THOMSON METER, DUMBO

by Kevin Walsh

Over the winter [2015] I worked in DUMBO for several weeks. One of my favorite buildings in the neighborhood is the Thomson Meter Building at Jay and York Streets; its ornate, rococo exterior is quite out of context for the neighborhood, which is dominated by stolid brick and concrete buildings originally used for manufacturing, many in the paper and cardboard factories built by Robert Gair.

Above is a closeup of one of the building’s terra cotta corner medallions and is the only one with a surviving TM symbol.

 

The Beaux Arts building was constructed in 1908 by Louis Jallade and was one of Brooklyn’s first buildings to utilize concrete. Thomson Meter wasn’t in the building for long, as it outgrew the building and moved a block to Washington Street in 1927 (above; in recent years, gentrifiers have repainted a Thomson Meter Company sign on the building’s exterior).

In 2004 the original building was declared a NYC landmark, and the brick building also stands within the DUMBO landmarked district.

6/26/15

 

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