If you were in Red Hook yesterday and happened to look up, you would have seen two men, big blowtorches in hand, hacking away at the iconic dome of the old Revere Sugar Plant. Sparks flew and every now and then, the metal snapped and screeched as connections were severed. While the demolition at the hands of developer Joe Sitt’s Thor Equities is going ahead in slow motion, the dome has now been decapitated and conveyors leading up to it are gone. Yesterday, big booming sounds were coming from within the plant and the ground nearly shook as the crew took apart the dome, dropping pieces of steels into the huge conical structure, which reverberated with echoing metallic thuds. On the ground, crews blowtorched fallen pieces of steel. Industry dies as it lived, apparently: very loudly. Thor has issued no plans for the site and no zoning changes or approvals are in place.

Bonus Question: Which of Mr. Sitt’s development sites will remain empty longer before approvals are forthcoming: the Revere parcel in Red Hook or the vast tract of land Thor will clear in Coney Island?