UPS Continues Historic Red Hook Building Tear-Down Despite Pleas

RED HOOK, BROOKLYN — Neighbors and elected officials are working against the clock to save a historic building on Red Hook's waterfront after UPS started demolishing the property to the surprise of thousands of petitioners who had called to preserve it.

The United Parcel Service started demolishing the former Lidgerwood Manufacturing building at 202 Coffey Street the Friday before Memorial Day weekend, even after telling elected officials they would work to preserve it. Nearly 2,000 people have signed a petition started in April to at least save the south-facing wall of the building, which neighbors Valentino Park.

Executives from the company then told U.S. Rep. Nydia Valazquez last week that they would pause tearing down the 19th-century building, which is part of a 350,000-square-foot complex the company purchased in December to build its newest Brooklyn facility.

But it appears the UPS president's promise to Valazquez might have been short-lived.

A representative for the company told Patch on Monday that the demolition work on the site would continue this week, and declined to answer a question about whether that included the Lidgerwood building.

“The overall site demolition and remediation process continues today, June 3 with debris removal, which is consistent with the permitted remediation process. Other demolition work will proceed according to plans approved by the permitting agencies," the statement said. "We have met with (representatives) and UPS is reviewing community requests concerning future plans for the site, including integrating design elements that reflect the architectural character of the former Lidgerwood building. "

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In a statement last week, UPS said that, with the help of a third-party engineering firm, it could not "safely incorporate" the old building into its new facility. The building's interior, roof and exterior is contaminated with asbestos, the company said.

But Valazquez and Councilman Carlos Menchaca claim that UPS has not sufficiently investigated all of its options. The two elected officials drafted a joint letter to the company on Friday asking that they halt demolition and do a full engineering study to see whether they can, at the very least, preserve the south facade.

Menchaca's office had been meeting with UPS for months and said he was led to believe that the company was looking into preserving the building. A conference call with the development team after the demolition started, though, revealed that that option was never fully analyzed, he said.

The elected officials said UPS hasn't looked into using stabilization, wall-bracing and a set-back to at least keep the most well-known red brick wall standing.

"If structural integrity of this building — which has stood for a century and a half — is at issue, we suggest an engineer could sure-up the walls in question with steel I-beams and other techniques, which is a common construction practice," the politicians wrote. "We therefore feel it is more a matter of will. It appears your approach to- date in assessing the options did not prioritize preservation."

Valazquez also said that the executives promised to schedule a meeting with the community about the building soon.

The Lidgerwood Manufacturing Company, started in 1873, took up an entire block in the waterfront neighborhood. The 202 Coffey Street building was built in 1882 as part of its factory plant, which made equipment that was used in building the Panama Canal, the main dam for the Croton Falls reservoir and dock building, according to a history of the site.

But aside from its professional history, neighbors argue that the building has also become a visual part of the neighborhood's unique character.

"The red brick length of the building abuts the north end of Valentino Pier Park and is an iconic moment in our waterfront neighborhood, where visitors come to view the Statue of Liberty, families picnic, dogs run, and a beach provides access to the water," she writes in the petition. "The area around Valentino Pier Park is beloved by film-makers, photographers, and fashion shoots as a backdrop representing Brooklyn's past, and present."