[Via Wikipedia Commons]
In case that you haven't seen this video making the rounds today ... Bucky Turco, editor-in-chief of ANIMAL New York, made his way inside 190 Bowery, the historic Germania Bank Building on the corner of Spring Street.
He was able to breach security several different times to document the mysterious (and now mostly empty) six-story, 72-room, 37,000-square-foot building as it awaits its likely condo fate. Aby Rosen of RFR Realty purchased the place from photographer Jay Maisel for a reported $55 million. (RFR is currently marketing the building's first and second floors for retail use.)
Check out the result of Turco's expedition inside in this video...
... and over at the ANIMAL website here.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Take a last look inside the mysterious 190 Bowery
14 comments:
Kudos to Animal for this reporting, but the jump-cuts in that video make it close to unwatchable.
Not cool.
FDNY never got a hold of this building so it is still in good shape. FDNY policy in the in the 80's-90's was to destroy empty buildings - the squatters can say more about that.
It's fun to see inside but is it a good idea to trespass inside someone else's property and then post a video on your YouTube page? Can't you get in trouble for that? Or maybe someone was working on the building and let him in for a quick look?
Nice tour but a little creepy, the interior has a kind of Overlook Hotel vibe.
Camera work by Amanda Bynes. Jesus Christ that was unwatchable.
It would have been better if it didn't jump around so much.
I didn't get any sort of Overlook Hotel vibe out of anything I saw in the photos or videos. Thought it looked bright and cheery, with tons of character. That might of come through easier if the video wasn't shot and edited like a scene from a contemporary gangster film where the shit was about to go down or was going down.
> was to destroy empty buildings
Except that Jay lived here, so it was occupied.
This interior is craptastic! All that peeling paint is a lead poisining dream. I wonder how much mold and asbestos removal is needed? These kinds of buildings basically crumble before your eyes, the maintenance and repair chores must have been epic. As majestic as it is on the outside, the inside is iike the old men's gymnasiums and schoolhouses of the 19th century, high ceilings with lots of echoing hallways, difficult to maintain and paint, hard to heat in the winter, impossible to air condition in the summer.
It's too bad they couldn't properly maintain it as it would have been a great space, but that would take millions of dollars and full time staff. I almost feel sorry the Maisels had to live in such archaic conditions all these years, they were basically living like squatters. Now that they have some cash they can finally enjoy the 21st century since I doubt they are ever going to want to live like this again.
That jump cut editing is nauseating. In the words of Homer Simpson "less artsy, more fartsy."
What do you mean not able to maintain? This is vintage Soho loft look ca. 1980s. But even better than most of the lofts back then,. where artists did art, had lovers, raised families. And it was all really nice. The peeled painted added class. So obviously you are from if not another generation, another planet.
@6:01pm. Here's what Maisel told NY Mqgazine a few years ago about all the headaches and expenses involved in maintaining the building. To compare owning a building to living in a loft shows is that whatever planet you live on has a very different color sky than ours.
"The building is its own mini-frontier, and, as of 2005, an official landmark. “Here’s the deal,” Maisel says. “If you have a window that needs fixing, you fix it. If I have a window that is broken, I have to repair it, with approval, the way it was done in 1898.” Upkeep is constant. “A typical day is first we might have to clean the sidewalks,” says Linda. “Because we’re responsible for the sidewalks in front of our building. Or the fire department comes for a walk-through, or the meters need fixing, or the boiler. Or the graffiti police come by.”
I think it's sick that -- what was it, 3 people? -- lived there while so many are homeless. Part of creating affordable housing needs to be appropriating what's under-utilized.
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