Fate Of Historic Red Hook Building Hangs In The Balance: Report

RED HOOK, BROOKLYN — Workers were spotted on the roof of Red Hook's historic S.W. Bowne Grain Storehouse, leaving residents anxious it will be torn down so that new apartments can go up, according to reports.

Developer Meyer Chetrit has started doing work on the building at 595-611 Smith St. — which has been around since Red Hook was a global shipping epicenter — to make room for new apartment complexes, Brownstoner first reported.

Gowanus local Brad Vogel told Brownstoner that part of the roof had been removed and another reader reported the structure had been cleared out last month.

Just a few weeks ago, Vogel and a group of like-minded locals urged the city to designate a long list of Gowanus and Red Hook properties — including the S.W. Bowne Storehouse — as official landmarks to protect them from a "firestorm of rezoning," as Simeon Bankoff, executive director of the Historic District Council, put it.

"This is not just an abstract list," Vogel added. "It's a very real concrete list of issues that are happening right now and buildings that stand to be lost next week."

Chetrit has already demolished three other non-historic buildings on the property this year, city records show. The Department of Buildings has not issued a demolition permit for any of them.

Photo courtesy of Google Maps / Nov. 2017