Fedders for 101 Clinton Street?
There’s been plenty of activity at 101 Clinton Street since it was reported back in August that the former commercial building was going residential, but most of it’s been on the inside. The most visible change on the outside are the new windows and, sacré bleu, the cut-outs underneath them that look scarily like they…
There’s been plenty of activity at 101 Clinton Street since it was reported back in August that the former commercial building was going residential, but most of it’s been on the inside. The most visible change on the outside are the new windows and, sacré bleu, the cut-outs underneath them that look scarily like they are made to accommodate a Fedders air conditioner or some such appliance. It’s out of the Historic District but Brooklyn Heights nonetheless. Imagine the scandal!
As much as I hate the Fedders look, I have to agree with morralkan that it could be a lot worse. My Chinese immigrant neighbor in Flushing installed four of those Euopean/Asian style compressors on shelves mounted to the outside wall of a townhouse (two in front, two in back) and then ran the connecting hoses tacked to the outside of the brick. These new systems use small diameter tubing wrapped in insulation in place of traditional ductwork but these folks didn’t want to spend the money to put them in the wall so they just ran them on the outside of the building. If you’ve seen the movie Brazil, you’ll know what it looks like. Is there any building code that prevents this?
It will be interesting to see the development of this building and its cousin one block north. The Archstone building on Montague is another example of the “developer banal” style. At least these projects are providing work to some people and these corners will no longer be derelict & lifeless. I hope the design turns out attractive. It would be great if someone opened an “Intelligentsia” cafe. Montague St already has an abundance of muffin/cupcake shops
If you want to see UGLY air conditioning units, try taking a trip to Milan where, in some places, buildings are covered with large, exterior AC units attached to the exterior walls. I’ll take discreet AC units under the windows any day, Fedders signs and all.
This is right across the street from the Brooklyn Heights Historic District so most typical New York developers exploit that fact by making their building as cheap and banal and hideous as possible and let the location adjacent to a beautiful and expensive neighborhood do the selling. It’s a no brainer. And people buy the ugly apartments. ugly sells. so who’s to blame the developers? They’re in it for the money and they do very well.
Agree with NYGuy except the 100 Congress part. Don’t recall what that building looks like.
But it would be pretty cool if there were A/C units under those windows with ‘FEDDERS’ in bold hot pink lettering. Why should Brooklyn Heights be immune from tacky.
Too bad the windows line up.
Hard to say until you see the finished building. Exterior units aren’t bad per se–it’s the fugly FEDDERS sign that makes them hideous. They can be tastefully covered with grates/vents.
It’s not necessarily bad to have the cut outs for heating or a/c units under the windows. Some buildings just do a much better job of blending them in more than others do. 100 Congress has them and they look ok on that building.