New Architectural Voyeurism: Park Slope Armory Roofline

Snow Capped Brooklyn Longhouse

Park Slope South: Blizzard hits 16th Street

Hybrid Igloo

Dreamy Winter Wonder Dumpster

10 YARDS 
BROOKLYN 
NEW YORK 

South Slope Tree Sweater Gone Missing. Foul Play Suspected

Update: Sweater has been returned!

Have you seen this sweater?

There was no ransom note left at the scene. I'm going to jump to conclusions and blame an invasive species. Come to think about it, I did see a suspicious looking ginkgo hanging around the block.

TIPSTER SWEATER HOTLINE 718 768 1378

additional sweater photos HERE

New Architectural Voyeurism: 12th Street fire

Ironic Iconic: Brooklyn's EIFS Brownstones

Fascia Transplant

There is an elegant futility in the way this homeowner has decided to upgrade his little South Slope frame house. It's been resurfaced with a kind of imitation brownstone or Exterior Insulation Finish System (EIFS), commonly known by its detractors as plastic stucco. This supposedly water tight plastic barrier system has been plagued by moisture infiltration problems that can result in mold growth and structural decay. The industry itself seems to blame the failure on a multitude of sins mostly having to do with the installation contractor failing to follow the manufacturers guidelines and specifications.

EIFS LINK

Of coarse true Portland Brownstone is not without it's own inherent structural problems as many Park Slope Brooklyn home owners can testify to.

It seems that 100+ years ago, ignorant builders, in their haste, often used quarried stone that had a high water content and was not properly cured or dried out before being applied to the face of a building. Often the sandy stone was cut in such a way that exposed its thin sedimentary layers to the weather and its destructive freeze/thaw cycles, causing it to literally crumble apart. Brownstone buildings sometimes experienced this characteristic flaking, known as spalling, as soon as 10 to 20 years after construction. Unfortunately, resurfacing today's damaged Brownstone facades with a mixture of cement and brown colored masonry pigments can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

We will see what the future holds for these "EIFS Brownstones". My guess is that in the near future, there will be a great demand for contractors specializing in plastic stucco surgery.

The Before Shot

In Context: 8th Avenue

23rd Street Before and After

2010 State of the Borough: Apparently no one walks to the gym.

Eminent Parking Domain

Last night Brooklyn's third term President Marty Markowitz gave his annual State of the Borough Address christening the new YMCA Park Slope Armory Sports Facility.In his speech Markowitz announced that he will provide $1 million in capital funds to help transform the Bedford-Atlantic Armory in northern Crown Heights into a vibrant community center and another $1 million to redevelop the Sumner Avenue Armory in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

"PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IS THE LIFEBLOOD OF EMPLOYMENT FOR MOST BROOKLYNITES."

Dozens of No Parking signs were posted yesterday for both the entire block of 14th Street, 15th Street, and a section of 8th Avenue, apparently to make room for the cars of those who attended the evening's affair. I have to ask, how does turning an entire block into a private parking lot, encourage the use of mass transit and physical fitness? The Armory is actually less than two blocks from the F Train. Why would anyone need to drive their own private car to a political celebration held in a sports facility whose crowning jewel is a multimillion dollar state of the art running track?

What could be less pedestrian friendly than allowing parking on the sidewalk.

The Other Armory.

Glad to see our friends at the Armory Heights Plaza, 406 15th Street, took advantage of this special event, charging automobile commuters by the hour to park in their black-tie, valet operated facilities.

Only problem is that the city has found this use in violation of both NYC zoning regulations and the building's Certificate of Occupancy.

Personally I don't give a flying rat's ass if it wasn't for the fact that the Brooklyn Department of Buildings assured the 16th St. neighbors who happen to live along side the 2 story underground parking lot's only carbon monoxide vent, that the exhaust would never rise to dangerous levels. That is as long as it was used as intended... for noncommercial off-street parking for the building's residents.

What's missing?

I have been playing with this new NYC.gov online mapping system which allows you to see Brooklyn back in the day... 1924 to be exact. So what important landmark is missing from this photo of our beloved South Park Slope/Windsor Terrace? On the right is Prospect Park, towards the bottom left is Green Wood Cemetery. A hint: Construction started almost three decades after these aerial photographs were taken. OK here's the answer.

I thought I would zoom in over IMBY Central Headquarters... That large black rooftop is the Park Slope Armory .

New Architectural Voyeurism: 44 Berry

Demolition of 99 North 11th Street. Up until about two years ago, if you needed service on your forklift, this was the place.

Entrance to the underground parking garage for 34-42 Berry Street Condo.

Brooklyn's Antipodal Architecture

The fine line between Heaven and Earth.

Tree Sweaters Return to South Slope

"Be honest, does this sweater make me look fat?"

Local yarn bomber vows to clothe an entire urban forest, one street tree at a time.

HPD Demos Park Slope Stalled Construction Site

Back When the Walls Were Still Standing...


More bad news for the troubled condo project 400 15th Street. This past week a crew of workers from NYC Housing, Preservation and Development started demolishing the unfinished concrete block walls on the stalled building's third floor.

Looks like the Department of Buildings Stalled Site Team filed an Emergency Declaration after an inspection on 12-3-2009 uncovered the unbraced cinder block walls. In the first photo, you can see the diagonally placed wood boards that were used to support the masonry walls for the better part of a year.

H.P.D. does not usually perform work on privately owned property unless the lord of the land has failed to make ordered repairs to their buildings and they have been declared imminently hazardous to the public. Of coarse H.P.D., through the N.Y.C. Department of Finance, will bill the owner for the cost of the work. If the owner fails to pay the bill within 60 days, a lien is placed on the property.

Some pictures from a rear window perspective of the job site before they stopped work for the New Year's holiday. Yes, that's the massive roof top of the soon to open Park Slope Armory Sports Facility in the background.





There has been a Stop Work Order Violation placed on the site dating back to January 2009. "New building' and "construction fence" permits have expired.














click on photos to enlarge




















This older photo of the 400 15th Street construction site shows the extent to which the neighboring building, 396 15th, had to be repaired after being damaged. The entire front and side facades had to be removed and replaced after the building shifted and cracked during the excavation for the new foundation next door. This accident happened shortly after work began, even before any underpinning could be attempted.

Apparently the new building's grandfathered R6 zoning allows for total lot coverage. You can see there is no setback at the rear yard and the two story wall begins at the shared 16th Street property line.

New Years Eve Snow People in Prospect Park

Part Giuseppe Arcimboldo, part Icy Detritus.

Three Little Reindeer

Merry Christmas

And Angels Sing...


One bold 84th Street resident of this famous Dyker Heights neighborhood has decided this season to submerge all his holiday decorations in a massive outdoor aquarium full of urine.

The un-named homeowner said he commissioned "Piss Christmas" from the Brooklyn born artist Andres Serrano to show how the true meaning of Christmas has been watered down.

A Port O Potty is in place to accept donations from the public to help cover the soaring costs of maintaining such an extravagant holiday display.

Organic Hookah Lounge Opens in South Park Slope

Stop, Shop 'n Toke.

435 Seventh Ave and 15th Street

According to the day-glow colored hand writing on the storefront window, Ajami Organic Hooka [sic] Lounge has opened shop in the storefront space recently vacated by the up-scale women's/children's clothing boutique that was lily.

Extra Soft Opening

Judging by their lack of interior design & spartan decor this place seems to be catering to the hardcore Shisha addict who enjoys puffing their hubbly-bubbly sans belly dancers and comfy throw pillows. It's a bare bones casual, wooden tables and chairs kind of place. Welcome to Difficult Smoking Hour... But there will be tea.

Regardless of your views as to the recreational value of smoking bubble gum flavored organic tobacco herbs, their poor penmanship is certainly going to have an adverse influence on the local school children.

Whiling away the hours.

Seems like a bold business model to prohibit children under 18 from entering... Everyone knows that most Park Slope nannies enjoy socializing around the pipe. I must know at least a baker's dozen worth of three year olds who could surely benefit from this hookah lounge's detox products, don't you?

South Slope Towering Ironclad Rooftop Fortress.

ARMOR-PLATED LAIR

The owner of this existing 11th Street parking garage is taking advantage of the 7th Avenue R6A commercial super villain zoning overlay to add on another two stories, topping off the building at 50 feet. This unusual rooftop altercation has an exterior facade completely fortified with an outer skin composed of oxidized adamantium alloy steel panels fused together at the seams.

The 3rd and 4th floor additions are set back from the street wall and barely visible from the opposing side walk, (see sky exposure plane) but the remaining floor(s), are most likely permitted obstructions (stairwell/elevator bulkheads), and are very much in plain sight.
This 8 car public garage occupies a rare double deep 200 foot lot and actually has an entrance on 12th Street as well as the 11th Street one pictured above. This new addition happens somewhere in a hidden location between 11th and 12th Street.

From this 12th Street side view you can see that they are using the open roof of the single story garage as a large backyard terrace. Wonder if the interior space is designed as equally brutal as the exterior...

Single family fortress
I noticed today they had a crane off-loading this gigantic crate of over-sized magnetic movable type. The same kind you stick on the front of your fridge only much bigger. Looks like another guerrilla marketing type campaign is in the works. Brokers can spend endless hours composing witty marketing messages that can be stuck to the building's outside iron siding, alerting potential buyers to this End Times enclave's amenities.