Wednesday, June 06, 2007

domino sugar

bridge
rooftop

heart
tangled heart

IMG_5620
chemistry lab

old factory
old factory

IMG_5605
new factory

IMG_5611
locker room

IMG_5655
generator

IMG_5636
refinery

IMG_5625
molten sugar

the former domino sugar building occupies an 11 acre plot of land just north of the williamsburg bridge. it's neighbors to the north include the historic austin, nichols and co. building (seen in the previous post), the newest toll brothers development and a state park. the building complex includes buildings from the 1880's through the 1960's and has been nonoperational for several years. the property was recently purchased by a well known nyc developer with hopes of continuing the luxury condo building spree that's been happening in the area for several years now. the complex is one of the lest vestiges of the working waterfront that williamsburg once was, and if developers get their way, it will soon be razed. on the other side of the coin are the preservationist who are hard at work in an effort to landmark much of the complex. in no uncertain terms there will be some sort of development on the site - but as to whether it's landmarked and retrofitted, razed for new construction, rehabbed for affordable housing or something better - the tate modern comes to mind, we'll just have to wait and see. in the meantime, many people have weighed in on the issue in the curbed forums. additionally, wired new york has archived a couple of articles from the new york times and newsday that are worth reading. more pictures available from bluejake, gowanus and mercurialn and a domino set on flickr.

9 comments:

Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener) said...

Beautiful. "Tangled Heart" is my favorite. It belongs in an exhibition.

dalton said...

Jesus, these are amazing. Great set.

Anonymous said...

first of all, these photos are trite but I wouldn't expect you people to know the difference. More importantly--

HOW ABOUT SOME CONTEXT? You obviously were not here (& if you were, it only confirms everyone's scorn for you) but I'd hope, after whipping out your dick out about a spot you snuck into (oooh: why not send the pix to Bloomberg too, shithead?), you'd care a little & at least give the goddamn backstory.

And you wonder why New Yorkers scorn you as white hipster-yuppie assholes? Read & THINK next time, jackoff & that goes for all you commenters too--

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0048,robbins,20203,5.html

(scratch heads in unison; oh, i didn't know that...)

sam said...

trite - huh? gotta love the anonymity of the internet...as far as context goes, i'll put them in context when i am good and ready.
finally, whether you'd care to believe it or not, i'm rather aware of the history of domino, but thanks for making that assumption.

for those of you who haven't yet read the tim robbins article on the domino strike, you can read it here. it certainly raises some interesting questions.

also, the waterfront alliance has some information on domino from a historical perspective here.

the wired new york forum has several archived articles from the ny times and newsday written in '03/'04 here

lastly, curbed has a number of commenter's arguing both for and against the idea of landmarking dominio here

maxwell said...

that angry post is so strange...

what kind of camera do you use?

sam said...

the internet attracts all sorts of people...these were all shot with the canon 20d and the canon 17-40 f4L lens.

Anonymous said...

Hi, how could i get this shots in high quality.My e-mail is emmacl5@yahoo.com , They are really great!
Congratulations!

Anonymous said...

I worked there for 25 years. Brings back so many memories for me. I left after the last strike in 1999.

beausaber23798@yahoo.com said...

The picture of the Chem Lab tore my heart out - it's where my dad worked for 10 years as a Chemical Engineer before he moved to corporate HQ. I remember it from family day 1964 as a spotless facility as he proud staff showed us around. Sigh

Sic transit gloria