A couple more things to do this weekend!

August 16, 2007 by
Filed under: Area 51 

Last night my pal over at Brooklyn11211 brought two walking tours of Greenpoint and Williamsburg to my attention. Per the Waterfront Preseravtion Alliance web site:

This weekend, WPA members Ward Dennis and Mary Habstritt will be leading a walking tour of Williamsburg & Greenpoint’s Industrial Heritage for the Roebling Chapter of the Society for Industrial Archaeology. And, as these things happen, the Francis Morrone is also leading a tour of Williamsburg & Greenpoint for the Municipal Art Society immediately afterwards. So this Sunday you can double your Williamsburg & Greenpoint historic pleasure!

Williamsburg & Greenpoint’s Industrial Heritage Walking Tour
Sunday, August 19, 1:00 – 4:00 pm.
This neighborhood’s industrial and social history, as well as recent efforts to preserve its historic buildings, will be explored on this tour led by Mary Habstritt, Preservation Committee Chair, and Ward Dennis, historian and member of the Waterfront Preservation Alliance of Greenpoint & Williamsburg. Sites along the way will include the Williamsburg Bridge, Domino Sugar, the Austin, Nichols & Co. Warehouse, remnants of American Manufacturing Co., once the world’s largest rope factory (aka Greenpoint Terminal Market), and Eberhard Faber’s pencil plant.

Meet at the HSBC/Williamsburg Savings Bank, at 175 Broadway (corner of Driggs). Take the J,M,Z subway to Marcy Av. and walk west (toward the East River) on Broadway to the bank.

Greenpoint and Williamsburg — Endangered Waterfront Tour
Date: Sunday, August 19
Time: 4:30 PM
Location: Meet at Manhattan and Greenpoint avenues, by the Greenpoint Ave. station of the G train, Brooklyn
Reservations: Not required
Tour fee: $15, $12 MAS members
For more information: http://www.mas.org, 212-935-2075

These once-bustling working waterfronts lost most of their shipping and manufacturing after World War II, and now even the ghostly remnants of days gone by are being swept aside by a ferocious tide of gentrification, rezoning, and rebuilding as developers reshape these historic waterfronts into enclaves of posh housing. This tour, sponsored by the Municipal Art Society, will look at the current and future redevelopment, and search for the bits left over from the past–some deserving of landmark status. Leader: Francis Morrone, architectural historian.

This is an excellent opportunity to learn more about the historic richness of the north Brooklyn waterfront and why it should be protected. On that note, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out an EXCELLENT piece of writing by Norman Oder (of the Atlantic Yards Report) regarding the recent Domino Sugar Factory shenanigans. Please take the time to read it. It is time well spent.

Miss Heather

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