UNTIL 2015, this had been a very special sidewalk on the west side of West between Milton and Noble, since it was the only sidewalk paved with wood blocks embedded in turf. Who knows how long that condition had existed. The owner of the property, #67 West, or the Department of Transportation (which cares little for history) constructed a new sidewalk, forever replacing the wood blocks. They can be seen on this Google Street View from 2013.
The thing about Greenpoint is that in a few short blocks you can take in gentility, gentrification and desolation and experience the three all over again. The gorgeous brownstone blocks of India, Java, Kent, Milton and Noble are not far away from the Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse on West Street between Milton and Oak, until 2006 a tangled, rusty mass of 19th Century industrial loft buildings bridges by rusting, deteriorating overpasses. A huge fire, which some still maintain was arson, destroyed some of those buildings and the metal overpasses.
In the footsteps of Aragorn: actor Viggo Mortensen, years before appearing in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, prepared for his role in A Perfect Murder by occupying a Greenpoint loft; an accomplished painter and photographer, Mortensen’s 1997 photo “From Greenpoint Terminal” gained national notice. The terminal area has often been used as a movie set; in 1994’s Romeo Is Bleeding, Lena Olin attempts to garrote Gary Oldman while they are driving past the Terminal: Oldman crashes the car and Olin squeezes through the front windshield and staggers away up West Street.
Few parts of Brooklyn are changing as quickly as Greenpoint, and I recently walked up West Street again, the focal point of the change as multimillion dollar residences go up on what was formerly a sleepy waterside street lined with lofts, warehouses and factories. Photos from that walk will appear here, hopefully sometime soon.
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5/7/24
3 comments
Wood pavers could be cut to exact size, allowing for a continuous, smooth surface, unlike cobble stones or blue slate. (Think of walking, or bicycle riding on cobble stones!) They also had another major difference, in that they were softer and somewhat absorbent, as opposed to cobble stones or concrete. If you visit historic railroad roundhouses, you will find them in use as flooring throughout the facility. In such places, liquid lubricants were in great use, and would often drip to the floor. On a smooth stone surface, it would be an immediate slipping hazard, but the wood pavers would absorb much of the spill. Also, when a mechanic dropped a large heavy tool, like a massive wrench, the impact would be somewhat absorbed by a wood block floor. The tool would not ricochet as much as it would on a cobble stone or concrete floor (worker safety), and had a slightly better chance of not being chipped or broken by the impact (equipment maintenance).
Kev, you remain the premier urban explorer of oue time. Fantastic piece.
I second this.