Another building bites the dust in LIC - Say goodbye to CANGRO

That was a cool building that could have been rehabilitated and used for a loft conversion. Once again, another intriguing building bites the dust in HP.

That building sat empty for years, why didn't someone buy it and convert it if it was so valuable. Truth is, it wasn't valuable in that way.

Viva la capitalism!!! That whole block should be knocked down, except maybe for Cafe Henri.

One plus is the shiny new building will help drive out the clueless dirty midwesterns, sunlight has the same effect on them as soap does, they hate it.

here we go again.

#2 why does value only translate in monetary terms? That building has other kinds of value.... like HISTORIC value. The architectural history of this neighborhood is practically being erased completely.

what's a midwesterns?

LOL. Dockers Suck!

yep. still suck

#2 wears Dockers, V-neck cable-knit sweaters, and a white baseball cap.

and his girlfriend has a really bad fake tan.

who cares about historic value? Define it. What does it mean to the average individual? Nothing, so away it goes.

It's historic value may mean something to you, so go buy it and save it. Why should you get to dictate what gets built or doesn't get built.

this building was originally intended to be a conversion (according to the original permits). I guess that they chose not to in the end.

Exactly! Because it's so expensive to do a conversion. And, frankly, they'd have to charge so much no one would buy there. New sells, not 'used.' Look at how poorly the Powerhouse is selling. There you go.

Oh, how the Midwesterners will complain about LIC losing its identity! Dirty dirty people.

"New sells, not 'used.' Look at how poorly the Powerhouse is selling. There you go"

Uh, maybe it's because the Powerhouse looks like shit. There are plenty of historic rowhouses, apartment blocks, and loft conversions doing fine...

I wish some developer would come along and spend a little extra to incorporate our older buildings (or at least their facades) into the new building -- a la The Badge Building, etc.

I don't see any permits for the demolition - is it even legal?

WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

RE: the powerhouse....at least if you live IN it, you don't have to look AT it...

LOVE IT #17!!!

BTW maybe people aren't buying in the Powerhouse because it is a cancer cluster waiting to happen.

Yay more condos, just what NYC needs. I wonder where all the middle class, regular working folks will wind up living. Obviously this town doesn't want them anymore.

#14, I agree, more buildings that convert the exisiting industrial structures into living space would be a great addition to LIC, and keep the integretiy of the neighborhood while still developing it. Arris and Badge did it pretty well (and sold well, too.) It would be nice if more developers went that route instead of churning out cookie cutters.

Cities around the world with a lot less money than NYC have managed to preserve and reuse buildings hundreds of years older than ours and create bustling areas a lot of Americans (except narrow-minded idiots like No. 2) love to visit and fantasize about living in.

And yet in NYC, we all accept at face value that there is always every reason in the world to knock down the old, beautifully constructed buildings and replace them with tacky shit. It's progress, we're told. Or it would be impossible to market the spaces. Or people wouldn't afford the new space.

I just wonder what the hell is NYC going to look like in a few decades if this continues. Like some god awful Persian Gulf city filled with dull, unimaginative people with no taste? YUCK. Count me out.

so wait ... the old Schwartz Chemical Factory was worth preserving?

does the Cangro one look like something worth preserving also?

I like preservation as much as everyone, but neither one of those buildings are something to be proud of. Better left for old postcards.

the cangro looks better to me than most of the new condo buildings. i wonder if LIC will eventaually look like miami... minus the stucco.

the Powerhouse is for buyers that never saw the original building. It was a fascinating looking building and was hoping for a much better conversion visually than it turned out to be.

If I had the money to buy a condo in LIC (which I don't) I would buy in a brand new development not a conversion like the Powerhouse.

19 - you should be ashamed of yourself with that comment. Stop insulting the great middle class neighborhoods of Queens and Brooklyn. There are plenty of good neighborhoods with ample housing supply affordable to middle income earners. Your comment is disgraceful.

21- Do you have any actual examples of recent reused buildings in foreign cities, or are you just talking out of your butt?

This building had some nice features, but it was a vacant mess. I'm glad something nice and useful will be built there.

To #21: Paris.

these threads are like a broken record...

No. 21, How about the Tate Modern in London? It was an old wreck of a powerhouse, much like the former Schwartz Chemical, that was refurbished into a modern art museum and is now one of the biggest tourist draws in the city. You need to get out more often.

Meant to write, to #26 (you're right Brandon, this sucks):

"Uh, Paris."

27 - Paris is not an example of a building. However, since you bring it up, Paris does seem to be having issues with its tight building restrictions:

Paris's unchanging borders, strict building codes and lack of developable land have together contributed in creating a phenomenon called muséification (or "museumification") as, at the same time as they strive to preserve Paris's historical past, existing laws make it difficult to build within the city limits the larger buildings and utilities needed for a growing population. Many of Paris's institutions and economic infrastructure are already located in, or are planning on moving to, the suburbs. The financial (La Défense) business district, the main food wholesale market (Rungis), major renowned schools (École Polytechnique, HEC, ESSEC, INSEAD, etc.), world famous research laboratories (in Saclay or Évry), the largest sport stadium (Stade de France), and some ministries (namely the Ministry of Transportation) are located outside of the city of Paris. The National Archives of France are due to relocate to the northern suburbs before 2010. The need for a larger Paris is largely acknowledged by the French government. As of November 2007, discussions for such a larger Paris have begun, though which suburbs should be included in this larger Paris is unresolved. In any case, such an extension will not occur before the French city-hall elections, scheduled in the spring of 2008.

Parsians smell bad, like Midwesterners. Both don't like to bathe much.

So they should turn Cangro into a museum? How about PS1? Wasn't that converted into a museum while maintaining the original architecture? It seems like we actually do maintain existing buildings where plausible in this country. You need to get out more often.

I'm glad they're knocking down that old building, but I was hoping they would build a Wal-Mart. It would be nice if there was somewhere in the neighborhood to buy Dockers.

No, Banana Republic, Gap, J. Crew. Wal-Mart would attract the wrong kind of people, if you know what I mean.

Yeah, but all those companies are based out of the Midwest. They must be dirty or something illogical like that.

We'll always have Paris

WTB smells bad as well

thank you, bro