Admiral’s Row was the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s best known Bando. Literally that’s the only reason for this post.
(more…)Category: Living Spaces
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Abandoned houses of Astoria & LIC, a retrospective
Growing up in Queens, we had no shortage of abandoned houses to explore.
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Astoria’s Abandoned Funeral Home
For a hot minute in 2011, Astoria had its very own abandoned funeral home.
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The Laurel Hill Houses, demolished to make way for the new Kosciuszko Bridge
NOTE: This story was originally published on an earlier version of this site, in April of 2011. The actual exploration took place in December of 2010. There’s an update at the end.
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Inside the long abandoned tenement at Court Square (23-01 44th drive)
A few days ago, the ‘green boards of death’ went up around the long abandoned apartment building under the 7 train at Court Square.
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Flushing Stalled Construction Site
Over the last several years, Queens has been plagued by stalled construction sites: New, poorly built, half completed buildings that replaced smaller viable homes.
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Brooklyn Labor Lyceum / Willoughby Nursing Hole
Stumbling awake, with a migraine huge enough I could carry it with both hands. Stomach acid on overload. The bathroom is bright with the noontime sun blazing through the skylight above. Our newly rescued tiny kitten, who has temporarily moved into the bathroom, tries to sit between me and the toilet. I muster just enough energy to slide him away before the inevitable hangover-like situation. How the hell did it come to this?
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The Goss Hotel
History
The Goss Hotel opened in 1919 and eventually grew to become a sprawling campus resort. After the original owner died in the 70s, coupled with a lack of interest from younger clientele looking for a different vacation experience than what The Goss offered, the hotel shut down in 1986.Adventure
Today, this location attracts visitors of a different sort – those looking for a vacation that enters a world of decade and depravity, where destruction and decay are seen not as blight, but an attraction worth traveling hours by car to see.Located in the middle of nowhere, this is a lawless place. Abandoned and exposed to the elements, some buildings here have collapsed, while others are left for the picking by scrappers and vandals.
Some parts of this property are outright dangerous – piles of crap are everywhere – ceilings falling in, holes in floors. Not a place for the faint of heart.
Other sections are brilliant, and a must see attraction. The pool area is an amazing biology experiment all of it’s own – with plants growing across a mossy damp floor. The main lobby is another location of intrigue, as evidence in ‘new’ walling highlights some of the renovation work done in te 1980s meant to help reopen the hotel. This of course never happened, leaving the sprawling room as an illicit canvas for notorious interior decorators to experiment with styles.
All in all, the Goss is not to be missed. See it now, before it caves in on itself.
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Bushwick Trailer Park
By now you’ve probably heard of the Brooklyn Trailer Park Commune. They were evicted from their warehouse space by the FDNY. Upon being pushed out, they took up residence in an abandoned lot which was an old RR siding lot off of the old Bushwick Freight Yard (currently leased by the NY&A RR to Kings Lumber, who receives rail cars of bricks and lumber).
This eviction seems to have been completely illegal. Kings lumber knew who was living on their land – that is – if it’s even their land. So far as i can see the trailers were on a plot that used to be an old railroad siding that has not been in use for decades. This siding was probably never formally abandoned, but if it was – the rights of ownership most likely go to adjacent property owners.
Of course, some idiots say ‘the commune people should follow the law’ – Ridiculous. it appears in this case they did, and that those who booted them off the property – Kings lumber and the NYPD – did not. But hey, why not beat up on the weirdos? It’s a sick sad NYC tradition. Then again, animal torture (?) isn’t something we like here, either.
The last press article merely stated the trailers were now on the street while the commune folk tried to find a place to store them. We just happened to come across these trailers one evening on the Greenpoint waterfront. Claims that the trailers were damaged when removed from the lumber yard seemed unfounded. All looked to be in good shape for their age.
What will become of these trailers, no one knows. With no residents and no private land to place them, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re sold off.
