We went over to N. 9th Street and Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg to check on the “Thing on Top” that had sprouted on the old industrial building whose working name is Wythe Avenue Lofts. What we found was a sidewalk shed that appears to be in danger of collapse and a work site that looks abandoned. (At least if weeds growing inside the building are any indication of abandonment.) The Department of Buildings website indicates that a Stop Work Order has been in place for more than a year, but we know we’ve seen work going on at the building since then. In fact, a complaint on the DOB site from April is about debris from work falling on a neighboring building. (So much for the Stop Work Order.)

Our purpose here is to not the hideous condition of the covering over the sidewalk. The only saving grace is that it’s in a part of the neighborhood with very light pedestrian traffic. Nonetheless, the state of its decrepitude–and the inability of the city to do anything about it–does not inspire faith.