tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21515856855591600142024-03-13T08:58:03.118-07:00Save the SlopeHelp Preserve Our Beautiful Brooklyn NeighborhoodUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger234125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151585685559160014.post-43176053581645729842013-10-12T12:23:00.002-07:002014-05-20T20:24:19.172-07:00Updated Finding Aid!Google's conversion from Docs & Picasa to Drive & Plus necessitates updates to our Building Research Finding Aid. Please use the links below to find our building research. Our <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/104657705055304700055" target="_blank">photos</a> should be back online now; however all the comments prior to 2011 seem to have been lost. Note also that we did not research any buildings in the original Park Slope Historic District (designated 1973); see the original Designation Report for those buildings.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HA4R_4bfLWCyEjpyRaBNfry5wOCmOpezjpp2VjQKsQA/pub" target="_blank">4th Avenue</a><br />
5th Avenue: <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_Ixxqc5bkwuT2urRMLNSUPo_6n2XsTdyTX8_QcOijrg/pub" target="_blank">Flatbush-Union</a>; <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/15vRAoWO0M9rj37miRWsb4VzSLKfeyVflEy7UuDi4lOk/pub" target="_blank">Union-3rd</a>; <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hygL3gei8bFiMJnGF41GwFoUewcJW2QSPcdfJVXGuXo/pub" target="_blank">3rd-9th</a>; <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uXNo-RjYGWpC0X9wzue0kO8G0qaWKZv8iIalQxHDC20/pub" target="_blank">9th-15th</a><br />
<div>
6th Avenue: <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LqgNhMwY-Sg54xqEBgiXoUlyU6Ci7P1nLt10EckFUp4/pub" target="_blank">Flatbush-Union</a>; <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UhwHXN5k8Ubtlr08nKr_CGSD-Z8IxS9iO2ecdOKK_lI/pub" target="_blank">Union-3rd</a>; <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1R1-wMYGucgMbjZhVzt_ukl_hOLCb1t1BclFkN71lgRU/pub" target="_blank">3rd-9th</a>; <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XbWoQaQ6wtYXC64PR0NT8Qfq_gHx3sHU8FsMYeJlOGw/pub" target="_blank">9th-15th</a></div>
<div>
<div>
7th Avenue: <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1o6ZugS3adLVD1Zy2BfBFLf8iYML83xLgeFC9ZTIm44A/pub" target="_blank">Flatbush-3rd</a>; <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ivltPB6ZvVARNHQHxbgJ8ZF2cVQHa5UPbY4VxwZvxys/pub" target="_blank">3rd-9th</a>; <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gCa5LTSrxXdBuUkbSZ0r12sAN7E3-n8EYjDl7oYQH-Y/pub" target="_blank">9th-15th</a></div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GWGwhZvEMxOS7WAw4O8ouZK1bWvCPILybXGyIUw7McE/pub" target="_blank">8th Avenue</a></div>
</div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GDBTKrzIflgg-_UtgTH5E5jw4XWAR0r3S7A6p55_7kE/pub" target="_blank">Plaza Street/Prospect Park West</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xQy3MHdiqtG-cU6YOvCliWZv8OrqqC1g9LuXeFjgk1c/pub" target="_blank">Flatbush Avenue</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mkU0U_SFWJSSu7xN_hcLE9uv-8So53lvcYc-VCdwSCs/pub" target="_blank">Pacific Street</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1r--iDqioldvnolz8hL9ilxz0ZM8sd-StMB4gHnHi1Y4/pub" target="_blank">Dean Street</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/11vOUlkw3a_k_1-uNATYdxhPUqUT8iFvUwSCXDM0MP6Y/pub" target="_blank">Bergen Street</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JYQ0SJxNidbUQySZuQYpv4on7aN-MbcTmUMZQRBj1Yg/pub" target="_blank">St. Marks Place & Avenue</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/18CXKgf6oRgmAn2tnf7Bl5xfOePrnkr7te8D53u1DZHE/pub" target="_blank">Warren Street/Prospect Place</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OhM2HBqB43lJvPW34OTGAvPnd-fuSlKCimqtDZjN2B0/pub" target="_blank">Baltic Street/Park Place</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/18McWDe_v4i5k4E0EdToNk7VnmIl_2YcguLBngDIlrZ4/pub" target="_blank">Sterling Place</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MdYm6K2o9GZ-tt3XmX9DAcwrY-oub10l3de433ieON0/pub" target="_blank">Douglass Street/St. Johns Place</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W0C8Hxkg1CH7M_3kfkX7ruEgawxVKW4A9ZOh30hUHZI/pub" target="_blank">Degraw Street/Lincoln Place</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Afq3PlvHrTBSbq-wR_t8DLITkrcgFtxKbCKqg3RDy1I/pub" target="_blank">Sackett Street/Berkeley Place</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sCYIGgBtySuhRFxvP59isjeSHqxy0pzzVhQVmz9NWlc/pub" target="_blank">Union Street</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sdlkXHtQHDu0e7dsmCSS6STkXSWlo5-tGdXV-cSQeeM/pub" target="_blank">President Street</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uXDde40nybnHGOxcAVNN3yGZP0fElytuxVg2eQ2ZKMU/pub" target="_blank">Carroll Street</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_dzowo5STODXmpfV_B3dHeSbTAOGxCd_Z3HjFVtXqt4/pub" target="_blank">Garfield Place</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wnit-35y_LvmCboZv_0lgma0AI8fhnxMMDXO1G3JlMs/pub" target="_blank">1st Street</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ql5cMJGY0uNMO1ik83b9WvMUi_NLflpDlRAdFydmvpY/pub" target="_blank">2nd Street</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G-7vHLhynnqutS_PpUyBXgUVd2cd_DusADdJz3cM1tY/pub" target="_blank">3rd Street</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qCBF2rVNWgsaY6KnCq3TvXtGdnkN7S50x_TLbdH_3pk/pub" target="_blank">4th Street</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pebQNbLkDIuMRKApTIsCSVaNCeLQhiPtggZnD91hn9U/pub" target="_blank">5th Street</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CRHMQI_7zRDUEj2Oxw15XWQme66ppv1y2BDMZTWwr4o/pub" target="_blank">6th Street</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/18-Rjfa2KfQacJohvzLf84fvYARbxv5bioU7Ab-oEsXA/pub" target="_blank">7th Street</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pp-EQL0E6m1s77GWni_LUUif6ELOabIIjtrozHotGBo/pub" target="_blank">8th Street</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nMD63RwbhjzxTgjPD37eZgbHVjvJAj51ZQ9mPPKrDis/pub" target="_blank">9th Street</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1j83CD-vsA8Dbw0nnYQcprGEdTDN1qoPu88SkXZkEifw/pub" target="_blank">10th Street</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-ixR4iJp1mbq4DYQdpkRMMk1QyHGFbISjDzteKKWkp0/pub" target="_blank">11th Street</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wzB1UYoWV8DhA-DjM4eizuG6A60kYSrkfdt2FXKA6sU/pub" target="_blank">12th Street</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SVrViKTcMi3Brj_aoCTeOlUT3KsazefApbxm7MijIXM/pub" target="_blank">13th Street</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kfF789nM1EpHL0c-_4Q3eRtz7bjFmSFnUujnom-TRIo/pub" target="_blank">14th Street</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t5ujxYo9SfgLx8f3dGiolWhCASnnGX19JItGGS0-yPY/pub" target="_blank">15th Street</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Sources:<br />
AABN = <i>American Architect & Building News </i>(New York Public Library)<br />
BE = <i><a href="http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Default/Skins/BEagle/Client.asp?Skin=BEagle" target="_blank">Brooklyn Eagle</a></i> (Brooklyn Public Library/Brooklyn Collection)<br />
RERBG = <i><a href="http://rerecord.cul.columbia.edu/browse.php" target="_blank">Real Estate Record & Builders Guide</a></i> (Columbia University/Avery Library; New York Public Library)<br />
RERIP = <i>Real Estate Record & Insurance Patrol</i> (Brooklyn Public Library/Brooklyn Collection)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
HDEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09606554107782503091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151585685559160014.post-76278568095154291082011-02-23T20:25:00.001-08:002011-02-23T21:16:54.686-08:00Brooklyn's Autonomous Zones (and a Temporary Farewell)Topic for Research: Brooklyn's Autonomous Zones<br /><br />We've long been fascinated by Brooklyn's autonomous zones, those regions beyond the edge of the map, where free spirits, eccentrics, squatters, the poor, the marginalized, and the downtrodden migrated beyond the pale of polite society.<br /><br />The <span style="font-style: italic;">New York Times</span> in 2005 published a fascinating <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/09/nyregion/thecity/09squa.html">article</a> about these districts, which were self-governing to a large extent. The article carried the following photograph of "shanties" on 4th Avenue, and identified a large autonomous zone along the Gowanus Canal as "Slab City" for the many do-it-yourself shanties to be found there, constructed of slabs of wood salvaged and recycled from the streets.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wvGvTcjLgbc/TWXmyMFIsUI/AAAAAAAA1mg/QkqcgycUYX4/s1600/4th%2Bave%2Bshanties.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 172px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wvGvTcjLgbc/TWXmyMFIsUI/AAAAAAAA1mg/QkqcgycUYX4/s400/4th%2Bave%2Bshanties.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5577117463478841666" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">4th Avenue "Shanties"</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Brainerd Collection - Brooklyn Public Library/Brooklyn Collection<br /></span></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lvKenZPDgCM/TWXmyF7D9EI/AAAAAAAA1mo/gRAo2ARIQUU/s1600/Slab%2BCity%2B-%2BEagle.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 296px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lvKenZPDgCM/TWXmyF7D9EI/AAAAAAAA1mo/gRAo2ARIQUU/s400/Slab%2BCity%2B-%2BEagle.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5577117461825975362" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=BEagle&BaseHref=BEG/1889/10/27&PageLabelPrint=&EntityId=Ar00701&ViewMode=GIF&GZ=T"><span style="font-style: italic;">Brooklyn Eagle</span>, October 27, 1889, p. 7</a><br /></span></div><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slab_City">Slab City</a> is of course also the name of a present day <a href="http://hermetic.com/bey/taz_cont.html">Temporary Autonomous Zone</a> in southern California that was featured in the 2007 film "Into the Wild".<br /><br />The <a href="http://parkslopeciviccouncil.org/index.php?section=pressroom&prrid=128">December, 2006 "Civic News,"</a> a publication of the Park Slope Civic Council, reprinted an August, 1967 reminiscence by Norman Litchfield, great-grandnephew of Edwin C. Litchfield, who built Litchfield Villa in Prospect Park. Norman Litchfield, who was born in 1881, recalled the trip by rail to Coney Island, departing from the old terminal on the west side of 5th Avenue, at 27th Street. The train passed through another of these autonomous zones, beyond the city limits on the other side of Greenwood Cemetery (emphasis added):<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Then a roar from the conductor, "All aboard," and with a jerk, the train started out of the depot. But, not so fast; we were still inside the city limits and the train tracks were laid on the city streets. Pedestrians and horses must be guarded from the dangers of the steam monster, and so a man mounted on a horse rode ahead waving a red flag and the engine bell rang continually, not disturbing many people, however, for on one side they were all dead and on the other side mostly missing; in this outlying part of the city, houses were few and far between. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Soon we came to the "City Line," a hilly section, gaunt and barren, near enough to the city for its dwellers to enjoy urban advantages, chiefly saloons, and yet more or less outside the pale of law and free from most inhibitions.</span> Shanty town it was, inhabited by Irish "lately come-overs" and their goats.</span><br /><br />On this note, it is time to say good-bye to our few faithful readers. We have been tasked by the Landmarks Preservation Commission to undertake some more formal research into the proposed South Slope extension, and we will have to abandon this blog for now. We will continue to update the <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/pscc.hd.01">photo archive</a> comments, and our other <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2011/02/finding-aid-guide-to-resources.html">online resources</a>, and may occasionally post new material here, but alas not with the same frequency. We hope to restart the blog later, perhaps after the phase 1 extension is designated. Many thanks for reading!HDEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09606554107782503091noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151585685559160014.post-49002449107298269732011-02-15T18:00:00.000-08:002011-02-15T18:27:36.318-08:00Finding Aid: Guide to ResourcesWith the apparent demise of link shortener bk.ly, some of our links are stale, so it seems a good time to update our Finding Aid, a guide to online resources concerning the Park Slope Historic District Extension.<br /><br />(1) The <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/pscc.hd.01">Photo Archive</a>: photographs of every street in Park Slope, winter 2008-2009. See the photo comments for historic information about the buildings.<br /><br />(2) Park Slope Real Estate News: these are New Building/Alteration permits transcribed from the <span style="font-style: italic;">Brooklyn Eagle</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">American Architect and Building News</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide</span>, and other periodicals. Divided into:<br />(2a) <a href="http://docs.google.com/View?id=dm8xdt9_2cx4rbpgg">Streets</a><br />(2b) <a href="http://docs.google.com/View?id=dm8xdt9_11fvz6ppfq">Avenues</a><br />The same information is also compiled in the Photo Archive comments.<br /><br />(3) Department of Buildings files: organized by block/lot number, photographs of Dept. of Buildings files for some properties in the study areas: <a href="http://gallery.me.com/andito72">link</a><br /><br />(4) <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/">Save the Slope</a> blog: rants and ruminations about Park Slope history.HDEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09606554107782503091noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151585685559160014.post-76780246049588432362011-02-12T22:26:00.000-08:002011-02-12T22:52:26.737-08:00Lost Park Slope: Tilyou Penthouse, 35 PPWIn an earlier "Lost Park Slope" post, we visited the <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2010/10/35-prospect-park-west.html">George C. Tilyou residence</a> that once stood at 35 Prospect Park West. We established that George Tilyou died in 1914, and that his widow Mary sold the house to developers, who erected the present Emery Roth-designed apartment house in 1929. Mary Tilyou occupied the penthouse apartment until her death, aged 103, in the 1950s.<br /><br />The <a href="http://www.mcny.org/">Museum of the City of New York</a>'s online image collection includes many photographs of the interior of Mary Tilyou's penthouse apartment, a few of which appear below.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OfPuOD2vdBg/TVd9wHSqJiI/AAAAAAAA1jA/-NMUaxMdWMA/s1600/35%2Bppw%2Btilyou%2B3.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 312px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OfPuOD2vdBg/TVd9wHSqJiI/AAAAAAAA1jA/-NMUaxMdWMA/s400/35%2Bppw%2Btilyou%2B3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573061329438778914" border="0" /></a><br />The scale of the rooms suggest an extremely spacious apartment:<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V-p4bWw8RU8/TVd9wAAauMI/AAAAAAAA1i4/vCpr4RvLVIY/s1600/35%2Bppw%2Btilyou%2B2.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 284px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V-p4bWw8RU8/TVd9wAAauMI/AAAAAAAA1i4/vCpr4RvLVIY/s400/35%2Bppw%2Btilyou%2B2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573061327483222210" border="0" /></a><br />Although there are at least three penthouse apartments now, it is possible that they were subdivided from a single colossal penthouse once occupied by Mary Tilyou.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6voUHAq567A/TVd9v8aW3iI/AAAAAAAA1iw/bn_zHv00Nok/s1600/35%2Bppw%2Btilyou%2B1.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 305px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6voUHAq567A/TVd9v8aW3iI/AAAAAAAA1iw/bn_zHv00Nok/s400/35%2Bppw%2Btilyou%2B1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573061326518279714" border="0" /></a><br />The rest of the photographs of the penthouse apartment can be viewed <a href="http://collections.mcny.org/MCNY/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MNY_HomePage#/ViewBox&VBID=24UP1GMVWD3F">here</a>.HDEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09606554107782503091noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151585685559160014.post-83657936002884815092011-02-09T20:38:00.000-08:002011-02-09T21:08:40.713-08:00Thomas Bennett for Louis Bonert in 3rd Street<a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2009/06/louis-bonerts-750000-deal-in-park-slope.html">Long ago</a> we identified prolific Park Slope builder Louis Bonert as the developer of much of 3rd Street between 6th and 7th Avenues.<br /><br />More recently we identified <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2011/02/pohlman-patrick-for-louis-bonert-in-3rd.html">Pohlman and Patrick</a> as the architects for 8 westermost of these apartment houses, 4 on each side of the street, toward 6th Avenue. Pohlman and Patrick's buildings were erected in 1903, and can be identified by the flat, foliate entablature surmounting the entrance:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-72MIz6PRtjI/TVNvS9C77GI/AAAAAAAA1gg/EvCdpGvpv9o/s1600/458%2B3rd%2BStreet.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 362px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-72MIz6PRtjI/TVNvS9C77GI/AAAAAAAA1gg/EvCdpGvpv9o/s400/458%2B3rd%2BStreet.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571919535402642530" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">458 3rd Street<br />Pohlman and Patrick, architects - 1903<br />Louis Bonert, builder<br /></span></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EdE9pUyniS8/TVNvTYX_5LI/AAAAAAAA1go/1nRo32MwhdY/s1600/458%2B3rd%2BStreet%2B-%2Bdoorway%2Bdetail.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 386px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EdE9pUyniS8/TVNvTYX_5LI/AAAAAAAA1go/1nRo32MwhdY/s400/458%2B3rd%2BStreet%2B-%2Bdoorway%2Bdetail.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571919542738740402" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">458 3rd Street - entrance detail<br /></span></div><br />Bonert apparently felt he had found a winning formula with these spacious, 8-family, 38'-wide apartment houses, because he built seven more of them one year later, in 1904, just uphill from the first group. For reasons unknown, however, he chose to employ for the later group another prolific Brooklyn architect, Thomas Bennett, with whom he had collaborated on some <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2011/01/l-bonert-t-bennett-in-3rd-street.html">other apartments in 3rd Street</a> a few years earlier:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style="font-family: arial;">"Projected Buildings," <i>RERBG</i> v. 73, no. 1882 (April 9, 1904): p. 847.</b><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">-639- 3rd st, n s, 293 e 6th av, three 4-sty brk tenements, 38.3x68, 8 families, steam heat; total cost, $45,000; L Bonert, 6th av and 3rd st; ar't, T Bennett, 3rd av and 52d st.</span></span><br /><br />The 1904 buildings are nearly identical to the earlier group, and are distinguished mainly by a peaked entablature surmounting the doorway. The 1904 group also has one less window illuminating the central staircase:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Hh2S0s2J-_g/TVNvSj9aqoI/AAAAAAAA1gQ/7coIPVbzcrY/s1600/461%2B3rd%2BStreet.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 331px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Hh2S0s2J-_g/TVNvSj9aqoI/AAAAAAAA1gQ/7coIPVbzcrY/s400/461%2B3rd%2BStreet.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571919528668605058" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">461 3rd Street<br />Thomas Bennett, architect - 1904<br />Louis Bonert, builder<br /><br /></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OrZyZixhVKw/TVNvSxXLozI/AAAAAAAA1gY/rLBKSxyU4ow/s1600/461%2B3rd%2BStreet%2B-%2Bdoorway%2Bdetail.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 303px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OrZyZixhVKw/TVNvSxXLozI/AAAAAAAA1gY/rLBKSxyU4ow/s400/461%2B3rd%2BStreet%2B-%2Bdoorway%2Bdetail.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571919532266332978" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">461 3rd Street - entrance detail<br /></span></div><br />The similarity between the buildings from two different architects is remarkable. Bonert certainly seems to have maintained no loyalty to a particular architect from one development to the next.HDEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09606554107782503091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151585685559160014.post-3628562856838698532011-02-06T15:15:00.000-08:002011-02-06T17:01:23.303-08:00Blizzard of 1888<div style="text-align: left;">In 1888 Brooklyn was hit by a blizzard of historic proportions.<br /><br />The photograph below, from the Brooklyn Public Library's <a href="http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/brooklyncollection/photo-collections.jsp">Brooklyn Collection</a>, documents conditions on the street, in a scene that looks familiar to winter-weary borough residents today:<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TU8w6AgXUWI/AAAAAAAA1ds/hlRennZJw6E/s1600/Frame%2BRowhouses%2B1888.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 317px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TU8w6AgXUWI/AAAAAAAA1ds/hlRennZJw6E/s400/Frame%2BRowhouses%2B1888.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570725037206884706" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://catalog.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/search%7ES63?/Xsnow&m=k&SORT=R/Xsnow&m=k&SORT=R&SUBKEY=snow/85%2C231%2C231%2CB/frameset&FF=Xsnow&m=k&SORT=R&90%2C90%2C">Blizzard of 1888 - Breading G. Way, photographer</a><br />Brooklyn Public Library Brooklyn Collection<br /></span></div><br />What particularly caught our eye in this photograph, however, was the row of two-story wood frame houses behind the mounds of snow. With intact cornices, stoops, entrance hoods, window frames, and clapboard siding, these houses can be really charming. (Some brokers have even detected a "<a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2010/06/south-slopes-red-door-club.html">cult</a>" of wood-frame lovers!)<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TU8w6LlRcpI/AAAAAAAA1d0/LYPcfEk7tck/s1600/Frame%2BRowhouses%2B1888%2B-%2Bdetail.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 310px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TU8w6LlRcpI/AAAAAAAA1d0/LYPcfEk7tck/s400/Frame%2BRowhouses%2B1888%2B-%2Bdetail.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570725040180261522" border="0" /></a><br />Park Slope still has stretches of these wood-frame houses, mostly in the South Slope, mostly heavily modified. Many of these are actually among the older houses in Park Slope, predating as they do the "<a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2009/03/2009-house-tour-446-11th-street.html">fire limits</a>" that mandated brick construction. Many of these wood-frame rows also appear on the 1880 <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2010/04/bromley-brooklyn-atlas.html">Bromley Brooklyn Atlas</a>, further certifying their antiquity:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TU8w6Rv5BvI/AAAAAAAA1d8/49vBpUhjlB4/s1600/15th%2BStreet%2B6th-7th%2Bn%2Bs.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 303px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TU8w6Rv5BvI/AAAAAAAA1d8/49vBpUhjlB4/s400/15th%2BStreet%2B6th-7th%2Bn%2Bs.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570725041835411186" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">15th Street, 6th to 7th Avenues - <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/pscc.hd.01/15thSt_7th6th_North#">north side</a><br /></span></div><br />A few owners have lavished restorative attention on these wood-frame houses, returning them to an approximation of their original appearance:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TU8w6syIA5I/AAAAAAAA1eE/IriC379gtKA/s1600/313%2B15th%2BStreet.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 302px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TU8w6syIA5I/AAAAAAAA1eE/IriC379gtKA/s400/313%2B15th%2BStreet.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570725049092539282" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">313 15th Street<br /></span></div><br />We suspect that the Landmarks Preservation Commission would have a hard time designating most of these wood-frame rows today. But we'd be willing to bet that over time, more and more of these wood-frame rows will see sympathetic restorations and will more closely resemble their original appearance.HDEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09606554107782503091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151585685559160014.post-25609776618091787452011-02-02T20:08:00.000-08:002011-02-02T20:54:53.872-08:00Pohlman & Patrick for Louis Bonert in 3rd Street3rd Street between 6th and 7th Avenues is one of the grandest blocks in Park Slope. The extra-wide street and the uniform white apartment houses marching uphill lend a dignity and majesty to this block.<br /><br />Way back in our retrospective of the work of <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2009/07/in-memoriam-louis-bonert.html">Louis Bonert</a>, one of the most prolific builders in Park Slope, we reviewed <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2009/06/louis-bonerts-750000-deal-in-park-slope.html">evidence</a> for his role as builder of much of this block. However, only recently have we uncovered evidence, from the <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2010/12/omg-rerbg.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide</span></a>, that the architectural firm of <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2011/01/pohlman-patrick-in-7th-avenue.html">Pohlman and Patrick</a> designed at least 8 apartment houses for Bonert in this block in 1903.<br /><br />The <span style="font-style: italic;">RERBG</span> evidence suggests that Pohlman and Patrick designed four of the 8-family apartment houses on each side of 3rd Street, toward the 6th Avenue end of the block.<br /><br />North side:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style="font-family: arial;">"Projected Buildings," <i>RERBG</i> v. 71, no. 1835 (May 16, 1903): p. 1020.</b> <span style="font-family:arial;">-803- 3rd st, n s, 107.9 e 6th av, four 4-sty brk tenements, 38.3x68, 8 families, steam heat; total cost, $60,000; L Bonert, 319 6th av; ar'ts, Pohlman & Patrick, 1235 3rd av.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TUow29D_dRI/AAAAAAAA1b4/QRpK4pK1zNw/s1600/437%2B3rd%2BStreet.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TUow29D_dRI/AAAAAAAA1b4/QRpK4pK1zNw/s400/437%2B3rd%2BStreet.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5569317609859413266" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">437-449 3rd Street<br />Pohlman and Patrick, architects - 1903<br />Louis Bonert, builder<br /></span></div><br />South side:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style="font-family: arial;">"Projected Buildings," <i>RERBG</i> v. 71, no. 1834 (May 9, 1903): p. 972.</b> <span style="font-family:arial;">-774- 3rd st, s s, 106.9 e 6th av, four 4-sty brk tenements, 38.3x68, 8 families, steam heat; total cost, $60,000; L Bonert, 319 6th av; ar'ts, Pohlman & Patrick, 1235 5th av.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TUow3IabU4I/AAAAAAAA1cI/XnyccjdLAJQ/s1600/458%2B3rd%2BStreet.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 362px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TUow3IabU4I/AAAAAAAA1cI/XnyccjdLAJQ/s400/458%2B3rd%2BStreet.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5569317612906304386" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">450-462 3rd Street<br />Pohlman and Patrick, architects - 1903<br />Louis Bonert, builder<br /><br /></span></div>The apartment houses are generously sized. The 38' width allows the individual apartments, 2 per floor, to be 19' wide, which is as wide as many Park Slope row houses.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TUow20e7_oI/AAAAAAAA1cA/5FRax3kLBNQ/s1600/458%2B3rd%2BStreet%2B-%2Bdoorway%2Bdetail.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 386px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TUow20e7_oI/AAAAAAAA1cA/5FRax3kLBNQ/s400/458%2B3rd%2BStreet%2B-%2Bdoorway%2Bdetail.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5569317607556513410" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">450 3rd Street - entrance detail<br /></span></div><br />Further uphill, on both sides of the street, stand some nearly identical apartment houses, also erected by builder Louis Bonert. Interestingly, Bonert chose a different architect for these other apartment buildings, as we shall soon see.HDEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09606554107782503091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151585685559160014.post-73186076462193961132011-01-31T19:20:00.000-08:002011-01-31T20:23:04.864-08:00Brooklyn's Vast Outdoor "Pot Plantations"We've all heard tales of the occasional <a href="http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/12/urban-forager-cannabis-grows-in-brooklyn/">lone marijuana plant</a> found growing on a median strip or leftover patch of ground here in Brooklyn, and presumably there are indoor medicinal grow operations keeping a low profile here and there about the borough.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TUeB8lXdPdI/AAAAAAAA1aA/C7rYH2WkezQ/s1600/ww%2526ds1.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 334px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TUeB8lXdPdI/AAAAAAAA1aA/C7rYH2WkezQ/s400/ww%2526ds1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568562342089539026" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">All images: Brooklyn Public Library <a href="http://brooklynology.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/">Brooklynology</a> blog</span><br /></span></div><br />But we never knew until now that Brooklyn was home to vast outdoor "pot plantations" in the early 1950s, growing in plain sight, with plants "as tall as Christmas trees," if the latest <a href="http://brooklynology.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/post/2011/01/28/White-Wings-and-Dream-Stuff.aspx"><span style="font-style: italic;">Brooklynology</span> blog post</a> at the Brooklyn Public Library can be believed.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TUeB9FD_ZyI/AAAAAAAA1aQ/GuODNV7h1rs/s1600/ww%2526ds2.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 297px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TUeB9FD_ZyI/AAAAAAAA1aQ/GuODNV7h1rs/s400/ww%2526ds2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568562350597826338" border="0" /></a><br />Apparently, in the summer of 1951 alone, 17,200 pounds of the stuff was dug up and eradicated here in Brooklyn (41,000 pounds across the entire city). There was so much pot growing all over the place that special crews of sanitation workers had to be dispatched to uproot the demon weed, groves of which grew in "lush impudence" according to the <span style="font-style: italic;">Brooklyn Eagle</span>, from which these pictures were taken.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TUeB8hNJxRI/AAAAAAAA1aI/FfAD1vt5UVo/s1600/ww%2526ds4.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 348px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TUeB8hNJxRI/AAAAAAAA1aI/FfAD1vt5UVo/s400/ww%2526ds4.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568562340972578066" border="0" /></a><br />One "marijuana plantation" in a Butler Street vacant lot yielded about 100 pounds of the plant. The cited location, at 82 Butler Street, is in the "West Slope" on the other side of the Gowanus Canal. We will be visiting soon to see if any traces are still to be found -- strictly for research purposes, of course.<br /><br />In the meantime, don't miss the BPL's meticulously researched <a href="http://brooklynology.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/post/2011/01/28/White-Wings-and-Dream-Stuff.aspx">article</a> on this fascinating subject.HDEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09606554107782503091noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151585685559160014.post-55545656102349755002011-01-30T15:58:00.000-08:002011-01-30T16:30:58.724-08:00L Bonert & T Bennett in 3rd StreetHere's another new finding gleaned from the <span style="font-style: italic;">Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide</span>. The <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2010/12/omg-rerbg.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">RERBG</span></a> issue of April 6, 1901 carries news of plans filed by prolific Park Slope builder Louis Bonert for four 4-story, 8-family "tenements" (i.e. multi-family housing), on the south side of <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/pscc.hd.01/3rdSt_6th5th_South#">3rd Street between 5th & 6th Avenues</a>. Bonert's architect here is Thomas Bennett, who designed a great many Park Slope apartment houses from around this same time:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style="font-family: arial;">"Projected Buildings," <i>RERBG</i> v. 67, no. 1725 (April 6, 1901): p. 634.</b> <span style="font-family:arial;">-468- 3rd st, s s, 247.8 e 5th av, four 4-sty brk tenements, 32.2x90, 8 families; cost, $72,000; L Bonert, 6th av and 3rd st; ar't, T Bennett, 198 53rd st.</span></span><br /><br />The first of the row, all of which still stand in virtually unchanged condition, is shown below:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TUX_RifD8YI/AAAAAAAA1ZQ/Z6J5NuAYGCE/s1600/392%2B3rd%2BStreet.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 325px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TUX_RifD8YI/AAAAAAAA1ZQ/Z6J5NuAYGCE/s400/392%2B3rd%2BStreet.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568137191093432706" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">392 3rd Street - erected 1901<br />Louis Bonert, builder<br />Thomas Bennett, architect<br /></span></div><br /><a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2009/07/in-memoriam-louis-bonert.html">Louis Bonert</a> is of course well-known to long-time readers of this blog; we suspect he built more housing in Park Slope than any other developer. We had a hunch these buildings were erected by Bonert, although we never had any concrete evidence before now. In part our suspicion was based on the unusual tripartite windows on the first floor; <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2009/05/louis-bonert-6th-avenue-and-3rd-street.html">other examples</a> from Bonert's buildings are found directly <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/pscc.hd.01/3rdSt_6th5th_North#">across the street</a>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TUX_RYO5zPI/AAAAAAAA1ZA/2xRKX4Po2Cg/s1600/392%2B3rd%2BStreet%2B-%2Bdetail.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 275px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TUX_RYO5zPI/AAAAAAAA1ZA/2xRKX4Po2Cg/s400/392%2B3rd%2BStreet%2B-%2Bdetail.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568137188341304562" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">392 3rd Street - window detail<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TUX_RVcV8oI/AAAAAAAA1ZI/X8Dc6_JdwbA/s1600/392%2B3rd%2BStreet%2B-%2Broof%2Bdetail.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 251px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TUX_RVcV8oI/AAAAAAAA1ZI/X8Dc6_JdwbA/s400/392%2B3rd%2BStreet%2B-%2Broof%2Bdetail.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568137187592368770" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">392 3rd Street - cornice detail<br /></span></div>HDEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09606554107782503091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151585685559160014.post-21647895761632162232011-01-28T19:17:00.000-08:002011-01-28T19:34:51.125-08:00[William Musgrave] Calder Place, BrooklynThanks to the Here's Park Slope blog for calling our attention to the half-block long <a href="http://heresparkslope.blogspot.com/2011/01/whats-up-with-calder-place.html">Calder Place</a>, one of those odd streets created when the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prospect_expressway">Prospect Expressway</a> was bulldozed through the South South Slope in the mid-20th century:<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TUOI-ltPqHI/AAAAAAAA1Wc/XXDZixEophc/s1600/Calder%2BPlace.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 280px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TUOI-ltPqHI/AAAAAAAA1Wc/XXDZixEophc/s400/Calder%2BPlace.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567444173215213682" border="0" /></a><br />According to Here's Park Slope's research, the street is named for <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2010/07/transitions-william-m-calder.html">William Musgrave Calder</a>, a prolific Park Slope builder to whom we have devoted a good deal of space on this blog.<br /><br />It's not much of a street, and indeed except for the scorched-earth tactics of Robert Moses, Mr. Calder might not have a street named after him at all today. We prefer to remember him by the <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2010/06/calder-flats-in-11th-street.html">many</a> <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2010/06/1899-mixed-use-calder-row-on-7th-avenue.html">buildings</a> <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2010/06/calder-calder-in-7th-street.html">he</a> <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2010/05/calder-calder-in-8th-street.html">erected</a> in <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2010/05/g-and-w-m-calder-in-7th-avenue.html">Park Slope</a>.HDEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09606554107782503091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151585685559160014.post-18653289198722798612011-01-24T19:52:00.000-08:002011-01-24T20:15:23.661-08:00No Comment Department<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: arial;">...a broker with Awaye Realty in Carroll Gardens, said that with each new building the avenue’s popularity had grown. “They’re hard to get started, it’s hard to sell to the first people,” he said. “But all of a sudden, </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;">once people see other people living there</span><span style="font-family: arial;">, it’s pop-pop-pop, like popcorn.”</span></span> -NY Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/23/realestate/23living.html">profile</a> of the "new 4th Avenue"<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TT5N2wzfEyI/AAAAAAAA1WM/FVqfTJY_9Nw/s1600/154_4th_ave_today.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 275px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TT5N2wzfEyI/AAAAAAAA1WM/FVqfTJY_9Nw/s400/154_4th_ave_today.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565971792685634338" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">4th Avenue demolition<br /></span></div><br />Actually, "other people" have been living in 4th Avenue all along.<br /><br />They were there before the new towers went up. They were there until their homes were demolished to make way for the new residents.HDEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09606554107782503091noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151585685559160014.post-35261498775247297722011-01-21T20:41:00.000-08:002011-01-21T21:11:00.562-08:00Pohlman & Patrick in 7th AvenueThe architectural firm of <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2011/01/pohlman-patrick-in-president-street.html">Pohlman & Patrick</a> became quite active in Park Slope around the turn of the last century.<br /><br />According to the <span style="font-style: italic;">Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide</span>, in 1903 the firm designed the group of three mixed-use (flats over stores) buildings on the southwest corner of <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/pscc.hd.01/7thAve_3rdSt_9thSt_West#">7th Avenue and 5th Street</a> for builder <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2010/06/calder-calder-in-7th-street.html">Alexander G. Calder</a>:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TTpke7WhNwI/AAAAAAAA1V4/-f2NdFuhbtM/s1600/254-258%2B7th%2BAvenue.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 288px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TTpke7WhNwI/AAAAAAAA1V4/-f2NdFuhbtM/s400/254-258%2B7th%2BAvenue.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564870772060665602" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">254-258 7th Avenue<br />Pohlman & Patrick, architects - 1903<br />Alexander G. Calder, builder<br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-size:85%;" ><b>"Projected Buildings," <i>RERBG</i> v. 71, no. 1830 (April 11, 1903): p. 752.</b><br />-527- 7th av, w s, 21 s 5th st, two 3-sty brk stores and dwellings, 19.6x55, 2 families; total cost, $10,000; A Calder, 420 8th st; ar'ts, same as last [Pohlman & Patrick, 1235 3rd av].<br /><br /><b>"Projected Buildings," <i>RERBG</i> v. 71, no. 1833 (May 2, 1903): p. IX.</b><br />-679- 7th av, s w cor 5th st, 4-sty brk stores and dwelling, 21x71, 3 families, steam heat; cost, $25,000; A G Calder, 420 3rd av; ar'ts, Pohlman and Patrick, 1235 3d av.</span><br /><br />Calder apparently carved off the rear 20 feet of his 7th Avenue lots, in order to squeeze in an extra lot behind them, facing <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/pscc.hd.01/5thSt_7th6th_South#">5th Street</a>. On this lot Calder built a 4-story, 4-family apartment house, also designed by Pohlman & Patrick, also in 1903:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TTpkesyHPII/AAAAAAAA1Vw/MBsdFNy72_o/s1600/468%2B5th%2BStreet.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 301px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TTpkesyHPII/AAAAAAAA1Vw/MBsdFNy72_o/s400/468%2B5th%2BStreet.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564870768149871746" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">468 5th Street (left)<br />Pohlman & Patrick, architects - 1903<br />Alexander G. Calder, builder<br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-size:85%;" ><b>"Projected Buildings," <i>RERBG</i> v. 71, no. 1833 (May 2, 1903): p. IX.</b><br />-697- 5th st, s s, 83.3 w 7th av, 4-sty brk tenement, 20x71, steam heat; cost, $9,000; A G Calder, 420 8th st; ar'ts, Pohlman & Patrick, 1235 3d av.</span><br /><br />The Neoclassical apartment building from 1903 creates an arresting contrast to the much earlier (circa 1870s) Italianate brownstone row houses beside it in 5th Street.HDEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09606554107782503091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151585685559160014.post-34187701035138370392011-01-19T20:49:00.000-08:002011-01-19T21:14:11.449-08:00Once, Paumanok!We're going off-topic with this post, since it has nothing to do either with historic preservation or with Park Slope. But, if one spends enough time in the <a href="http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Default/Skins/BEagle/Client.asp?Skin=BEagle"><span style="font-style: italic;">Brooklyn Eagle</span></a>, that telescope into the past, one finds some really cool stuff...<br /><br />Like this 1855 advertisement for the self-published first edition of "Leaves of Grass":<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TTfArgwD_gI/AAAAAAAA1VQ/u66Ma0jmPoE/s1600/Leaves%2Bof%2BGrass%2B29%2BJune%2B1855.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 362px; height: 256px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TTfArgwD_gI/AAAAAAAA1VQ/u66Ma0jmPoE/s400/Leaves%2Bof%2BGrass%2B29%2BJune%2B1855.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564127718397967874" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Brooklyn Eagle</span>, June 29, 1855, p. 3<br /></span></div><br />A few weeks later, the Eagle published a review of this "extraordinary book":<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TTfArAJzHGI/AAAAAAAA1VA/ZKOh3rN0oDY/s1600/Leaves%2Bof%2BGrass%2B1.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 282px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TTfArAJzHGI/AAAAAAAA1VA/ZKOh3rN0oDY/s400/Leaves%2Bof%2BGrass%2B1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564127709647543394" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Brooklyn Eagle</span>, September 15, 1855, p. 2<br /></span></div><br />We have a dim recollection of our American Lit professor saying that Whitman wrote anonymous (and approving) reviews of his own book. It's hard to tell because of the florid 19th-century style, but one can almost imagine that these could be Whitman's own words:<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TTfArf8M5eI/AAAAAAAA1VI/AsXHAulLL8g/s1600/Leaves%2Bof%2BGrass%2B2.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 367px; height: 394px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TTfArf8M5eI/AAAAAAAA1VI/AsXHAulLL8g/s400/Leaves%2Bof%2BGrass%2B2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564127718180447714" border="0" /></a>One could certainly do worse than to "loafe" a while amongst Whitman's <span style="font-style: italic;">Leaves of Grass</span>.HDEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09606554107782503091noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151585685559160014.post-5184451166969976622011-01-17T20:30:00.000-08:002011-01-17T21:39:18.060-08:00Lost Park Slope: Gen. Christensen HouseLike us, blogger <a href="http://imby.blogspot.com/">IMBY</a> has also been poking around in Columbia University's online <a href="http://ldpd.lamp.columbia.edu/rerecord/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide</span></a>.<br /><br />IMBY <a href="http://imby.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-latest-real-estate-porn-site.html">recently discovered</a> an interesting <span style="font-style: italic;">RERBG</span> article about Park Slope's 8th Avenue from 1912. The article features several photographs, including a view looking north from President Street before the tall apartment buildings were constructed on the west side of that block:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TTUXxeLIMkI/AAAAAAAA1Tw/3mAEroWhits/s1600/8th%2BAve%2Band%2BPresident%2B-%2B1912.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 316px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TTUXxeLIMkI/AAAAAAAA1Tw/3mAEroWhits/s400/8th%2BAve%2Band%2BPresident%2B-%2B1912.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563379053366882882" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">8th Avenue, view north from President Street, 1912<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide</span>, May 18, 1912, p. 1<br /></span></div><br />The buildings on the east side of 8th Avenue (right side in the photo above) are unchanged to the present day. But the buildings on the west side have been replaced by tall apartment buildings.<br /><br />The <span style="font-style: italic;">RERBG</span> article indicates that the house at the northwest corner of 8th Avenue and President Street, visible to the left in the photograph above, was originally the residence of Civil War General C. T. Christensen.<br /><br />An idea of General Christensen's prominence can be gleaned from a <span style="font-style: italic;">New York Times</span> <a href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30714FD355412738DDDA90A94DB405B838CF1D3&scp=2&sq=%22C.%20T.%20Christensen%22&st=cse">article</a> of 1903, noting both his 5oth wedding anniversary and the marriage of Violet, one of his daughters. The article notes that General Christensen <span style="font-style: italic;">"was for many years identified prominently with the military, social, and business life of Brooklyn. He was a long time President of the Brooklyn Trust Company, and prior to that he was connected with the banking house of Drexel, Morgan, & Co."</span>:<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TTUXxsqVDoI/AAAAAAAA1UA/MBTHgSbN7tk/s1600/Christensen%2BAnniversary.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 329px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TTUXxsqVDoI/AAAAAAAA1UA/MBTHgSbN7tk/s400/Christensen%2BAnniversary.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563379057255845506" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">New York Times</span>, March 20, 1903, p. 9<br /></span></div><br />It seems that Gen. and Mrs. Christensen were blessed with many daughters. An 1889 article from the <span style="font-style: italic;">Brooklyn Eagle</span> recounts the presentation of the Misses Laura and Hope Christensen "as candidates for the favors of society" at their home on the corner of 8th Avenue and President Street:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TTUXx-PCcdI/AAAAAAAA1UI/km8cT_gFCzw/s1600/Christensen%2BReception%2B1889.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 362px; height: 267px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TTUXx-PCcdI/AAAAAAAA1UI/km8cT_gFCzw/s400/Christensen%2BReception%2B1889.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563379061973217746" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Brooklyn Eagle</span>, January 31, 1889, p. 5 ("<a href="http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Search&Key=BEG/1889/01/31/5/Ar00505.xml&CollName=BEG_APA3_1885-1889&DOCID=462946&PageLabelPrint=&Skin=BEagle&AppName=2&GZ=T&sPublication=BEG&sQuery=%22C.%20T.%20Christensen%22%20%22Eighth%20Avenue%22&sSorting=%2553%2563%256f%2572%2565%2c%2564%2565%2573%2563&sDateFrom=%2530%2531%2f%2530%2531%2f%2531%2538%2534%2531&sDateTo=%2531%2532%2f%2533%2531%2f%2531%2539%2530%2532&ViewMode=GIF&GZ=T">Two Fair Debutantes</a>")<br /><br /></span></div>Below is a view of the corner today. The Park Slope Historic District's <span style="font-style: italic;">Designation Report</span> states that the apartment house on the northwest corner of President Street and 8th Avenue was constructed in 1928, so General Christensen's house must have been pulled down not long before then:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TTUXxsqVDoI/AAAAAAAA1UA/MBTHgSbN7tk/s1600/Christensen%2BAnniversary.JPG"><br /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TTUXxoFa2gI/AAAAAAAA1T4/aUpzz3rGeEU/s1600/8th%2BAvenue%2Band%2BPresident%2B-%2B2008.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 394px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TTUXxoFa2gI/AAAAAAAA1T4/aUpzz3rGeEU/s400/8th%2BAvenue%2Band%2BPresident%2B-%2B2008.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563379056027294210" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">8th Avenue and President Street, west side<br />Park Slope Historic District<br /></span></div><br />Many of the tall apartment houses in 8th Avenue are similar "second growth" buildings, erected on soft development sites originally occupied by large mansions with spacious gardens.HDEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09606554107782503091noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151585685559160014.post-27293520018093818542011-01-15T21:22:00.000-08:002011-01-15T22:59:53.517-08:00Can Preservation Maintain Affordable Housing?At last week's <a href="http://parkslopeciviccouncil.org/">Park Slope Civic Council </a>meeting, discussion turned to 4th Avenue's new development, and more specifically to what have come to be recognized as the missed opportunities therein.<br /><br />Trustees and guests expressed the by now familiar observations about blank walls, driveways, and ventilation grates that annihilate the pedestrian experience, the lack of street-level commercial space, and the general hostility of the new buildings to street life.<br /><br /><div align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5562655174250050962" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 270px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TTKFaKUptZI/AAAAAAAA1Tg/Cde9diJQRX4/s400/argyle-4th-avenue-092810.jpg" border="0" /> <em><span style="font-size:85%;">Photo: <a href="http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2010/09/2020_hindsight.php">brownstoner.com</a></span><br /></em><br /><br /></div><div align="left">Along with the above points, one of the PSCC Trustees made the astute observation that <em>the new buildings in 4th Avenue were built on the rubble of earlier, older buildings that once stood on the same sites... and that all of the earlier housing was undoubtedly more affordable than what replaced it.</em></div><div align="left"><br /> </div><div align="center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TTKAod5km_I/AAAAAAAA1TY/3o2pF9PJusw/s1600/154_4th_ave_today.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5562649922465209330" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 275px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TTKAod5km_I/AAAAAAAA1TY/3o2pF9PJusw/s400/154_4th_ave_today.JPG" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-size:85%;">4th Avenue demolition</span></div>HDEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09606554107782503091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151585685559160014.post-82195030268095104602011-01-12T19:42:00.001-08:002011-01-12T20:10:17.494-08:00Pohlman & Patrick in President StreetThe <span style="font-style: italic;">American Architect and Building News</span> yields the architects' names for Louis Bonert's 1902 row of four 3-story, 6-family apartment houses on the south side of <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/pscc.hd.01/PresidentSt7th6thSouthSide#">President Street between 6th and 7th Avenues</a>:<br /><br /><div style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b>"Building Intelligence; Houses; Brooklyn, N. Y.," <i>AABN</i> vol. 76, no. 1394 (Sept. 13, 1902): p. xii.</b></span></div><div style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">– "<i>President St.</i>, near 7<sup>th</sup> Ave., 4 three-st’y brick dwells., 31' 9" x 83' 6"; $44,000; own., Louis Bonnert [sic - Bonert], 319 Sixth Ave., arch., Pohlman & Patrick, 322 Fifty-third St."</span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TS55m_JwwpI/AAAAAAAA1TI/hK-5dTDKuUY/s1600/PresidentStreetRow.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 308px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TS55m_JwwpI/AAAAAAAA1TI/hK-5dTDKuUY/s400/PresidentStreetRow.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561516300543509138" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">782-788 President Street<br />Louis Bonert, builder<br />Pohlman & Patrick, architects - 1902<br /></span></div><br />We <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2009/06/louis-bonert-six-family-apartment.html">visited this row</a> two years ago during our lengthy review of the great many Park Slope buildings constructed by prolific builder and local resident <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2009/07/in-memoriam-louis-bonert.html">Louis Bonert</a>.<br /><br />At that time, however, we had not yet identified the architects of the row. It can now be credited to the firm of <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2011/01/introducing-pohlman-patrick-architects.html">Pohlman and Patrick</a>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TS55myPQo2I/AAAAAAAA1TA/JsmGM_6R60s/s1600/782PresidentStreet.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 310px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TS55myPQo2I/AAAAAAAA1TA/JsmGM_6R60s/s400/782PresidentStreet.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561516297076908898" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">782 President Street<br />Louis Bonert, builder<br />Pohlman & Patrick, architects - 1902<br /></span></div>HDEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09606554107782503091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151585685559160014.post-87846460104501340982011-01-09T20:05:00.000-08:002011-01-09T20:45:55.423-08:00Carroll Street, N S, 6th to 7th AvesWe continue to obtain significant new discoveries from the recently-uncovered (to us) <a href="http://ldpd.lamp.columbia.edu/rerecord/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide</span></a> at Columbia University.<br /><br />We've focused mainly on the very late 1890s, and into the 1900s, since that's when the Brooklyn listings from the <span style="font-style: italic;">American Architect & Building News</span> trail off. Also the online <a href="http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Default/Skins/BEagle/Client.asp?Skin=BEagle"><span style="font-style: italic;">Brooklyn Eagle</span></a> comes to an abrupt halt at the end of 1902.<br /><br />One such find is the long row of eight 8-family apartment houses on the north side of <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/pscc.hd.01/CarrollStreet7th6thNorthSide#">Carroll Street between 6th and 7th Avenues</a>. According to the <span style="font-style: italic;">RERBG</span>, the row was constructed in 1898 by owner/architect/builder Jeremiah J. Gilligan:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TSqLndN2jxI/AAAAAAAA1Ps/pmJ5fhIVrOM/s1600/Carroll%2Bst%2B6th%2B7th%2Bn%2Bs.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 362px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TSqLndN2jxI/AAAAAAAA1Ps/pmJ5fhIVrOM/s400/Carroll%2Bst%2B6th%2B7th%2Bn%2Bs.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560410199916187410" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">703-719 Carroll Street<br />Jeremiah J. Gilligan, owner/architect/builder - 1898<br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style="font-family: arial;">"New Buildings," <i>RERBG</i> v. 61, no. 1568 (April 2, 1898): p. 636.</b><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">-527- Carroll st, n s, 230 w 7th av, eight 4-sty brk flats, 27x66, 8 families; total cost, $80,000; ow'r, ar't and b'r, John[sic] J. Gilligan, 188 Park pl.</span></span><br /><br />This iconic Park Slope streetscape ends in a church steeple regardless of whether viewed from the east, as above, toward St. Francis Xavier Church, or from the west, as below, toward the Old First Dutch Reformed Church. The block is equally beautiful in either direction!<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TSqLnFW1MeI/AAAAAAAA1Pk/8hUlMVZySu0/s1600/Carroll%2Bst%2B6th%2B7th%2Bn%2Bs%2B-%2B2.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 292px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TSqLnFW1MeI/AAAAAAAA1Pk/8hUlMVZySu0/s400/Carroll%2Bst%2B6th%2B7th%2Bn%2Bs%2B-%2B2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560410193511395810" border="0" /></a><br />The buildings are highly similar, with minor variations from one to another, and highlight the growing preponderance of small apartment houses in Park Slope in the closing years of the 19th century.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TSqLnKinvmI/AAAAAAAA1Pc/U-8__Vtz63A/s1600/709%2BCarroll%2Bst.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 306px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TSqLnKinvmI/AAAAAAAA1Pc/U-8__Vtz63A/s400/709%2BCarroll%2Bst.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560410194903023202" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">709 Carroll Street<br /></span></div><br />Note that the <span style="font-style: italic;">RERBG</span> lists the developer as "John J. Gilligan", whereas a similarly named "Jeremiah J. Gilligan" is cited in the Landmarks Preservation Commission's Prospect Heights Historic District <span style="font-style: italic;">Designation Report</span>:<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TSqLnu_tbyI/AAAAAAAA1P0/WcYmFYKo4Ik/s1600/gilligan%2Blpc%2Bprospect%2Bhts.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 52px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TSqLnu_tbyI/AAAAAAAA1P0/WcYmFYKo4Ik/s400/gilligan%2Blpc%2Bprospect%2Bhts.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560410204688707362" border="0" /></a>We think these are one and the same person; the <span style="font-style: italic;">RERBG</span> listing cites <span style="font-weight: bold;">John J. Gilligan</span>'s address as "188 Park Place", which matches the 1897 <a href="http://www.bklyn-genealogy-info.com/Directory/1897/index.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Lain's Brooklyn Directory</span></a> address for <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jeremiah Gilligan</span>:<br /><pre>GILLIGAN Jeremiah bldr. 188 Park pl<br /></pre>So we suspect a typographical or transcription error in the <span style="font-style: italic;">RERBG</span> listing above.HDEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09606554107782503091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151585685559160014.post-34636649882107052102011-01-06T20:55:00.000-08:002011-01-06T21:16:36.338-08:00A Complete Blockfront in 8th AvenueYesterday's post introduced the architectural firm of <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2011/01/introducing-pohlman-patrick-architects.html">Pohlman & Patrick</a> and cited evidence associating three apartment houses at the northwest corner of <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/pscc.hd.01/8thAve_3rdSt_9thSt_West#">9th Street and 8th Avenue</a> with the firm.<br /><br />The buildings are visually associated with the other two buildings on the same side of 8th Avenue, all the way to 8th Street. But we had no evidence positively associating the rest of the block with owner John Wilson or architects Pohlman or Patrick.<br /><br />Until now.<br /><br />Tonight's research in the <a href="http://ldpd.lamp.columbia.edu/rerecord/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide</span></a> yields plans filed in 1904 by the same owner, John Wilson, and Henry Pohlman, architect, for two more very similar apartment houses, completing the blockfront from 9th Street to 8th Street:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style="font-family: arial;">"Projected Buildings," <i>RERBG</i> v. 73, no. 1878 (March 12, 1904): p. 602.</b><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">-306- 8th av, w s, 32.3 s 8th st, 4-sty brk tenement, 27.6x83, 8 families, steam heat; cost, $20,000; John Wilson, 456 14th st; ar't, H Pohlman, 6005 5th av.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">-307- 8th av, s w cor 8th st, similar tenement, 22.9x88.1; cost, $25,000; ow'r and ar't, same as last.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TSagipncJDI/AAAAAAAA1LQ/qLa8j_fnCoQ/s1600/804%2B8th%2BAve.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 298px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TSagipncJDI/AAAAAAAA1LQ/qLa8j_fnCoQ/s400/804%2B8th%2BAve.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559307307182728242" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">808-804 8th Avenue<br />John Wilson, owner<br />Henry Pohlman, architect - 1904<br /></span></div><br />Interestingly, Henry Pohlman is cited as the only architect. Perhaps his partnership in the firm of Pohlman & Patrick had been dissolved by this time?HDEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09606554107782503091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151585685559160014.post-13995057937410860502011-01-05T18:56:00.000-08:002011-01-05T20:50:51.982-08:00Introducing Pohlman & Patrick, ArchitectsWe've been scanning the <a href="http://ldpd.lamp.columbia.edu/rerecord/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide</span></a> of late, concentrating in the very early 1900s. The online <a href="http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Default/Skins/BEagle/Client.asp?Skin=BEagle"><span style="font-style: italic;">Brooklyn Eagle</span></a> ends at 1902, and the <span style="font-style: italic;">American Architect and Building News</span> listings grow sparse around this same time. But the <span style="font-style: italic;">RERBG</span> is yielding many interesting "hits" for Park Slope.<br /><br />For example, we are running into a number of apartment buildings from the firm of Pohlman and Patrick, whose name also appears in the Prospect Heights Historic District <span style="font-style: italic;">Designation Report</span>:<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TSUzVj-vEUI/AAAAAAAA1JI/t6mqyE0ueZ4/s1600/LPC%2B-%2BPohlman%2Band%2BPatrick.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 106px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TSUzVj-vEUI/AAAAAAAA1JI/t6mqyE0ueZ4/s400/LPC%2B-%2BPohlman%2Band%2BPatrick.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558905760587387202" border="0" /></a><br />We thought the name "Pohlman" sounded familiar, so we checked Park Slope's <span style="font-style: italic;">Designation Report</span>, and indeed in 1903 Henry Pohlman designed what we consider to be some of Park Slope's finest apartment houses, at <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/pscc.hd.01/GarfieldPlace8th7thNorthSide#">Garfield Place and 8th Avenue</a>:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TSUzV8BXGLI/AAAAAAAA1JY/Wd_6g_nWysg/s1600/Pohlman%2B-%2BSerine.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TSUzV8BXGLI/AAAAAAAA1JY/Wd_6g_nWysg/s400/Pohlman%2B-%2BSerine.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558905767040850098" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">"Serine" Apartments<br />Henry Pohlman, architect - 1903<br />Park Slope Historic District<br /></span></div><br />Park Slope's <span style="font-style: italic;">Designation Report</span> says these buildings exemplify "the ubiquitous eight-family apartment house":<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TSUzWF9BlAI/AAAAAAAA1Jg/cB5JVOGTShg/s1600/Pohlman%2BGarfield%2BHD%2BDR.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 130px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TSUzWF9BlAI/AAAAAAAA1Jg/cB5JVOGTShg/s400/Pohlman%2BGarfield%2BHD%2BDR.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558905769707017218" border="0" /></a><br />Also in 1903, Pohlman designed the similar apartment houses on the northwest corner of <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/pscc.hd.01/8thAve_3rdSt_9thSt_West#">9th Street and 8th Avenue</a> in "the popular turn of the century neo-Italian Renaissance style":<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TSUzVsaqX3I/AAAAAAAA1JA/Pbu8_JTnaaE/s1600/8th%2Bave%2B-%2Bpohlman1.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 277px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TSUzVsaqX3I/AAAAAAAA1JA/Pbu8_JTnaaE/s400/8th%2Bave%2B-%2Bpohlman1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558905762852003698" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">820 8th Avenue<br />Pohlman & Patrick, architects - 1903<br />John Wilson, owner<br /><br /></span></div><div style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b>"The Real Estate Market: New Buildings," <i>The Brooklyn Daily Eagle </i>(Apr. 29, 1903): p. 18.</b></span></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">– "EIGHTH AVENUE, west side, 32 ½' from Ninth Street, two four story brick tenements, 27 ½' x 58', for eight families each, tin roof, cost $40,000, John Wilson, owner; Pohlman & Patrick, architects."</span><br /><br /><b style="font-family: arial;">"Projected Buildings," <i>RERBG</i> v. 71, no. 1832 (April 25, 1903): p. 852.</b><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">-635- 8th av, n w cor 9th st, 4-sty brk flats, 26.3x88.1, 9 families, steam heat; cost, $25,000; J Wilson, 456 14th st; ar'ts, Pohlman & Patrick, 1235 3rd av.</span><br /><br /><b style="font-family: arial;">"Projected Buildings," <i>RERBG</i> v. 71, no. 1833 (May 2, 1903): p. IX.<br /></b><span style="font-family:arial;">-683- 8th av, w s, 32.3 s [sic-n?] 9th st, two 4-sty brk tenements, &c, 27.6x84, 8 families, steam heat; total cost, $40,000; John Wilson, 456 14th st; ar'ts, Pohlman & Patrick, 1235 3d av.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TSUzbqFqDcI/AAAAAAAA1Jo/A2bnSoEvWnM/s1600/The%2BLorraine.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 318px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TSUzbqFqDcI/AAAAAAAA1Jo/A2bnSoEvWnM/s400/The%2BLorraine.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558905865306246594" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">"Lorraine" Apartments<br />Pohlman & Patrick, architects - 1903<br />John Wilson, owner<br /></span></div><br />820 8th Avenue also boasts some attractive "basket-style" fire escapes on the 9th Street facade:<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TSUzVyhhmOI/AAAAAAAA1JQ/Fl9YFKwbe3c/s1600/Pohlman%2B-%2Bbasket%2Bstyle%2Bfire%2Bescape.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 327px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TSUzVyhhmOI/AAAAAAAA1JQ/Fl9YFKwbe3c/s400/Pohlman%2B-%2Bbasket%2Bstyle%2Bfire%2Bescape.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558905764491401442" border="0" /></a><br />We will be seeing more from the firm of Pohlman and Patrick shortly.HDEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09606554107782503091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151585685559160014.post-12170336104034336772011-01-02T19:03:00.000-08:002011-01-02T20:00:54.527-08:00MCNY's Special CollectionsThe <a href="http://www.mcny.org/">Museum of the City of New York</a>'s recent launch of its online collection of historic photographs of New York City received considerable notice in the local blogosphere.<br /><br />We scanned through the entire collection, or what was online about two weeks ago, and found almost no images from Park Slope, which was disappointing. We'll feature some of the few highlights in upcoming posts.<br /><br />Some of the photographs offer rather alarming contrasts with the present.<br /><br />Consider the following view of the west side of 4th Avenue, between Butler and Douglass Streets. The photograph was taken in 1936 by Berenice Abbott:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TSFCkcDIn0I/AAAAAAAA1Eg/8L7Gd_lB2W0/s1600/154%2B4th%2BAve%2B1936.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 325px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TSFCkcDIn0I/AAAAAAAA1Eg/8L7Gd_lB2W0/s400/154%2B4th%2BAve%2B1936.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557796608923967298" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">4th Avenue, west side, btwn Butler & Douglass Streets<br />Berenice Abbott, photographer - 1936<br />Museum of the City of New York collection<br /></span></div><br />The MCNY photo caption reads:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Abandoned old-law tenements at 154 Fourth Avenue between Butler and Douglass Streets.</span><br /><br />Below is the same view from Google Street View; we believe a new "luxury" condominium tower is now rising on the same site:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TSFCkgAyX_I/AAAAAAAA1Eo/Iv-KweGmahw/s1600/154%2B4th%2Bave%2Btoday.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 275px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TSFCkgAyX_I/AAAAAAAA1Eo/Iv-KweGmahw/s400/154%2B4th%2Bave%2Btoday.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557796609987862514" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Same location, Google Street View, 2010<br /></span></div>HDEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09606554107782503091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151585685559160014.post-36583506523712464352010-12-24T20:14:00.000-08:002010-12-24T20:23:14.601-08:00Assemblywoman Joan Millman Supports the H. D. ExtensionNew York State Assemblywoman Joan L. Millman's <a href="http://assembly.state.ny.us/member_files/052/20101119/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Report to the People</span></a> arrived in our mailbox the other day, and we were pleased to see her Statement of Support for the Park Slope Historic District Extension (reprinted below; many thanks Joan!).<br /><br />We've always appreciated that the Assemblywoman insists on being called not Assemblymember, or Assemblyperson, but <span style="font-weight: bold;">Assemblywoman</span>!<br /><br /><div class="singleborder"> <div class="redtitle"> <span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial;">EXPANSION OF THE PARK SLOPE HISTORIC DISTRICT </span></div> <p style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial;"> On October 26th, I submitted testimony to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) in support of expanding the Park Slope Historic District. The original historic district was created in 1973 and includes most of the brownstone blocks on Eighth Avenue and Prospect Park West from Sterling Place to 15th Street and Seventh Avenue from Sterling Place to 4th Street as well as some additional blocks in the northern part of Park Slope. The proposal would expand the district to include eight square blocks between Seventh and 14th Streets and between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. It also would include buildings on both sides of Seventh Avenue between Seventh and 14th Streets. </p> <p style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial;"> Park Slope is one of Brooklyn’s most prized and best preserved neighborhoods. It has achieved that status because of the community’s active involvement in protecting its unique 19th century charm. Historic designation has been an important factor in the preservation of Park Slope’s character since the early 1970s, but the initial designation covered only a quarter of what the American Planning Association has declared to be one of America’s ten greatest neighborhoods. </p> <p style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial;"> In recent years, many Park Slope buildings with similar quality have been demolished or inappropriately altered. Designation of a larger historic district will ensure that Park Slope retains the historical and architectural character that makes it one of the finest 19th century neighborhoods in the nation. </p> <p style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial;"> Back in June, some 200 South Slope building owners attended a meeting sponsored by the LPC. LPC staff answered questions on the permitting process, the type of exterior changes that can be made without a permit, and the steps involved with the landmarking process. Currently, LPC staff is researching the condition of 600 buildings within the expansion area. They will then create a designation report which will take six to eight months to complete. Action by the LPC is expected before the end of 2011. </p> </div>HDEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09606554107782503091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151585685559160014.post-30008343694074214182010-12-22T19:11:00.000-08:002010-12-27T14:33:41.618-08:00Union Street "Automobile Stable"We've been scanning some numbers of the <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2010/12/omg-rerbg.html"><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide</span></a>, trying to fill in the gaps in our documentary history of Park Slope architecture. The following listing from late 1900 caught our eye, both for its Park Slope location, and for its use of a term we'd not seen before:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style="FONT-FAMILY: arial">"Projected Buildings," <i>RERBG</i> v. 66, no. 1705 (November 17, 1900): p. 691.</b><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">-1663- Union st, n s, 192.4 e 6th av, 2-sty automobile stable, 40x70, gravel roof; cost, $3,750; F & G Schwartz, 112 Berkeley pl; ar't, P B Marryatt, 17 St Marks pl.</span></span><br /><br />At the dawn of the automobile age, to call a building an "automobile stable" must have seemed quite natural. What else would one call it?<br /><br />At any rate, as usual, we checked our <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/pscc.hd.01">photo archive</a> for the building, and indeed this "automobile stable" appears still to exist, largely unchanged since original construction:<br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TRLBGIvnNiI/AAAAAAAA09E/1g4U7S-0-44/s1600/811%2BUnion%2BSt.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553713601671804450" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 295px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TRLBGIvnNiI/AAAAAAAA09E/1g4U7S-0-44/s400/811%2BUnion%2BSt.JPG" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">811 Union Street<br />F & G Schwartz, owners<br />P B Maryatt, architect - 1900<br /></span></div><br />The owners who built it lived at 112 Berkeley Place, which is located directly behind this building; they could have walked through the rear garden to access their "automobile stable." You can see 112 Berkeley Place highlighted on the screen shot below; 811 Union St. is the wide (40x70) building at bottom center:<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TRLBGeX6ZAI/AAAAAAAA09M/5kSlV6aLO6E/s1600/untitled.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553713607477978114" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 313px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TRLBGeX6ZAI/AAAAAAAA09M/5kSlV6aLO6E/s400/untitled.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />The 1897 <a href="http://www.bklyn-genealogy-info.com/Directory/1897/s.html"><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Lain's Brooklyn Directory</span></a> lists Gustave Schwartz residing at 112 Berkeley Place; no occupation is given.HDEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09606554107782503091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151585685559160014.post-52032705496808845192010-12-19T19:47:00.000-08:002010-12-19T21:11:06.823-08:00Preservation and AffordabilitySigh.... <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2010/05/does-preservation-affordable-housing.html">here we go again</a>... according to a <a href="http://brooklynpaper.com/stories/33/51/33_51_letters.html">letter</a> in this week's <span style="font-style: italic;">Brooklyn Paper</span>, "the extension of the Park Slope landmark district will contribute significantly to the exclusion of future new middle class homeowners, helping make Park Slope a less diverse neighborhood, economically."<br /><br />The writer continues:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >"I would like to have a neighborhood where newly arrived, middle-class neighbors can imagine moving, working to raise their children, and paying their mortgage — like me. The real irony is, in the South Slope that is what we have without landmarking."</span><br /><br />Actually, we hate to break it to you, but the irony is, the South Slope is not a neighborhood where "newly-arrived middle class families" can move in and raise their families. Even without landmarking.<br /><br />Let's do a price check... just the other day, Brownstoner <a href="http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2010/12/public_administ.php">listed the results</a> of a public auction that included 482 7th Street, a 3-family, brownstone-faced building on the <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/pscc.hd.01/7thSt_8th7th_South#">south side of 7th Street</a>, between 7th and 8th Avenues. The building is in the proposed first phase extension of the historic district, and part of <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2010/07/7th-street-block-history-vs-eagle-aabn.html">a block we have discussed</a> before on this blog (it is identical to the house, 2 doors away, shown below):<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TQ7f2InuggI/AAAAAAAA07A/c-0809HNjwQ/s1600/486%2B7th%2Bst.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 301px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TQ7f2InuggI/AAAAAAAA07A/c-0809HNjwQ/s400/486%2B7th%2Bst.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552621511714439682" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">486 7th Street<br /></span></div><br />The auction price of this "affordable to the middle-class" house in the South Slope? Get ready for the "real irony":<br /><br />$1,600,000.<br /><br />And this building isn't in the historic district.<br /><br />We preservationists are often accused of being "delusional," of wanting to walk around in a fantasy land of fake-old lampposts etc. (Except, we invite anyone to find any appeal for fake-old lampposts on this blog... you will search in vain.)<br /><br />But the idea that a $1,600,000 house is affordable to anyone in the "middle class" seems totally delusional to us.<br /><br />Perhaps the battle to keep the South Slope "affordable" has nothing to do with landmarking, and has already been lost, years ago? Could there perhaps be larger economic forces at work?<br /><br />Meanwhile, in the "lower Slope", west of 5th Avenue, one finds housing that still might be slightly "affordable" to the "middle class". Often it is in older, walk-up "flat houses" or small apartment buildings from the late 19th century. Unfortunately this older housing is increasingly being ripped out and replaced by "luxury" condo developments.<br /><br />Case in point: the following groups of buildings stand across the street from each other in Sackett Street between 4th and 5th Avenues. If you were looking to rent an apartment, in which building do you think you'd find a more reasonable rent? Which group of buildings is historic, and which is a new development?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TQ7f2A9o1LI/AAAAAAAA07I/17BJEzD9fUQ/s1600/Sackett%2Bst%2Bbtwn%2B4th%2Band%2B5th%2Baves%2Bs%2Bs.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TQ7f2A9o1LI/AAAAAAAA07I/17BJEzD9fUQ/s400/Sackett%2Bst%2Bbtwn%2B4th%2Band%2B5th%2Baves%2Bs%2Bs.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552621509658858674" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Sackett Street, between 4th and 5th Avenues, south side<br /></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TQ7f15hvmRI/AAAAAAAA064/2CwYqlg_jZs/s1600/Sackett%2Bst%2Bbtwn%2B4th%2Band%2B5th%2Baves%2Bn%2Bs.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 315px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TQ7f15hvmRI/AAAAAAAA064/2CwYqlg_jZs/s400/Sackett%2Bst%2Bbtwn%2B4th%2Band%2B5th%2Baves%2Bn%2Bs.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552621507662813458" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Sackett Street, between 4th & 5th Avenues, north side<br /></span></div><br />The new development even has off-street parking for residents in the rear, with a "convenient drive-thru" passageway protected by an automatic gate, quite like the automatic garage door openers one finds in the suburbs.<br /><br />Which buildings look more "affordable" to you?HDEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09606554107782503091noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151585685559160014.post-35353806187579276792010-12-16T18:15:00.000-08:002010-12-16T18:59:42.005-08:001960 Park SlopeWe finally had a chance to review the exhaustive <span style="font-style: italic;">New York Times</span> <a href="http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/park-slope-plane-crash/">coverage</a> of the 1960 Park Slope airplane disaster. A lot of great old photographs accompany the articles; the <span style="font-style: italic;">Here's Park Slope</span> blog has a comprehensive <a href="http://heresparkslope.blogspot.com/2010/12/then-and-now-thursday-december-16-1960.html">then-and-now portfolio</a>. What strikes us is how little the neighborhood has actually changed in the 50 years since the tragedy, thanks in part to the creation of the Park Slope Historic District.<br /><br />While the buildings are largely the same, the photograph below reflects some of the other changes that the Slope has undergone in the last 50 years. The picture below shows the intersection of 7th Avenue and Park Place, the subject of one of our "<a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2010/03/lost-park-slope-envelope-please.html">Lost Park Slope</a>" posts from a while back:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TQrO7P0NKrI/AAAAAAAA04M/hYN440yk56Y/s1600/7th%2BAve%2Band%2BPark%2BPlace%2B1960.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 271px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TQrO7P0NKrI/AAAAAAAA04M/hYN440yk56Y/s400/7th%2BAve%2Band%2BPark%2BPlace%2B1960.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551477007940659890" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">7th Avenue and Park Place, 1960<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">New York Times</span> photograph<br /></span></div><br />The building on the right is the truncated remnant of the Doherty Building at Flatbush and 7th; the B67 bus stop is right there. On the left stands #10 7th Avenue, one of the earliest houses in Park Slope, and one of a row of simple Italianate dwellings built circa 1865.<br /><br />If you look closely, you can make out the sign for a business named "Paradise" on the ground floor of #10 7th Ave. What do you want to bet that the "Paradise" was one of the many saloons that once lined the avenue?<br /><br />Perhaps the most poignant photograph, for us, shows 126 Sterling Place after part of the doomed jet had sliced through its cornice:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TQrO64Y2RdI/AAAAAAAA038/Cn9bL9Ylk_w/s1600/126%2BSterling%2BPlace%252C%2B1960.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TQrO64Y2RdI/AAAAAAAA038/Cn9bL9Ylk_w/s400/126%2BSterling%2BPlace%252C%2B1960.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551477001651897810" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">126 Sterling Place - 1960<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">New York Times</span> photograph<br /></span></div><br />The brick wall was repaired, but the cornice was never restored. 126 Sterling Place, one of a row of three identical apartment houses, is on the left in the photograph below.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TQrO62Yh8lI/AAAAAAAA04E/ZdNZw6xrg-c/s1600/Sterling%2BPlace%2Bs%2Bs%2B2009.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 288px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TQrO62Yh8lI/AAAAAAAA04E/ZdNZw6xrg-c/s400/Sterling%2BPlace%2Bs%2Bs%2B2009.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551477001113694802" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">126-122-118 Sterling Place<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:100%;">We have no knowledge regarding who designed or built these apartment houses, or when. Perhaps our ongoing research in the <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2010/12/omg-rerbg.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide</span></a> will someday yield substantive information about them.<br /></span></div></div>HDEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09606554107782503091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2151585685559160014.post-34382516319039393162010-12-13T19:48:00.000-08:002010-12-13T20:16:52.007-08:00Acme Hall's ArchitectThe history of Acme Hall, on the northwest corner of 9th Street and 7th Avenue, is well known by now, having been recounted on the old <a href="http://www.bobguskind.com/2008/06/07/urban-environmentalist-nyc-park-slope-history-revealed/">Gowanus Lounge</a> and <a href="http://heresparkslope.blogspot.com/2010/11/then-now-thursday-acme-hall.html">Here's Park Slope</a> blogs.<br /><br />It is well established from these previous accounts that Acme Hall was built in 1889-1890 by Charles Nickenig, who also built the <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2010/01/acme-halls-neighbors.html">adjoining mixed-use (flats over stores) row</a> extending to 8th Street.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TQbt2yu62qI/AAAAAAAA02M/1L_bN7Ef7ms/s1600/Acme%2BHall.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 303px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6EhUdqIyKj8/TQbt2yu62qI/AAAAAAAA02M/1L_bN7Ef7ms/s400/Acme%2BHall.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550385116368001698" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Acme Hall<br />Charles Nickenig, Owner/Builder<br />J. G. Glover, architect - 1889<br /></span></div><br />However, we've never before seen the name of Acme Hall's architect. Perhaps someone has posted it elsewhere, but we're not aware that he has been identified, until now. According to the <span style="font-style: italic;">Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide</span>, the architect is J. G. Glover:<br /><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><b>"Buildings Projected - Kings County," <i>RERBG</i> v. 44, no. 1116 (August 3, 1889): p. 1094.</b><br />- 1693 - 7th av, n w cor 9th st, one four-story brick club house, 38.6x71, tin roof, iron cornice; cost, $30,000; Chas. Nickenig, 368 11th st; ar't, J. G. Glover.</span><br /><br />J. G. (John Graham) Glover's name is familiar to us; he was the architect of C. B. Sheldon's great <a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2009/02/introducing-cevedra-blake-sheldon.html"></a><a href="http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2009/02/introducing-cevedra-blake-sheldon.html">Verona</a> apartment building at 7th Avenue and President Street. Glover's name also appears frequently in various historic district Designation Reports.HDEChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09606554107782503091noreply@blogger.com2