Two new very important developments to relay on the Broken Angel front if you haven’t seen them. First, the Brooklyn Papers is reporting that the house has been saved, “as the as long as its owners chop off the top floors, do structural work on the lower floors, reconstruct the central stairwell, and stay off the premises until the work is complete.” The deal was worked out by owner Arthur Wood and his lawyer, City Councilwoman Letitia James (D-Prospect Heights). Ms. James represented him pro bono. A group of Pratt Institute engineers and students are volunteering to help save the structure. No word on how the extensive renovations will be funded.
The other story, however, is that Broken Angel is up for sale. Brownstoner is reporting:
the Broken Angel and an adjacent lot has been being stealthily marketed for sale by Massey Knakal’s Michael Annunziata. As a result, the listing is not up on the web but we’ve seen the tear sheets on the prop. The Angel itself is at 4-6 Downing Street and sits on a 40-by-100-foot lot zoned for R6. At 13,000 square feet, the current building is actually overbuilt by about 4,000 square feet. The empty lot next door at 8 Downing is 20-by-100-feet.
All very interesting. No emails recently from Chris Wood, who has periodically provided updates. We’re going to assume one will be forthcoming soon, given all this.
1 response so far ↓
1 christopher wood // Jan 6, 2007 at 6:07 pm
Broken Angel update 1/6/07
I hope that everyone has had a good beginning to the New Year. I would like to address certain questions and statements that have been posted online as to the fate of Broken Angel. It is true that Broken Angel is for sale. The only financial donation that my parents received was a check for $10.00 and this was never cashed. In addition a small amount of money has been generated from the sale of a few photographs, this money covered the costs of copying the plans for the architects and engineers. The help that we have received has been in the form of various people’s time and expertise and we really do appreciate their efforts. My family and I are very sorry if these generous people feel that their time has been wasted by this experience. We are still trying through the courts to save the building.
Our current understanding of the situation is that my father has been given a month to remove the entire wooden structure from the top of the building. If he does not, then the Department of Buildings will move in, do the work and zero out the value of the property. This point was driven home when we received a phone call from a member of the Department of Buildings to this effect the morning after Christmas. My father has never been given any indication that he will be allowed to reside in the building if the work is completed by the Department of Buildings. One month is not enough time to get a contractor, much less to have them complete the work. From the beginning we have been asking for a clear statement of what work needs to be done, and a reasonable time in which to accomplish that work, we have still not received this from the City.
My parents are senior citizens, they have a small fixed income and since they have been evicted from their home, no permanent residence. It is a hard situation for anyone to be in. They don’t want to sell their home, a building that was their dream, and labor for 28 years, but at this point they don’t see many alternatives.
Sincerely,
Chris Wood