The Municipal Art Society of New York

The rain has done more than just ruin our weekend plans recently.  Late this week it led to the partial collapse of one of the Admiral’s Row buildings near the Brooklyn Navy Yard.  Quarters C, seen in the right in this picture, was originally constructed prior to 1859 and is the second-oldest of all of the houses on the site.  It was altered with a mansard roof in the 1880s when Quarters H (pictured on the left) was built adjoining it.  MAS had known that Quarters C, unlike the vast majority of the other Admrial’s Row buildings, had major structural problems due to a fire, but we are disappointed that the National Guard, which owns the site, had not secured the buildings better to protect them from further damage from the elements. Thankfully, the New York City Fire Department determined that the remaining portion of Quarters C does not have to be demolished at this time.

MAS is calling on the National Guard to make necessary repairs to stabilize the nineteenth century structures as the process deciding the buildings’ future moves forward.  It was recently announced that the National Guard may only require the retention of Quarters A and the Timber Shed.  Nonetheless, MAS is still advocating to save more, and hopefully all, of the significant buildings on the site.  MAS believes that as the owner of the site, the National Guard needs to ensure that the abandoned buildings do not deteriorate any further.

For more information on Admiral’s Row and the efforts to preserve the buildings, watch this video. You can also write to the National Guard urging them to make all necessary repairs and do all necessary stabilization work in order to protect the buildings from further decay