Vacate Order on Old Fulton Street

By on August 11, 2010 9:20 am in Architecture, DUMBO, History, Neighborhoods, Real Estate

Courtesy DumboNYC

Following April’s full vacate order for buildings 11, 13 and 15 Old Fulton St., the NYC Department of Buildings has now issued the same for #9, citing “major structural defects to exterior walls.” According to DumboNYC:

A source close to the situation told us that 11-15 Old Fulton are going through the process of what is called “demolition by neglect”, which means that the City is trying to compel the owner of these buildings to maintain the property so that they do not deteriorate to the point where they will have to be demolished. Allowing buildings like this to deteriorate to that point is a tactic sometimes used by landowners who deem it cost-ineffective to renovate the existing structure, and who would prefer to raze the building and start over.

Regarding 9 Old Fulton, the owners submitted an application for a “hand demolition of one story structure”. They are probably going through the approvals process in preparation to construct a new building on that site.

All in all, sounds like the resolution—whether it’s demolishing the buildings or waiting for them to crumble—will take awhile.

Here’s more about Old Fulton (and New Fulton) from Forgotten-NY.com.

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  • pankymom

    i am sure this has NOTHING to do with the Grimaldi’s story about their landlord putting the hammer down on them. Block-long-raze, anyone?

  • nabeguy

    What took them so long? Those buildings have had cracks in their facades for years.

  • Obama

    Very valuable property now that DUMBO is finally being built-up after 40 years of wasting away some of the best real estate in the U.S.A. (Most of the liberal intelligentsia who frequent this site will merely dismiss it as gov’t/bureaucratic incompetence.)

    I guess it’s time for the old condemn-the-valuable-property to circumvent the laws trick!

  • nabeguy

    Obama, what exactly does that statement about the “liberal intelligentsia” mean? The properties fell into negelct because 1. they’re old 2. until the recent turn-around of the area, the landlords had no real incentive to maintain the buildings, as the area was pretty derelict. That’s why I asked previously what took the DOB so long to issue a DBN order, since these building have been crumbling for years. Apparently, it wasn’t worth their while either. Oh, wait, I guess that statement puts me into the intelligentsia category. My bad.

  • Obama?

    nabie, I didn’t mean you in particular when I used the term “liberal intelligentsia.” But as long as you asked, liberal intelligentsia are typically very educated people who can’t grasp the fact that our city, state, & especially federal governments are severely corrupt & a real threat to us all. Liberal intelligentsia are also usually Obamanoids who don’t realize that most top Democrats are on the same team as most top Republicans, like professional wrestlers who are enemies during their staged matches but friends & collaborators behind the scenes.

    Moreover, liberal intelligentsia would likely believe our prime waterfront property in the largest city in America from Greenpoint to Red Hook & beyond looks like Hiroshima after we bombed it because of bureaucratic incompetence, instead of the real reasons I laid out in the above paragraph!

  • Obama?

    I forgot to mention above, the waterfront from Greenpoint to Red Hook & beyond is finally, finally being repaired because of powerful political breakthroughs that are still behind the scenes for most people, for the time being.

  • hoppy

    “most top Democrats are on the same team as most top Republicans, like professional wrestlers who are enemies during their staged matches but friends & collaborators behind the scenes.”

    I think this idea is actually being played out in Connecticut ;)

  • nabeguy

    Obama, with or without the ? mark, I suggest you do a bit more research into the waterfront districts in all of NY. I’m not sure exactly what you laid out above, but the abandonment and recovery of these areas is directly related to how the city chose to zone these areas, first as industrial (both light and heavy) and then as residential after consecutive administrations drove out the industrial base through excessive taxes. The time gap in between the two periods is, as you say, about 40 years. But to say that the current recovery is due to “powerful political breakthroughs” doesn’t ring true.Until developers like Walentas and Boylmegreen stuck the politicos noses deep into the smell of potential earnings (both financial and political) , the only thing they could smell was the stink of the river, hence the extended time gap. And let’s not forget that the best real estate, namely the acres below the Promenade, were under the control of the Port Authority…can you think of a more politicized agency than that?

  • Andrew Porter

    Obama, you’ve found us out. We have secret plans to tear down those old crumbling buildings along Old Fulton Street, and replace them with a gleaming skyscraper overlooking all of downtown Manhattan, with apartment selling for million each.

    The fact that the Brooklyn Bridge is directly overhead, limiting us to four storeys in height—the same heights as the buildings now there—is no hindrance, because we plan to file Phoney Applications with the DOB, and expect they won’t notice that the building is actually 38 storeys high.

    Excuse me, my keepers are at the door; gotta put my straightjacket back on…

  • Historically InCorrect

    Though the buildings in question are probably beyond saving, they are part of Historic District, or not? Too bad they were not preserved. Perhaps the shells can be, or am I dreaming?

  • Reggie

    Dreaming. DOB has ordered the buildings demolished.

  • Gary VanderPutten

    The owners must be ecstatic – being forced to demolish these troublesome historical buildings, start with a clean palate, and rebuild with entirely new materials without having to preserve that rotten and crumbling facade. The icing on the cake – Grimaldi’s may leave – allowing them to access to their site without having to pass through 100 people waiting on online. What luck!