Results tagged “diabeacon”

- Snack Dragon Taco Shack

If you are anything like us, the gorgeous spring weather, coupled with the increasingly long days, has infected you with a raging case of spring fever only rivaled by the fevered psychosis of an eighth grader on the last afternoon of school. Our lunch hours are getting a little bit longer each day and by 4:59 every Friday we've got our noses pressed against the glass doors of our office, twitching a little bit more with ever passing second. This Friday should prove even worse, since we're planning a weekend trip to Dia Beacon, the irresistible contemporary art museum just far enough out of the city to feel like a little day vacation.

There's some scintillating High Line news: The New York Times reports that Dia Art will move its galleries from Chelsea to the entrance of the High Line at Washington and Gansevoort Streets:

The city owns 820 Washington Street and is supporting Dia's proposed museum, which must go through a public review and be approved by the city. Plans call for possibly demolishing the existing structure, an old meatpacking facility now in disrepair, and building a simple two-story museum with 45,000 square feet of gallery space on two floors. Dia's proposal includes provisions to expand the Gansevoort Meat Market on the West Street side of the building, said Michael Govan, director of Dia.

Further, people will be able to enter the museum from the High Line, the very idea of which makes Gothamist ooh and aah, because it raises the possibility of a different kind of vertical city, with layers of levels, like from Metropolis or any other sci-fi movie; we're still waiting for levitating Jetsons-like space cars. The Dia wants to create a space similar to the Dia Beacon, "a series of simple, raw spaces with skylights rather than a fancy architect-designed monument." Take that, Guggenheim/Krens/Gehry! The project is contingent upon a lot of approval, but our fingers are crossed.

The Domino Sugar Plant in Williamsburg has been bought. The NY Times reports that developers have not disclosed what the plant will be, but notes that one of the partners, Isaac Katan, is a "Brooklyn developer who has helped gentrify Fourth Avenue in Park Slope", while the other partner, C.P.C. Resources, has experience in rehabilitation of older apartments. The article also notes that when the plant stopped sugar production (but remained open) last August, City Planning department had wanted to keep the plant for manufacturing, but things might have changed. Gothamist knows this much: The views from the plant would be really spectacular, whether residential or a commercial property...it would be cool to put a museum there, the way the Tate Modern, DIA Beacon and Mass MoCA are in old plants. But that doesn't do much to ensure blue collar jobs, so we'll be curious to see how planning officials and developers address the issue.