Friday, June 19, 2009

Admirals Row building collapses

SPECIAL PRESERVATION ALERT

Dereliction of Duty: National Guard Allows Admiral's Row to Collapse

The Historic Districts Council was dismayed to learn earlier today about the collapse of one of the NR-eligible properties in Admiral's Row, in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. (http://curbed.com/archives/2009/06/19/curbedwire_am_special_collapse_on_admirals_row.php)

We are outraged that the National Guard has allowed this to happen in direct violation of their own policy. Since the beginning of the environmental mitigation process to supervise the transfer of these buildings to the City, HDC has repeatedly and publicly insisted that the buildings be secured against further deterioration http://www.nan.usace.army.mil/business/buslinks/admiral/pdf/aug08/minutes.pdf.

The unwillingness to protect publicly-owned historic properties, in direct opposition to Department of Defense Regulations (http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/r200_1.pdf or

http://www.achp.gov/army.html), casts serious doubt on the independence of the environmental consulting process and suggests that the fate of these important historic resources was already determined outside of public purview. HDC demands that the National Guard Bureau explain why the mandated measures to protect these buildings were not taken.

Please email the National Guard at AdmiralsRowBNY@usace.army.mil to request that they explain their lack of action in securing these historic structures.

Photo from Curbed

3 comments:

The Big Picture said...

"Do as I say, not as I do."

Anonymous said...

The "preservation movement" collapsed a long time ago so there was nothing to shore up those historic structures beyond the preservationists' whine & cheese prattling!

HDC has become a 3 letter word...
holding daybreak coffee-talks.

One lump or two?

Anonymous said...

Why should we worry about the collapse of unoccupied buildings when they are being collapsed on people's heads at this very moment?

Speak to the 8 people trapped in the Harlem Pizzeria, the artist flung 200 feet into the air, the people whose homes are endangered by the second avenue subway project, the man driven out of his home by the church that promoted "affordable housing," while wrecking his rent-controlled hovel.

Why is it okay to hurt and endanger people?