Sooner or Later (15th)

March '15

Brownstoner just posted a piece on the little wooden house at 139 15th Street, which is slated (again) for demolition, and has plans dating back to 2011 for the typical four-storey + penthouse number.

The building is attached to an identical frame house, which has not sold recently and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. The pair were likely built in the mid-19th century.

I'm especially fond of these two buildings, sitting in the shadow of that ugly rental building on the corner of 15th.  Remember its glorious advertising pitch?

548 4th, the most eagerly anticipated rentals from your favorite local developer passionately committed to sustainable building practices... are finally here. . ..Reaching higher by several stories than its neighbors, 548 4th has made a wonderful bedfellow of that glorious, brilliant ball in the sky. A calm dawn will accentuate breathtaking panoramas of the Brooklyn Manhattan skylines reflected of the surface of the East River and Brooklyn Harbor. One struggles to adequately describe the sunsets with just words in a gorgeous living environment where polarized shades are a must. ...Amenity packed and stress-free Brooklyn living with a rock-star worthy view.  Come and see for yourself how moonlight plays off of the new Freedom Tower and make 584 Fourth Ave, Park Slope Brooklyn your new home.

It's boomtown all along Fourth, but the 15th corner seems especially active. 139 has been empty for years, but its next-door neighbor is still occupied.  At some point during the winter I stopped to chat to an elderly man (not the occupant) who was clearing the sidewalk there.  A long-time resident, he despaired of the way the neighborhood was going. He told me that the owner of 137 would be selling too, and soon, to the same developers at 139.  If this is true, I'm guessing there'll be new plans filed, for a bigger building.  This wooden pair - small, working-class homes - have survived a hundred and fifty years or more to find their beauty and historic value outstripped by land value  and FAR space.  The little brick pair a block over, on 16th, will likely suffer a similar fate. The post-Bloomberg climate is too harsh for this species.  Places like this must be either torn down for high-price rentals or condos, or pumped up on steroids -extended up and out - so a nice pair or lawyers or marketing consultants can live with a couple of kids in tow, in a tricked-out three thousand square feet (sub)urban castle.  

2012

Earlier:
Fourth and 15th
Around 15th