11 Most Endangered
Brooklyn's Industrial Waterfront
Year Listed: 2007
Location: New York
Current Status: Endangered
Threat: Development, Poor Public Policy
Once a booming 19th-century industrial waterfront supported by generation of immigrants, Brooklyn's heritage is at risk as historic dockyards and factories are being demolished by developers anxious to cash in on the area's newly hip status. For more than a century, the New York City region was one of this country’s dominant manufacturing hubs. Due to its location on the East River and the New York Harbor, Brooklyn was the city’s industrial center with scores of maritime operations, factories, warehouses and sugar refineries. In the second half of the twentieth century, industry declined, and what’s left of that striking architectural and historical legacy is now at risk. Also at risk are the places that make Brooklyn work, the buildings and sites that house manufacturing and industrial jobs.
Update
Brooklyn’s real estate market is booming. The City’s Department of Buildings issued 1,740 new building permits in Brooklyn in 2005, amounting to four new building permits per day. In that same period, the department issued 1,924 permits for demolition, or five demolition permits per day. And the city is rezoning to make way for residential development without adequately planning for the preservation of Brooklyn’s industrial heritage. In May of 2005, the New York City Council approved a rezoning proposal for the Greenpoint-Williamsburg waterfront. The scale of the rezoning plan is immense, covering 180 blocks and allowing for up to 40-story residential buildings to be constructed along the waterfront - a move that has already caused the demolition of historic manufacturing buildings to make way for new residential units. Also at risk are jobs. Nearly a quarter million New Yorkers have industrial jobs, and many small manufacturing enterprises have set up shop in Brooklyn’s historic industrial buildings. Furthermore, to keep New York’s waterborne regional transportation network afloat and its maritime industry competitive, it is critical to preserve Brooklyn’s historic docks and ship repair yards. New York was once at the forefront of preserving this nation’s industrial heritage. The city and state developed incentives and policies to reuse manufacturing and industrial buildings that were functionally obsolete. Across the city, buildings were retained and, when appropriate, reused. The world-famous SoHo and Tribeca neighborhoods offer many examples of how former manufacturing buildings can be retained and successfully marketed. The city needs to enforce its strong preservation laws, and pursue more designations to protect its significant industrial buildings and sites, while conducting comprehensive planning to allow for appropriate growth and development.
