Isn’t it interesting - and rather telling - that the owner of the property, a 19th Century storehouse has not commented for over a month about a fire on its own property?
CG CORD
Was a Fire Set to Destroy Part of Brooklyn’s Industrial Past?
By - July 12, 2018
"A 19th century storehouse, damaged by a suspicious blaze, becomes a symbol of the struggle to preserve sites in Gowanus and Red Hook"
"The two-alarm fire that swept through a 19th-century Red Hook warehouse on the night of June 14 was a spectacle, complete with fireboats in the Gowanus Canal aiming multiple streams of water at the blaze. It sparked immediate controversy as well. The next day, City Council Member Carlos Menchaca, whose 38th District includes Red Hook, declared the fire “highly suspicious.”
"Now, a month later, the city’s fire department (FDNY) has affirmed the elected official’s hunch. FDNY spokesman Jim Long told The Bridge this week that while the investigation is continuing, the event is now being “treated as a suspicious fire.” The FDNY’s current view was first reported by Crain’s New York Business."
"The building is at the symbolic center of a conflict between the owner, who has petitioned to tear down the historic building, and neighborhood preservationists, who want to save notable examples of 19th-century industrial heritage, as the Red Hook and Gowanus neighborhoods are being transformed by residential construction."
"What’s most inflammatory about this particular conflict is the timing of the fire. “It occurred after the Red Hook community raised alarms about recent, potentially illegal construction activity on the roof and after my office and community leaders took steps to start landmarking the building,” Menchaca said in his statement."
All Photo Credits:c. Steve Koepp
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