New district would include 825 buildings primarily built at the turn of the 20th century. On August 2, 2011, Landmarks heard testimony on the proposed Bedford-Stuyvesant/ Expanded Stuyvesant Heights Historic District in Brooklyn. The proposed district is generally bounded by Halsey and Macon Streets to the north, Fulton Street to the south, Malcolm X Boulevard to the east, and Tompkins Avenue to the west, and would surround the 1971-designated Stuyvesant Heights Historic District. The new district would encompass 825 buildings that were primarily developed between 1880 and 1910. The district is primarily characterized by rowhouses and small apartment buildings, with attendant commercial structures and institutional buildings. The buildings represent several architectural styles including Romanesque Revival, Renaissance Revival, and Neo Grec.
The earliest extant buildings in the neighborhood are wood-framed houses dating to the mid-19th century that are thought to have been occupied by freed slaves. Arrivals from New England, as well as German and Irish immigrants, moved to the area in the late 19th century. After the first World War, African Americans and ethnic groups facing discrimination in Manhattan began moving into Bedford- Stuyvesant. The neighborhood became a residential counterpoint to Harlem, the center of black cultural life in the City.
Landmarks initially considered the proposed district in the early 1990s. It held a public hearing in September 1993, but no action was taken. (more…)
Tobacco Warehouse at Empire Fulton Ferry State Park. Image: CityLand.
Court ruled that the National Park Service unlawfully removed warehouse and adjacent building from park boundaries. In 2001, the National Park Service awarded to the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation a federal Land and Water Conservation Fund grant to help fund a cove restoration project in Empire Fulton Ferry Park in DUMBO, Brooklyn. The Park Service’s grant was contingent on the State Office of Parks agreeing that the restoration project area would be used for public outdoor recreation.
The approved boundary map of the park area included the Tobacco Warehouse building and the adjacent Empire Stores warehouse bordering the park along Water Street. The dilapidated Tobacco Warehouse has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1974. The State Office of Parks stabilized the Tobacco Warehouse, removed its collapsing roof, and opened the building to the public. Empire Stores was used to house the park’s administrative offices and a public restroom. (more…)
- Proposed Crown Heights North II Historic District. Image: Courtesy LPC.
- Proposed Crown Heights North III Historic District. Image: Courtesy LPC.
New district would comprise more than 600 buildings south of original Crown Heights North Historic District. On June 28, 2011, Landmarks voted to designate the Crown Heights North II Historic District in the northwest section of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The residential district includes more than 600 buildings generally bounded by Bergen Street to the north, Eastern Parkway to the south, Brooklyn Avenue to the east, and Nostrand Avenue to the west. It lies directly south of the Crown Heights North Historic District which Landmarks designated in 2007. 4 CityLand 60 (May 15, 2007). The two districts feature similar architecture. (more…)
- 176 Remsen Street in Brooklyn Heights. Image: Courtesy of LPC.
Neo-Classical building served as Brooklyn Union Gas Company headquarters. On May 10, 2011, Landmarks designated the Brooklyn Union Gas Company Building at 176 Remsen Street in Brooklyn Heights as an individual City landmark. Designed by Frank Freeman and completed in 1914, the eight-story, Neo-Classical building served as the headquarters for the Brooklyn Union Gas Company. Freeman was perhaps best known for his Romanesque Revival projects, including the landmarked Brooklyn Fire Headquarters and Eagle Warehouse and Storage Company Building.
The limestone-clad Brooklyn Union Gas building features a two-story granite base with fluted columns. The building’s two-story capital features an arcade of Ionic columns and a deeply projecting cornice. The building’s decorations of flaming torches and oil lamps alluded to the company’s purpose.
The Brooklyn Union Gas Company, founded in 1924 as the Brooklyn Gas Light Company, got its start primarily providing gas to Brooklyn’s established residential areas. The company grew by merging with or purchasing its rivals, and it sought a headquarters that would house the company’s many divisions. Brooklyn Union Gas occupied offices in the building until 1962 when St. Francis College purchased the property and converted the building into an academic facility. (more…)
- Image: Courtesy LPC
Broad support voiced for extending Park Slope district, creating new district in Wallabout neighborhood, and protecting row of buildings in Crown Heights. On October 26, 2010, Landmarks considered designating three new Brooklyn historic districts. Landmarks held separate hearings on the proposed Park Slope Historic District Extension, the Wallabout Historic District, and the Park Place Historic District.
The proposed Park Slope extension would encompass 582 buildings located southwest of the original Park Slope Historic District. The district would be generally bounded by 7th and 15th Streets and Seventh and Eighth Avenues. It would also include some properties along Bartel-Pritchard Square and Prospect Park West. The proposed extension features a mix of rowhouses and apartment buildings, many dating to the 1880s, and other notable structures including two 19th century firehouses and the 1879 Ansonia Clock Factory. 7 CityLand 125 (Sept. 15, 2010). (more…)
