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Two months ago, Con Ed admitted that the former power plant on Kent Avenue would be demolished (when asked earlier about all the activity at the site, the utility claimed it was just "spring cleaning"), and now it looks like the beautiful, century-old building's final days are here.
Photographer Nathan Kensinger, who currently has an exhibit at the Brooklyn Public Library documenting Brooklyn's fading waterfront, took these exclusive photographs of the Powerhouse. From the looks of things, they are demolishing the building – which used to supply power to the BRT subway lines – very quickly, so it's unlikely it will be up much longer.
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They also spring cleaned from First Avenue to the East River from
35th to 36th and 38th to 41st Streets.
You can bet that piece of property will be in the hands of a real estate developer momentarily.
this is a total loss-- we're going to get another glass tower condo on the site, when we could have had something really interesting (mixed-use, a community center, live/work artistan space, etc.) hell, i'd even take condos if they just maintained the look and feel of the place.
for those of you who are interested, there's another abandoned power station at the edge of yonkers that looks very similar:
http://www.bluejake.com/archives/2007/11/04/glendale_power_station.php
don't worry, there are plenty of crappy old buildings upstate you can visit if you ever feel nostalgic for places that have been abandoned.
who knows, maybe in 2200 a Jake Dobkin clone will gaze upon an abandoned glass tower on the spot and think it an artistic remnant of the past.
What a bunch of short-sighted idiots the city is to squander a grand, heroic building like this.
In Europe, we'd turn the power station into the Tate Modern (http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/) or a groundbreaking concert hall (http://www.hafencity.com/index.php?set_language=en&cccpage=projekte_detail&show=projekte&item=1).
On the neglected East River, begging for a shot in the arm and a reason to be utilized, we'll instead get a "luxury"-priced yet piece of crap building by Karl Fischer or Scarano, two of the worst architects alive today (http://www.brooklynpaper.com/assets/photos/30/50/30_50_vuerendering_z.jpg).
Guess who loses out? Yep. Thanks, New York, for having an uncorrupt, unified planning authority that makes sure the development solutions we get are the best for the city.
The old plants are georgeous. There's one in Yonkers that's just tits. But the land underneath this one was just too valuable, and publicly traded ConEd had to do what any slimy, rapacious corporation had to do: milk it. Just thank your lucky stars that Brownout Inc. doesn't own Central Park.
Duuuude. Not that exclusive...
http://ltvsquad.com/Locations/urbanexploration.php?ID=283
#4, for every Tate Modern in Europe, how many other plants have been demo'd, or subjected to the endless abortive limbo of Battersea?
It will be missed since it's one of the few nice things I can see from my bedroom window.
In the last photo, there is a bay window on the left wall.
Was riding my bike past the demo this week, and that bay window is now visible. Cool. And sad.
It appears unchecked, unregulated development still has a few more minutes to live.
Am I the only one who thinks its absurd to call an abandoned, decrepit power plant a "beautiful old building." C'mon...I like complaining about gentrification as much as the next guy, but you're grasping at nothing if it applies to dilapidated old power plants.
Most of the the same folks see someone's initials spray painted on a wall as art. There can certainly be something haunting and poignant about an abandoned building, especially under the right lighting conditions. Still, the idea that the property owner should NOT be permitted to develop the property into something useful just so a couple of folks won't have to deal with a changing landscape is ridiculous.
If you love this abandoned warehouse so much, I'm sure that for the right price the owner would happily sell it to you so you can let it sit and rot, or develop it into a community center, live/work artistan space or whatever.
While I agree that its better to put a building/property to use rather than letting it sit and rot, I really think there needs to be some kind of a park or something installed on the east river near Williamsburg. Williamsburg has a great view of the city and if something isn't done soon all we will be able to see when we look west is a solid wall of glass luxury condo buildings.