lumierefl via flickr
On Sunday, September 26, Plymouth Church will dedicate a new pulpit at the worship service led by Senior Minister Rev. Dr. David C. Fisher. This special moment for the membership of the Brooklyn Heights-based Congregational Church has historical resonance beyond the walls of the church’s 19th century sanctuary.
Courtesy 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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| From Joralemon Street Sunflowers |
In front of the David Chauncey House.
Raised in what he calls the small town of the Upper West Side, Brooklyn Heights resident David Kramer now builds small towns of his own. Sort of.
As a principal in the Hudson Companies, a real estate developer of rental and sale units around New York City, Kramer has garnered much attention lately for the innovative Inside Third & Bond blog on Brownstoner.com. Started 138 weeks ago, the blog has detailed an abnormally honest account of the building, marketing, and selling of Third + Bond, a townhouse-style condominium apartment complex in Brooklyn.
“The world has become so transparent, and blogs are a manifestation of that,” Kramer said over the phone from his office during a recent workday. By interacting with Brownstoner readers, many of whom are real estate junkies and prospective buyers, Kramer was, he said, “attempting to lead the parade, versus being dressed up at the end of the parade.” (more…)
The Brooklyn Eagle reports on some great walking tours presented by the Municipal Arts Society in the next few weeks. For more information call (212) 935-2075 or visit the MAS website. Tickets have already sold out to Francis Morrone’s tour of Carroll Gardens!
Brooklyn Eagle: The Municipal Art Society (MAS) will conduct several architectural and historic tours in Brooklyn this month, including one of Gowanus on Saturday, July 10; Brooklyn Bridge Park on Wednesday, July 14; Carroll Gardens on Sunday, July 18; Prospect Park West and Grand Army Plaza on Tuesday, July 27; and a bus tour that stretches from Long Island City to Williamsburg and Red Hook on Saturday, July 31.
The BHA just announced their new book, Enjoying Brooklyn Heights, will be available beginning this Saturday at 11 a.m. during their Picnic on the Promenade event.
The BHA is delighted to announce the publishing of a great new family resource to celebrate and educate about our neighborhood. ENJOYING BROOKLYN HEIGHTS is a fun-for-the-family “self-guided neighborhood walking tour for kids aged 4 to 104…. and their grown-ups.” The price is just $20, and once you see it, you’ll want a copy for your Heights library.
People of all ages, residents and visitors alike, enjoy strolling the streets of this neighborhood. Brooklyn Heights’ historic streets and houses hold many charms, some of which are easily overlooked! But if we slow down and look carefully, much can be seen and learned about the way life used to be lived here. It is our pleasure, with this self-guided tour, to share some of these Brooklyn Heights secrets with you.
Click here for more information about the book and this weekend’s Picnic on the Promenade.
Alex Herrera of the New York Landmarks Conservancy will be giving a guided tour of Brooklyn Heights’ churches this Saturday beginning at 10:30 a.m. Cost is $15 and the tour begins at Plymouth Church on Orange St. between Hicks and Henry. Click here for more information.
222 Columbia Heights, 1936; courtesy of New York Public Library
On Thursday, July 1, as part of our Centennial Celebration, the BHA will collaborate with ISSUE Project Room for a special outdoor performance, “I Do Not Doubt I Am Limitless: Walt Whitman’s Brooklyn.” This free event will channel the psychedelic spirit of poet, journalist, humanist and Brooklynite Walt Whitman, set against the stunning waterfront backdrop on the Pier 1 Harbor View Lawn of the new Brooklyn Bridge Park. Click here to learn more!
Also as part of its centennial celebration, BHA is collaborating with noted Brooklyn resident and architectural historian Francis Morrone, who is compiling a building-by-building survey of Brooklyn Heights in order to complete Clay Lancaster’s classic Old Brooklyn Heights by including post-Civil War buildings. In conjunction with this project, the BHA has issued the following call:
We are holding an “open call” for any historic photographs (of exterior facades), old press clippings, personal histories or other archival documentation you might have in your attic, basement or scrapbook related to a specific house or building’s history. Email us a copy, scanned image, print or simply write us a letter. Email it to: info@thebha.org or mail to the Brooklyn Heights Association, 55 Pierrepont Street, Box 17 D, Brooklyn, NY 11201. Whatever you have will help document our neighborhood history as well as mark the Association’s 100th birthday.
The BHA asks that all photos and materials be submitted no later than July 2, 2010.
This week’s video focuses on the PS8 Paddlewheeler Festival, as well as changes to Heights locations over the years, including many churches that have been demolished (and one, Plymouth, that has not). It’s good preparation for this Saturday’s BHA-sponsored historic church tour.
Photos by Chuck Taylor
I was considering the Heights Casino, beneath whose sidewalk bridge for what seems like a small eternity I have dodged strollers and racquet wielding members charging down the steps, for a Cheops award, but today the scaffolding and bridge came down, revealing once again the Dutch colonial revival facade (including a row of English sunrises crowning the three large central windows), and, for the first time, solar panels skylights (well, they’re still green: they let in sunlight, which should cut down the need for fossil-fueled heating in winter) on the roof.
Nabe Chatter