Thoughts

In the grander scheme of things, United Methodist Church should belong to a league of historic buildings in South Brooklyn.  We all [subconsciously] know which ones they are but only realize we have this knowledge (of which structures deserve preservation) when they are threatened by change or decay.
I am working on a map of South Brooklyn to locate these buildings.


Whether or not they should be landmarked to ensure their future existence is a topic for another time. But in the meantime, if we had a map maybe building owners would be convinced to maintain them in keeping with the intent of the original architect.

Sheepshead Bites article !

Sheepshead Bites posted an entry today, "Campaign To Save Methodist Church Gains Steam" about my efforts to save the steeples. I have received several responses already and am inspired to continue. Thank you to all those who are reading and pushing for my success.

6 AM/6PM

When day broke around 6:30 AM, I saw this on Brighton Beach. Plumes of gas fumes funneling straight into the air, and no one inside the vehicle. These trucks in the photo assist long flat bed trucks that are transporting new boardwalk concrete slab and wood sections to the Ocean Parkway section under construction.  They [the city?] began using Brighton 15th Street last summer since there are few wide entry points to the beach.

6 AM

The problem is the flat bed trucks often get stuck making the turn around the abandoned red building, and so these other caterpillar trucks spend hours smoothing out the sand for the flat beds, OR pushing the flat bed trucks out of sand when they inevitably get stuck in ruts.

It's hard to say if the flat beds going back and forth all day is the most efficient option available. Where are the concrete slabs being loaded from?

6 PM

Anyway, I was horrified by the fumes. Once I came home from work, I prepared three letters to post in each of the three trucks and went onto the beach to tapes these missives onto the inside of the glass for the drivers to find tomorrow.

proof i'm the note bandit

exterior view of my note on the yellow truck

taped note from inside truck

143 new boarwalk pieces

Forest Stewardship Council approved!

.









Poll:
What will the construction crew with the notes?
a) rip them off like angry giants and throw them to the ground with a huff
b) look for people like me spying through windows
c) keep the ignition off til the last possible second
d) write me back














My trip to the beach gave me a chance to inspect the collection of other things they are storing on the beach.  They currently have 4 blocks/crates of 143 Forest Stewardship Certified wood slats ready to go.  That makes me happy.  But idling sort of undoes that environmental consciousness, no?

I also had a chance to take a picture of the rear facade of the blue house aka 232 Corbin Place.

United Methodist Church

The recent news about the steeples appears to have drawn attention of other fields of study, aside from architecture.

The New York City Chapter of The American Guild of Organists has an entry about United Methodist's organ history. http://www.nycago.org/Organs/Bkln/html/SheepsheadBayMeth.html#Moller

Avenue U

L and I were craving the $8.00 antipasto salad from Tre Fratelli on Avenue Z on Saturday.  It was midday, but they were closed, which was weird.  So we went to Rocco's (formerly Bari and formerly next to the Capri Bakery, I think?) Pork Store on Avenue U and bought an equally tasty salad for $7.  When did Richard Yee's close?*  I've always wanted to see what the interior looked like.  I hope Shulman's holds on.




*My sister tells me it's been closed for 2 years already!

42nd Street @ 6 PM

232 Corbin Place

Demolition of the garage and front of the house started today. Heartbreaking loss of architectural design.  No one would make a decorative wooden frame like that anymore.

electric signs at stillwell

I haven't been to Stillwell in a while, but was there tonight and saw new electric signs. The sign pointed to one that was being retired for the night however, the next one that left departed from the track to the right.

October 1901 article re: United Methodist/Sheepshead Bay Methodist Episcopal Church

Brooklyn Daily Eagle Online

July 18, 1902 The Brooklyn Daily Eagle article about United Methodist

Taken from The Brooklyn Daily Eagle Online

Campaign to save the steeples

Existing                        and                     Proposed

I am continuing the campaign, started by media agencies such as Sheepshead Bites, the Daily News and the New York Times, to publicize the planned removal of the steeples at United Methodist Church in Sheepshead Bay.

Any interested parties can contact me so that I can send this letter out on their behalf to everyone I can possibly think of in an effort to discover funding options which do not appear to have been pursued by the parish yet.

I really believe that the greater Sheepshead Bay community loves this building and does not want to see it changed.  Regardless of whether we belong to the parish, it belongs to our collective memory of the neighborhood. Therefore, I am also distributing surveys to the local community to collect memories/stories about the church or the building. Anyone interested, please contact me via the comments section.


Please see letter below:

For those of you who would like to copy and paste the above letter, here is the basic text:

_______ __ , 2011

Dear local community leader,

I am writing to express my concern over the removal of the steeples at United Methodist Church in Sheepshead Bay, located at Ocean and Voorhies Avenue.

I hope that by writing to you, you can reach out to the United Methodist Church Board of Trustees and parishioners to advise them that their building is iconic and an essential part of Sheepshead Bay's history as well as part of the neighborhood's present architectural landscape.

I also hope that with publicity the church may find funding to restore them instead of removing them.

Sincerely,

____________________

United Methodist Church

2004 Voorhies Avenue

It's been a week since I learned about the planned removal of the two steeples at United Methodist Church.

I am still trying to figure out what should be done, and can be done to convince the church not to proceed. It appears that the church has not try to obtain funding.

I would like to meet the architect to hear how the scope was determined and particularly why the steeples could not be restored in place, and why the project could not be accomplished in phases to save on costs.  The cost affidavit says the demolition (and I'm assuming the capping work) is $22,000.  We don't know however if the contractor a) is doing it at cost, and b) whether the scope was bid out to many contractors to obtain the best price.

Conapac Services Corp. is the contractor who pulled the sidewalk shed permit. It is not clear whether he will be performing the demolition work since the demo permit was pulled by the architect.

Hotbird

There's a new HotBird right near one of the iridescent, indestructable yellow signs off of Atlantic Avenue.  

At the Clinton Washington G train station, they could have replaced the old wood railing but that wouldn't have been as fun.  Look at the care that went into this. I love it.

333 East 54th Street

Saw this building on my way to a site visit and had to take a photograph on my way back to the train.  A modernist building sneaking in some traditional detailing at the cornice level and some pistachio-colored, french-styled fire escapes.  The colors in the photos don't convey how nice it was, so you'll have trust me.

636-638 Pacific Street

I can't believe this building is gone.  I took these photos April 17, 2009

232 Corbin Place

Change is on it's way. It appears that the house was recently sold. There are signs for pesticide and bait posted on the outside of the house.


The most recent plan exam to build a one family house on the existing foundations was disapproved.

The house second from the left has just been sold. The application to rebuild on the existing foundations has been rejected for now.