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September 14, 2006
The Other Williamsburg Building Boom
The Satmar Community of Brooklyn is flourishing, resulting in a sustained housing boom for the Far South Side of Williamsburg. But this building boom isn't luxury, or built by the Toll Bros. Although the media has focused on the recent scandals in the wake of the passing of Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum, the Satmar community is still the fastest growing Haisidic sect in the world, with the 4th largest school system in New York state.
Transfer's hard hitting investigative team explores this vibrant urban neighborhood, on the Shabbat. These selections are uniform in their variances and first in a series of architectural photo tours of the neighborhood. A triumph for functionalists everywhere, I guess.
Posted by jmarston at September 14, 2006 09:40 PM
Comments
I live very close to these, and I must say that these are probably one of the biggest architectural blights on the city that nobody is talking about. Granted the Satmar community is a closed community, but these buildings leave in their wake what is essentially a ghetto with fortress-like edifices lacking street-level services, made from bottom dollar materials, and quite poorly considered as architectural exercises. Keep the photos coming!
Posted by: Jeff at September 17, 2006 05:39 PM
I just biked through that area earlier today for the first time. I really thought they were built 10-15 years ago, with all the metal cages surrounding the balconies, even on the upper floors! What are they really so afraid of? People rapelling down to break in ?
Posted by: pete at September 18, 2006 02:41 AM
Those metal cages are so they can construct temporary huts for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, not to dissaude would-be thieves from scaling the 10th floor.
Posted by: JoshB at September 18, 2006 08:53 AM