The National Trust for Historic Preservation declared that the industrial waterfront of Brooklyn to be one of the top 11 most endangered historic spots in the country. A local non-profit, the Municipal Art Society helped to nominate the area along with such sites as the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail that runs between Texas and New Mexico and the more famous Route 66.
This is an important development for the waterfront of Brooklyn because it shows how important this area is to the history of New York and the country itself. Instead of tearing down our history for the enrichment of developers, historians would rather see a transformation of the old industrial buildings such as what happened to SoHo and TriBeCa.
From The New York Times:
“They have value for the working waterfront and industrial retention in New York City,” Lisa Kersavage, a preservationist at the Municipal Art Society, said of the structures. “We need to raise awareness that these buildings are of national significance and that their loss is of national concern.”The waterfront was nominated for the endangered list by the society, a nonprofit preservation organization. The society says that the city’s Department of Buildings issued 1,740 new building permits in Brooklyn in 2005. The same year the buildings department issued 1,924 permits for demolition, roughly double the number issued five years ago.
“Brooklyn lost five buildings and gained four new ones every day in 2005,” the society said in its nomination. Asked about the trust’s concerns, Daniel L. Doctoroff, deputy mayor for economic development and rebuilding, pointed out that some buildings might be preserved, like the Domino Sugar refinery, a brick Romanesque Revival structure that is up for consideration by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Well of course the Domino Sugar Refinery won't be demolished, that would cause a city-wide uproar. This is more important than one famous example for the city to show a pseudo-soft side. The problem is that the city and the developers want to demolish Brooklyn bit by bit to raise real estate prices and gentrify as much of the city as they possibly can. Preserving the area isn't the most economically profitable solution for these people so Bloomberg and developers like the Atlantic Yards group fight against the community they want to sweep aside.
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