Going Back in Time on Central Avenue
My house has seen a lot. Based on its size (small!), it’s probably one of the oldest houses on the block, and would have witnessed the construction of the brick buildings around it. It might have seen a rail line that would turn the corner right here at Jefferson, turn south on Central and chug to the Cemetary of the Evergreens; due to municipal ball-dropping, a company was never assigned the route.
But the years, and previous owners, have been harsh. A house that once stood in the back yard burned down, and only the foundations and a few feet of brick wall survive, trees having long ago grown up through the floors and weeds having decomposed into several feet of dirt on top of the rubble. The interior of the house has been hacked up many times — the rooms have been flipped around all over, and bluestone slabs in the floor leave a hint to where fireplaces might once have been. But the most shocking damage is to the facade: a once-ornate front has been ripped off, replaced by poorly done stucco and cheap white flashing. My carved wooden double doors were ripped out, replaced by a smaller, single door, the extra space in the frame filled in sloppily with random pieces of timber. My storefront has been gone for almost 70 years — the Italian family that owned the house sold jewelry here.
The full horror of it was revealed to me the other day when I received a photo from the City from “around 1940.” Brace yourself: below is the before and after:
And from my neighbor’s City photo, you can see our now-residential street used to be mostly commercial at street level:
Other tragedies are apparent on my block. The building next door is now a lot used by an irresponsible construction company called “Greenleaf Cost.[sic] LLC” to store vehicles, chop up cars, and toss tons of trash. Across the street is another vacant lot that breaks up an an otherwise-attractive row of brick apartment houses. The remaining woodframe buildings have been defaced, too. We even have a “Fedders special” (called a much more un-PC term here in Bushwick) on the corner, which is not that bad and at least matches our setbacks.
There is no way we could afford a full restoration of the facade, but some decent window frames, shutters, a proper front door, and a simple new cornice — not to mention a new paint job! — might deghettofy our sad little pink box.
Anyone have any suggestions for a way to approach the facade? Or at least how to shut down the rat-and-mosquito-breeding lot next door?
June 26th, 2007 at 11:16 am
Wow, fascinating photos! Please tell me you will complain to 311/DOB about the garbage lot next door to you. It’s not right.
June 26th, 2007 at 11:33 am
I have — what do they care? My only recourse I think will be to have my lawyer send them a letter forcing them to remove the stuff that is encroaching on parts of my property — most of that is in the very back of the lot, and they will have to remove everything in front to reach it.
June 26th, 2007 at 11:49 am
Jeremy:
First of all thank you for sharing the history of your house, and block. It’s great that someone cares enough to move in an area, and research this stuff. It’s amazing to think what the house was in it’s day.
Those before and after pictures are SHOCKING. I can see the italian influence in the house, that has long since gone. I never get a sense of SoBu being italian - it’s just seems like a neglected area without signs of even german immigrants so now flavor.
That facade is a crying shame. The poor house has been stripped of everything.
Yes, it’s small (how many sf?), but could be made into a cute little cracker box with the right details.
Yes change the color, perhaps a beige stucco, and cute wood shutters. Have matching wood framing around the door, and a nice wood looking door. Obviously bushwick can’t have wooden door for security reasons in certain areas. Have a wood cornice to match the trim around the windows and doors.
Is this a two family house? If not it’s probably 1750 square feet, in which case plenty of room for just you.
the fence in the front is fine.
try putting up your own fencing along the vacant lot next door. it’s $60/70 per 6′ at Home Depot or Lowes. If not plant high bushes, even bamboo for privacy and to keep the bugs away.
June 26th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
It’s a two-family, yeah. Actually, the doors are the one thing I think I can find, they seem to be of a standard design as I see them all over the neighborhood. Preservationistas might hate me for suggesting it, but I might even offer some nearby landlord some money for his doors — they’re just going to rot in his possession anyhow. I’m just not sure yet, either way that nasty frame will have to be torn out and redone.
June 26th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
hey, can you paint stucco? i assume so, that’s where i recommend starting. i think that photo is wonderful. i mean, you knew what the house looked like when you bought it, so it can only get better. and to see what it used to look like, now you know how cool it could be (eventually). it is pretty amazing how some lintels and a cornice can make such a difference in the way a house looks.
i was a little disappointed when i got my tax photo, my house looked pretty much the same, just more square.
June 26th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
Whoa that’s some change. They really abused such a small little house. Was the house that burned down part of this house or a carriage house?
Guess you don’t have fireplaces anymore. Too bad about the facade - really stripped of all it’s charm and character.
I agree a nice door would make this house look good, and first and foremost change that pink, unless you or your significant other like that color.
June 26th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
JL: Yeah, stucco is meant to be painted.
Bob: We have one wooden fireplace in our bedroom, bricked up of course. The house that burned down was just another house, probably the first house on the lot, and then they built the front house later. The property records still say there are two structures on the lot.
June 26th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
Some transformation. You have room for an nice overhang above the door. Perhaps some flower baskets outside of the windows would bring it some charm. Go get some this weekend.
June 26th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
you have probably already done this - but you can also complain to the dep’t of health about the garbage dump. And keep complaining. Write letters. Sue. That lot makes me angry.
June 26th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
Hi Jeremy this is fascinating - how did you get the city photos? Is there a website you can go to, or do you have to go to a library? Curious minds would like to know.
I have a suggestion for you regarding the backyard, although it’s a bit costly and could be perceived as somewhat antisocial. In one of the houses that I own I built a 8-foot tall wall all the way around the backyard, out of concrete block and finished it with stucco to match the house. The wall totally shut out vermin and odors and also completely cut out noise from barking dogs/radios etc. I hated having to build a wall like this because one of the nicest things about Brooklyn is chatting to your neighbors over the fence. But this neighbor happened to have several loud continuously barking dogs and this was the only solution. Anyway, just a thought. The wall has to have a proper foundation so it might be worth having it done professionally. My contractor did it for $7k, for a backyard that was about 25′ x 25′.
June 26th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
Andrew in 1939-1940 the city of New York took a picture of every property in the city . ( I think it served as the basis of the panorama of NYC which is now in Flushing Meadow Park) .go to this website
http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/home.html
and follow link and you can order the tax photos.
Or go to the hall of records and see them for yourself. I had pictures of my house from 1940 when it was still a florist.
June 26th, 2007 at 4:00 pm
I was told it’s only legal to have a 6′ fence. Can’t the city take it down otherwise?
Does it look dark and gloomy with a wall that high?
June 26th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
An 8 foot wall with that one neighbor would be fantastic, but I don’t think I’m ready to spend thousands on a wall right now. Right now the chain link disaster back there is about 12 feet high.
June 26th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
OK, I might be wrong about this. But by sight, I am thinking that the empty lot you live next to has a very sad story. And its my duty to let you know that. But before I do, is that 104 Central Ave you live at?
June 26th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
It’s your duty? haha, ok, lay it on me!
June 26th, 2007 at 11:14 pm
I think there are a lot of sad stories in Bushwick. Jimmy Leg’s has his own vacant lot across the street, where the cats play with old vehicles and such (if I remember correctly). But if people care about their homes this is a start.
Yeah, some nice window boxes with flowers would be nice. First change the color, which is easy to do since it’s only the small front part.
Not sure how it’s a two family with one part being a duplex.
Do you live in the top of bottom part of this two family house, and what’s going in the basement - renovated, high ceiling, dry?
Congratulations on home ownership, and there is plenty of potential in this house.
I know you said you hated bars over the windows, but doesn’t it look like someone could still steal your air conditioner on the the first floor.
June 27th, 2007 at 11:14 am
Don’t worry Jeremy you can make it a cute little house. Think of it as a nice little cottage and make it cute. However that all dependents on if there is a lady in living in the house.
I won’t make any jokes about putting white frosting on this pink cake.
June 27th, 2007 at 11:40 pm
Jeremy: Who else lives in the house. If it just you great, but if others you may want to think about what appealing to potential renters as well. For example, pink is a pretty bold daring color so I wonder if your house was easy to rent.
Maybe something a little more neutral?
June 28th, 2007 at 10:43 am
good stuff.
When we moved in a few years ago I was obsessed with getting these pictures of ourplace. Then I just…forgot. THanks for the reminder.
And besides the major stripping of the facade, what really amazed me was that there were no trees even back then. I had assumed there were more trees in general but they were lost to disease, development or whatnot.
June 28th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
5 CHILDREN DIE AS FIRE ENGULFS BROOKLYN HOUSE
Published: April 6, 1985
A fire burned through a two-family house in Brooklyn early yesterday, killing five children. Two other children were reported in critical condition and four older residents were also injured.
Four of the victims were children of Apolonia Toro, 27 years old, who was not injured. Her two other children were overcome by intense heat, smoke and carbon monoxide. The fifth victim was a visiting niece.
Two other residents, Rosa Prattes, 54 years old, and her daughter Generosa, 25, were being treated at Wyckoff Heights Hospital for smoke inhalation. Mrs. Pratt’s son, Efraim, 16, and daughter, Norma, 15, were treated and released.
150 Firefighters Fought Fire
The rooms of both families in the house, in the Bushwick section, were virtually destroyed by the fire. A spokesman for the Fire Department, James Lopez, said the tentative cause of the blaze, which began in a first-floor closet in the building, was accidental.
More than 150 firefighters fought the blaze in the frame building at 102 Central Avenue. The first firefighters arrived at 4:15 A.M. and began racing through the building in a series of rescue attempts. But shortly after the fire was brought under control an hour later, three of the children were declared dead at the scene and two others died later at hospitals, fire officials said.
Dead at the scene were Marjorie Toro, 7; her sister Lizzette, 6; and the children’s cousin who had arrived just hours earlier to spend the night, Anna Marie Velez, 13.
Another child from the Toro family, Victor, 3, died later in the morning at Montefiore Medical Center.
His sister Rosa, 4, died last night in the pediatric burn unit of Westchester County Medical Center. and her sister Iris, 2, was listed in critical condition there. Another Toro child, Giset, 6 months old, was transferred to Brooklyn Hospital in critical condition.
Residents of the area, which is scarred by rubble-covered lots and occasional abandoned buildings, said there had been a number of smaller fires in recent years, but none as tragic.
Fire Toll Grows to 7
Published: April 7, 1985
Two more children died yesterday of injuries they suffered early Friday in a smoky electrical fire in their Brookyln home, bringing the death toll to seven, officials said. Those who died yesterday were Giselle Toro, 6 months old, and her 2-year-old sister, Iris. They lived at 102 Central Avenue in the Bushwick section.
June 28th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
That is a sad sad story. Let’s get some great uplifting stories about Bushwick going here.
June 29th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Where are your window boxes?
July 1st, 2007 at 3:46 pm
BklynGirl, we’re 7 people in the house, and the pink, while hideous, wasn’t enough of a deal-killer for our tenants/roommates. We’re definitely planning a paint job, we just have more pressing issues inside to deal with first.
July 9th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
I always wondered who was the one that bought that pink house. Until I saw him yesterday taking out the trash. Enjoy…
July 9th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
Everyone here takes out their trash at some point…:)