This is one of the two barges that sank at the Ikea site in Red Hook recently. The Coast Guard writes that the barge pictured here, “which allegedly broke free from its mooring and may have struck the SEI 12, outfitted with an excavator crane, was used to remove steel from the demolition of a […]

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Our email inbox was flooded yesterday with material from activists that want to prevent Ikea from chopping up several usable piers on the Red Hook waterfront. The retailer already has permission from the Army Corps of Engineers to hack them up, but activists are submitting comments objecting to the plan as part of Ikea’s application […]

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Since this has somehow turned into one of those days when there is a profusion of information on a specific topic–namely the Red Hook Ikea–we’re posting a couple of other interesting tidbits about work at the former Todd Shipyards site: 1) We were curious about the two barges that were reported to have sunk in […]

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Activists trying to influence the shape of the Ikea in Red Hook seem to have been stymied at every turn of the process, particularly in terms of efforts to preserve historic buildings on the site and protect its working Graving Dock. Because of the site’s waterfront location, the Army Corps of Engineers has played a […]

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The Red Hook Ikea was “burglarized on Wednesday, Nov. 21 through Monday, Nov. 26 during the hours of midnight and 7 a.m.” of an 800-pound Miller gas welder worth $600. “The burglar fled the scene with the 800-pound welder in an unknown direction.”–Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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Last week, when we posted a video of workers bringing an era to an end in Red Hook by digging up the paving stones on Beard Street in advance of the opening of Ikea, we joked that they might make a reappearance in the sprawling parking lot or the waterfront “esplanade.” We had watched a […]

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We’ve watched a lot of things come down along Beard Street in Red Hook over the last couple of years. Yesterday, work crews were tearing out the cobblestones so that it can be paved for Ikea. Curiously, the trucks loaded with removed paving stones were being driven into the Ikea site. Given that Ikea finished […]

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We were prompted to scan the hard drives yesterday and, among other things, pulled up some long shots down Beard Street in Red Hook taken over the last 18 months. Here is a small series.

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Our friends at Racked produced this vid yesterday of our huge blue-and-yellow friend on Beard Street in Red Hook. Ikea also told Racked that the opening date estimated for the store that will change Red Hook in a major way is a pretty big window between March and July. Previous estimates have said spring, but […]

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How one feels about this depends on how one feels about old shipyards and, say, graving docks that have been filled in versus huge parking lots. We will note that Ikea opted not build a parking garage at its Red Hook site, preferring the cheaper solution of paving over acres of prime waterfront land and […]

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[Photo courtesy of Chris Curen] Call it another sign of the changing times. Red Hook resident Chris Curen, who has contributed a variety of of excellent photos and stories to GL, emailed us the photo and the information that Ramberg Marine Inc., which is located at 37 Dwight Street, is toast. The company, which is […]

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Anyone that’s been down Beard Street in the last week or so has probably noticed that the base of one of the old shipyard cranes on the Ikea site has been covered with black netting. The cranes are getting a paint job. The color in this photo is silver or gray. We don’t know if […]

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The B61 and B77 buses in Red Hook are going to be extended so that they stop at the new Ikea that will open on Beard Street. (For those who are in denial that this will happen and irrevocably change Red Hook, this is one more bit of evidence that the change is coming soon.) […]

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Ikea’s big blue exterior wall has rounded the bend and is in the home stretch. The familiar blue wall, which was on the east side of the building is now on the north side along Beard Street, which is the one that most people going to Red Hook see. The big blue presence should make […]

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It may be mundane, but we’re fascinated by the Great Blue Wall of Beard Street because it’s so freaking huge. What you’re looking at in this photo sent our way by Chris Curen (who also submitted yesterday’s excellent photo of the burned out car on Beard Street in front of the Ikea) is part of […]

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[Photo courtesy of Chris Curen] While we take no pleasure in burned out cars, we have to say there is something especially interesting about this shot sent our way by Chris Curen that shows a toasted car and the Ikea being built on Beard Street in Red Hook. Mr. Curen writes: The summer Beard Street […]

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The total end appears to be coming to the old Beard Street. Detour and “street closed” signs have gone up on Beard Street and some major road work is about to take place on a stretch fronting the location of the huge Ikea store and parking lot (part of which is the historic former Graving […]

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This is a shot of Halleck Street in Red Hook as it intersects with Beard Street. Ostensibly, new sidewalk and curbs are being put in, but it seems to be too much of a coincidence given the opening of the Ikea next year across the street. (We also worry, long-term, about the health of the […]

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If you’ve ever spent time on Columbia Street in Red Hook, you’ve possibly noticed the former industrial area that’s been partly reclaimed by wetlands vegetation. It’s next to the Ikea and is also a great spot for some graffiti and street art. Most of the structures that were in there have been removed and so […]

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That exciting line of thunderstorms the other afternoon apparently was too much for the Great Blue Wall of Red Hook. Chris Curen, who hit us off with all these photos, reports that “a bunch of sections fell down.” He adds that Ikea did better in the cleanup phase than Thor Equities: Now, I’m not saying […]

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The new Ikea in Red Hook was topped off several weeks ago and the building is, well, sitting there on Beard Street, awaiting its blue and yellow exterior. The way Ikea does its buildings, it will probably be finished quickly. The view below shows what the area looks like now that a large part of […]

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[Photo courtesy of Chris Curen] The Great Wall of Red Hook has gone through many phases, some of which reflect the unhappiness of some residents about the retail behemoth rising in their midst. Red Hook correspondent Chris Curen reports that, among other thing, that sign that appeared, disappeared and reappeared that proclaims Ikea’s investigation of […]

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The new Ikea in Red Hook, which will open sometime next year, may not be the only big box on the waterfront for long. The new Brooklyn Paper reports that Bed, Bath & Beyond may be considering part of the Ikea site and a separate story suggests that the looming grain silos may also become […]

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