Finally Some Action at Russo Realty Buildings
A few months ago, we reported that Carroll Garden’s Russo Realty buildings were not being demolished despite previous claims to the contrary. The interiors were getting a gut reno and the facade was supposed to be completely restored. We pass by these buildings on Smith Street a lot, and it was only in recent days…
A few months ago, we reported that Carroll Garden’s Russo Realty buildings were not being demolished despite previous claims to the contrary. The interiors were getting a gut reno and the facade was supposed to be completely restored. We pass by these buildings on Smith Street a lot, and it was only in recent days that we started to notice some activity. About time!
Russo Buildings Not Biting the Dust GMAP
I think this row is beyond repair or restore.
I am thinking like a big bulldozer……
where am i supposed to get stuff notarized now?
Poor ol’ frame houses. Never did anyone no harm.
“Many old houses sag and list a bit”
You shoulda seen the lean on my step-grandad’s tudor cottage in Surrey, England. Fortunately it stopped leaning about 400 years back and had been sturdy ever since.
Minard — I’ve reno’d and preserved an old frame from circa 1860s that had some detail left. My heart is all for doing that. But I’ve been by this row and I really doubt there’s anything interesting left inside. But I do think a nice economy of scale can be achieved gutting and reframing the heck out of these three all at once, inside and out, with hardi siding + white casings, a full 4th floor and mansard roof. Would look great, probably better than they ever looked before. I would love that but i certainly wouldn’t call it preservation. We’ll see what they do, but I just can’t bleed much for this row.
I agree with Minard that if these were restored they would be quite charming. With new clapboards and apropriate windows and roofing they would give passerbys the sense of the workingman’s housing that was common near the waterfront in the middle of the 19th Century.
These houses are clown houses. They have perceived charm merely because they are absolutely ridiculous. The cement and petrol companies and the subway overpass add more actual charm (in an industrial way) than these crap-holes. They are an embarrassment and I wish they had been torn down.
The sagging and listing on these houses had approached – and actually blown through – the realm of unsafe. Anyone that had ever seen those roofs from the F train knows what I’m talking about. The neglect was oozing out of the walls.
I’ll admit that it’s certainly better that they are being reno’ed than being left the way they were – protected under the guise of some BS historical preservation tag. But I wish I’d have been spared looking at these eye sores for one more day with a demo.
(puts arm around Minard’s shoulder).
Come on, worthy adversary. Let me buy you a good stiff drink!
I hope they are not torn down down, I worry when I see those “X’s” painted on the fronts.
Many old houses sag and list a bit, that is part of their charm. With new clapboard siding, windows, and a new roof these beautifully proportioned early houses would be very attractive. I wish they could be moved en masse to a corner of Brooklyn Heights or Fort Greene. They really would be terrific. They are nice and wide and hopefully they still have original details inside including the stairs and fireplaces -all handmade from before mass-production techniques were invented.
These houses are rather simple though, not like the later brownstones. You either get it or you don’t, there is little profit in arguing about it.