Building of the Day: 1 Water Street

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Former FDNY Marine Company 7, now Brooklyn Ice Cream Company
Address: 1 Water Street
Cross Streets: Beginning of Old Fulton Street
Neighborhood: Fulton Ferry /DUMBO
Year Built: 1926
Architectural Style: Colonial Revival
Architect: Unknown
Landmarked: Yes, part of Fulton Ferry HD (1977)

The story: There is so much impressive architecture competing with world-class vistas here that a trip to the Fulton Ferry Historic District should be on everyone’s must-see list, whether you are from out of town or a native New Yorker. This former Marine Fireboat Station is like icing on the cake, sitting right at the base of one of the greatest urban views ever.

This was the site of the Fulton Ferry, the most important transportation hub in the city of Brooklyn before the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. Daily steamboat travel to and from Manhattan in the early 19th-century helped make Brooklyn a major city.

The ferry stopped running in 1924, and this fire station was built two years later. By 1931, Fireboat Engine 77 moved in. The tower was used to hang and dry fire hoses, and some of New York’s most celebrated fire boats operated from here. In 1959, the name of the station was changed to Marine 7, and they were in operation until the house was closed in 1970. During that same decade, the building briefly became the headquarters for the National Maritime Historical Society, and then was empty for many years.

The building was landmarked when the Fulton Ferry Historic District was designated in 1977, and was renovated by the city, which leased it to Michael O’Keefe, the owner of the River Cafe. He, in turn, backed Mark Thompson, the creator the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, who took over the lease and has been at this location since 2001. GMAP

(Originally posted 11/01/10)