Gothamist: Curtains for the Red Hook Sugar Refinery

nycgirl

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 16:22:19 -0500

And you can take all of these comments and sum it up this way: NYC is no longer a place for the creative, working class people. The areas in which artists have gone and made it cool for the trust-a-farians (and you know who you are) have almost been completely absorbed by the developers and euro-trash that have absolutely NO regard for "what was". I don't say don't renew and revitalize. Take what we've got and use it in a creative and positive way. Really...what made NYC? All of these "new" people are standing on the backs of those that came before. Take me, born and raised here. I've lived in every borough except the Bronx. I live in Red Hook now. I CAN'T WAIT TO LEAVE (again). You all can stay and try to make sense of an ever evolving beast that has became New York. Good luck. You'll find me one step ahead of where ever the rich folks (with no clue or class of their own) and developers aren't.

jack oneil

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 10:58:16 -0500

Wow, for most of you this seems to be all about class envy. Face it, that building/factory IS a peice of shit. Why don't all you civic minded folks run for public office or pool your money and buy these places. Oh wait, then you would have to get a real job or at the very least get off of the couch at the non-chain coffee house where they piss into the pots when your snotty cracker ass isn't looking. The only thing that could improve Red Hook would be a subway. This would be much better than a 2nd ave line where the people that moved over by 2nd knew there was no subway and they probably like it that way.

brooklynbee

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 09:55:30 -0500

I agree with commenter #3 that these new projects are completely out of scale with the neighborhood and are already causing a traffic nightmare. Seriously, once Ikea opens, it's going to be beyond horrible. I still can not believe that got approved. I think it would be much better to take these historic sites, which were such an important part of the shipping and manufacturing industry, and turn them into something the community could enjoy and benefit from without ruining the character of the neighborhood. It COULD be done, it just wouldn't be as mega-profitable. But hey, we all need more particleboard furniture!!

mike

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 08:40:49 -0500

alex, I dont think we will. Most buildings built today are garbage.

alex

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 00:42:19 -0500

seriously, who the hell cares about all these "signature" buildings getting demoed. life goes on and it'll probably make the neighborhood better [2] Posted by: alex | December 6, 2006 5:35 PM ************************************************** How? [7] Posted by: Andrew J. Lederer | December 6, 2006 7:34 PM Hrm lets see, abandoned factory in decay vs new development. Abandoned Factory: Place for crack dealers, homeless, rats, ironic photos to be passed off as art. New Development: anything short of a toxic waste dump will be better. In 100 years the same type of people will be complaining about the buildings of today being demolished. This thing isnt even beautiful or architecturally significant.

Kevin Walsh

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 00:28:21 -0500

Nah, they're buying "Secrets of the Millionaire Mind." www.forgotten-ny.com

nick

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 23:49:49 -0500

hey kevin, the "richie riches" are the ones buying your book. so shut it.

Andrea

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 20:22:08 -0500

I've heard from a number of people that stray dogs live in the sugar refinery. My neighbor adopted one of them. Does anyone in Red Hook know if they are still there and if there are plans to remove them first?

mike

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 20:21:35 -0500

yeah, demolish it. demolish everything old!! we need more glass condos for rich people!

Peter

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 20:10:29 -0500

You can bet the ranch there won't be anything "signature" going up in its place. More barracks for the Richie Riches, most likely. Riv vu. I suppose that's preferable to yet another Fedders Special.

Andrew J. Lederer

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 19:34:04 -0500

Tim N.

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 18:45:43 -0500

Thor Equities... erasing Brooklyn one old building at a time. Obviously the refinery had outlived its usefulness, but it's a shame no one creative could have found a new use for this. Creative? Development? Not in this town.

Brouhaha

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 18:08:50 -0500

Been there, done that! http://www.flickr.com/photos/brouhahapics/tags/sugarrefinery/ I agree it is sad, but only because I find beauty in lonely scenes of urban decay. Red Hook could have been developed on a much more limited scale to be like a European waterfront gem but the easy developer money seems to be winning out once again.

Kevin Walsh

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 18:05:52 -0500

>>>who the hell cares about all these "signature" buildings getting demoed. life goes on and it'll probably make the neighborhood better You can bet the ranch there won't be anything "signature" going up in its place. More barracks for the Richie Riches, most likely. Riv vu. www.forgotten-ny.com

Max Power

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 17:46:28 -0500

That place is gorgeous and its old, dilapidated charm is part of what made Red Hook romantic. I'm sad to see it go, but that's New York. What really grinds my gears are the Fairway and Ikea; completely out of scale for that little corner of Red Hook and sure to turn those few streets into nightmarish throughways. Didn't one of the local representatives get caught accepting bribes during the approval process for the Fairway? Whatever happened to that?

alex

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 17:35:42 -0500

seriously, who the hell cares about all these "signature" buildings getting demoed. life goes on and it'll probably make the neighborhood better

nick

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 17:21:21 -0500

oh no! where are all of the photographers supposed to go now?? WON'T SOMEBODY THINK ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHERS?