In order, are the buildings occupied by the Grant Union Tea Co.; the John Maury Paint Co.; and the Arbuckle Bros. Coffee Co. In the background towering over Manhattan, is the Empire State Building. (March 9, 1937)

 1937 [+ enlarge]

 July 21, 2007 [+ enlarge]

A similar photo, dated April 4, 1938, is shown below. On back: “Jay Street, west side, south from Front Street. (Eugene L. Armbruster Collection)”. This photo has the two and three story buildings on the left side of Jay Street, now occupied by J Condo (100 Jay Street). The advertisements on the water towers note “Lofts for Rent, 68 Jay Street”.

 1938 [+ enlarge]

{New York Public Library photo of Jay Street N. Front Street, 1937}
{New York Public Library photo of Jay Street and Front Street, 1938}
{Google StreetView}
{Dumbo Then and Now, series, DumboNYC}

Roots and Blues songwriter Will Scott performs every Wednesdays in July and August at 68 Jay Street Bar (Jay at Water Street). Wylie Wirth joins on drums. Shows start at 7:30pm.

See www.myspace.com/willscottmusic for details, bio and press.

{68jaystreetbar.com}
{willscottmusic.com}

 25 Jay Street building

When we interviewed Dumbo Pet Care (dumbopetcare.com) owner Cynthia Barnett last month, her business was already growing with the influx of residents to the area. We just learned that Dumbo Pet Care has signed a lease on a space at 25 Jay Street (in the former Dellorito’s cafe location), and will be Dumbo’s first and only full service pet food and supply store, grooming shop, and “homestyle” daycare center. They are scheduled to open in early August. The daycare and boarding will still be done in their current loft space to maintain their personalized no-cage dog/cat overnight care. There will be an opening event at the store to support the Brooklyn Animal Resource Coalition (BarcShelter.org) to hold an adoption event (tentatively on Aug 10).

Part of the space will be a Kung Fu school at night. (more to come on that when it opens).

Previously: {Interview: Dumbo Pet Care Owner Cynthia Barnett, 11Jun2007, DumboNYC}

Back in April, we profiled Joseph Arthur’s new gallery. Located at 25 Jay Street (at John Street) Brooklyn, MOMAR (Museum of Modern Arthur) opened in June 2007 as an exhibition space for new art, including work created by Arthur himself. MOMAR is an art gallery and performance space founded and curated by musician/painter/poet Joseph Arthur.

Currently on view is a mixed array of Arthur’s past and present work that displays his talents, innovative character and colorful personality on canvas.

His current newsletter talks about the goals for MOMAR:

• MOMAR seeks to broaden the parameters of the fine art world by fostering a multi-disciplinary interaction among innovators in painting, music, poetry, performance and the visual arts.
• MOMAR encourages innovation and challenges convention in Art, but reveres the traditional artistic values of beauty, craft, spirituality and history.
• MOMAR rejects the notion that art can be valued or devalued on a purely commercial level.
• MOMAR seeks to create a new approach to art patronage that includes but extends beyond the conventions of financial support and criticism, and allows for nontraditional contributions to and from the community, including volunteering, charity work and education.
• MOMAR is founded on the principle that Art has a conscience, is relevant and can foment positive social change. MOMAR believes that artists are responsible for illuminating truth.
• MOMAR answers the eternal question “What Is Art?” with another question: “what isn’t?”
• MOMAR encourages interaction between artists and audience, and partners at will with like-minded organizations.
• MOMAR is finite. It is not an ongoing concern. Its building and its organization will disappear.
• MOMAR can, and will, party.

Coming soon is the official opening party. Sign up at the gallery to be on the mailing list.

{Joseph Arthur, Musician and Artist to open The Museum of Modern Arthur, 24Apr2007, DumboNYC}
{lonelyastronauts.com/forum}

Now that a few residents have started moving into 100 Jay Street, we’ve started to see some flippers, as first reported by a Curbed reader. As of June 18, there are four resale units on the market at 100 Jay. The below photos are from an open house at 100 Jay Street, #10A.

 J Condo Lobby

Quick notes: Lobby has nice high ceilings, lots of sitting areas, and stone and marble finishes. Lobby artwork is not yet installed.

 J Condo hallway

Quick notes: Hallway is a typical ‘luxury building’ hallway painted tan. Doors are metal.

 J Condo master bedroom

Quick notes: Master bedroom is 13′10″ x 11′8″. There are two smallish closets and ceiling height is a reported 10 feet, but seems shorter. Bathrooms have nice finishings with a separate stall shower and tub.

 J Condo Living room

Quick notes: Nice view of the Manhattan Bridge. Living room and dining area have a nice space, but one minor gripe: the wall columns jut out, making the room oddly shaped.

 J Condo 2nd bedroom view

Quick notes: Bedrooms are at eye-level of the Manhattan Bridge. Windows are triple glazed and did not hear the subway or cars on the Manhattan Bridge.

100 Jay Street, #10A
2 bedroom, 2 bath, 1223 sqft ($744/sqft)
Price: $910,000 (anyone have the pre-construction purchase price?)
Common charge: $762
RE Taxes: $20/mo, 421a abatement
Floor plan:

Previously: {JCondo Views From the 32nd Floor and ProJect Dumbo Winners, 23Mar2007, DumboNYC}
{J Condo Owners Can See Their Place, 26Feb2007, DumboNYC}
{J Condo Getting F’d, 06Jun2007, Curbed}

• Wed, June 20, 7:30pm: Jesse Lenat ‘Tambourine Returner’
• Sat, June 23, 8:00pm: Calvin Bennett (Grain & Demise)
• Sat, June 23, 9:00pm: Miss Mamie Minch (The Roulette Sisters)
• Wed, June 27, 7:30pm: Miss Tess ‘Swinging Songstress’
• Sat, June 30, BWAC After Party - Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition Annual Sculpture Festival in Fulton Ferry Park, 6pm - late

{myspace.com/janbell}
{68jaystreetbar.com}

 Photo courtesy of Neighborhoodies

A few Dumbo retail news:

1. 20 Jay Street: According to neighborhoodies.com, they’re planning a retail store on 20 Jay Street: “Our newest store opens June 1st on Jay Street in Brooklyn! As you can see we already took out a former concrete wall on the exterior and fit it with another glass front. … Notice too the progress in clearing the interior. …We’ll keep adding photos as work progresses…” Neighborhoodies is headquartered in Dumbo on 45 Main Street.
2. 14 Jay Street: Aswoon/Susan Woods (www.aswoon.com) is going to be opening a store/showroom at the corner of Jay & John Streets at 14 Jay Street.
3. 20 Jay Street: A doggy day care will open on Plymouth Street in 20 Jay Street building. All dog owners in the neighborhood will have a place for their dogs to be pampered.
4. 67 Washington Street: The Two Trees Real Estate office and their new website, twotreesre.com is open for business. Previously reported on March 29 here on DumboNYC.
5. 70 Washington Street: There’s some activity on the retail level in this building on the Front Street side across the street from Bo Concepts. Drywall has been put in and the space is being cleared out. No word yet on what this will become. Stay tuned…

We posted about The Vista’s TCO below, (from yesterday’s Vista TCO approval), but J Condo received their TCO last week. Looks like both buildings are close to being occupied. J Condo closing dates start on May 16th, according to a contract holder who emailed in.

{100 Jay Street Certificate of Occupancy, 5/4/07, nyc.gov}
{BISweb on 100 Jay Street, BISweb on nyc.gov}
{JCondo Views From the 32nd Floor and ProJect Dumbo Winners, 3/27/07, DumboNYC}

Joseph Arthur, a musician with his new band The Lonely Astronauts, is launching a new art gallery at 25 Jay Street (the former space where the raw food restaurant The Plant used to be). Fans of Joseph Arthur have known of his music for a while. A Newsday article points out that:

Arthur launched his new label with his album “Nuclear Daydream.” He released his first book of paintings, called “We Almost Made It,” which also included a CD of instrumentals, “The Invisible Parade.” He had his first gallery shows for his paintings in England - where, oddly enough, “Honey and the Moon,” a song from his 2002 album, “Redemption’s Son,” was recently named Single of the Week by the BBC. And R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe decided to cover Arthur’s poignant song “In the Sun,” from his 2000 album “Come to Where I’m From” (Virgin), to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, enlisting Arthur, along with Justin Timberlake and Coldplay’s Chris Martin, to sing different versions of the song with him.

He is transforming the former raw food vegetarian restaurant in Dumbo on Jay and Plymouth Streets into a new gallery - tentatively called The Museum of Modern Arthur (MoMAr, for short?). Below is a YouTube clip of Joseph Arthur and his band at a David Letterman show:

Opening date for the gallery is not set yet, but the sign for MoMAr is up at 25 Jay Street.

{www.josepharthur.com}
{www.museumofmodernarthur.com, 25 Jay Street, Dumbo Brooklyn}
{Ready for takeoff - Joseph Arthur is ready to launch his new museum and an album with The Lonely Astronauts, Newsday.com}

The blog, Dtourist - the local tourist blog has posted some photos from the 32nd floor of JCondo. Love it or not, JCondo has some great views from the 32nd floor. In the second photo below, the windows look pretty solid (triple paned soundproofed windows) and from what I am told, the outside noise is not an issue in the apartments.

 Photos courtesy of Dtourist. Click for larger version.

 Photos courtesy of Dtourist. Click for larger version.

 Photos courtesy of Dtourist. Click for larger version.

Also, it looks like there will be a final inspection of JCondo this week. A reader wrote: “I am an owner in J Condo and we were told at ProJect Dumbo last week that there was going to be a major inspection at the site this week.” Any updates from owners?

Finally, the winners of ProJect Dumbo were announced at the reception on 3/15.

• Lobby: Jenny Hankwitz
  Work: Horizontal Splash Pink, (48″ x 90″), oil on canvas
• Play Space: Eleanora Kupencow
  Creatures in Rhumbaland, (42″ x 54″), oil on linen
• Lounge: Annette Rusin
  Work: Installation, (4′ x 7′6″), oil on vellum paper.

Congrats to the local artists!

{Dtourist - the local tourist blog}
Related posts:
{J Condo Owners Can See Their Place}
{Calling All Dumbo Artists}