A Place That Matters: Red Hook Graving Dock
In an effort to advocate for “places in New York City that preserve history and sustain culture,” the Municipal Art Society , in partnership with organization called City Lore, publishes a website called Placematters.net. Readers are invited to nominate locations that they think fit the description. This week, for example, the Red Hook Graving Dock…
In an effort to advocate for “places in New York City that preserve history and sustain culture,” the Municipal Art Society , in partnership with organization called City Lore, publishes a website called Placematters.net. Readers are invited to nominate locations that they think fit the description. This week, for example, the Red Hook Graving Dock — currently on the verge of being demolished to make way for the IKEA parking lot — gets special attention, having been submitted by Mary Habstritt:
As of October, 2006, Graving Dock No. 1 is the only structure still standing to remind us of the mighty Todd Shipyards Corporation, once a nationwide company, birthed in Erie Basin. All the shipyard buildings have been demolished as part of developing the site for an IKEA store. Once one of the largest dry docks in the world, it is a symbol of Red Hook’s long maritime history, of technological innovation, and of New York’s contributions to national war efforts. It is a place where ships could still be repaired and it is part of what makes Brooklyn unique. It is a place that makes New York a place, different from all others.
There’s lots of historical info about the Graving Dock on the Place Matters site. Our only gripe: Too much Flash technology for our tastes. It’s easier to read about on the MAS site.
Week 13: Red Hook Graving Dock [MAS]
Since moving to bk almost 10 years ago I have found these issues somewhat humorous. It’s trendy these days to be anti-corporate / anti -establishment.
The anti Ratner movement use “Develop don’t Destroy Brooklyn” as their moniker. How much money has this dock brought to Brooklyn over the last 20 years and compare that to how much not only this construction project brings but also the influx of money buy all the new businesses that will pop up around this store
Here’s all the coverage in the local papers, as you can see concern about the graving dock is noted as early as 2004. And IKEA has certainly renegged on it’s initial promise to keep it active since it’s already started filling it in.
http://www.brooklynpapers.com/html/issues/columns/nets/n_ikeaguide.html
Saving the graving dock has been part of the local battle against IKEA for quite some time and alternative plans have been posed to IKEA but they are patently disinterested. The company that was running the graving dock (and renting it from the landowners) before the shipyard was sold even offered to buy that small sliver from IKEA. Again, they were not interested. Members of the different Red Hook community organizations have even given examples from other cities, such as amsterdamn, about how you can have commerce and active maritime support industries side by side. IKEA is not interested. For a company that claims a public face of progressiveness when touting it’s eco-conscious design they turn a flagrantly blind toward the interests and needs of the community they’re about to impact exponentiatlly.
Lets go to NYC and visit the Empire State, MoMA, Statue of Liberty and the Red Hook graving dock.
I was thinking along similar lines – if the graving dock was so important, or if anything in that area was so important, how come nobody speaks up or takes action or proposes any kind of alternative development until an area is threatened? I’m all for challenging greedy, unimaginative developers, but come on, let’s be proactive not reactive. (It’s something the whole entire Left needs to do.) But since those who care about the graving dock let it slip into the hands of Ikea (or any other developer who would have come along, of which there would have been plenty) I’m really looking forward to that Ikea opening up there.
if saving the graving dock is so important then where was MAS during the IKEA ULURP hearings? They never testified at any of the hearings – CB, BP, CPC or City Council.