Showing posts with label 421 E. Sixth St.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 421 E. Sixth St.. Show all posts

Friday, April 3, 2015

When the world's top collectors of Dom Pérignon rosé came to the East Village for dinner


[Photo from March 24 via @hanyakrill]

Meant to post this earlier in the week… for anyone who was curious about that 11 days of activity around the incoming Brant Foundation exhibition space on East Sixth Street between First Avenue and Avenue A.

We only heard that the space was hosting an event for Dom Pérignon.

The event was held on the evening of Thursday, March 26. (Perhaps worth noting that the fire was still raging nearby at 119-123 Second Ave.)

On Monday, The Wall Street Journal reported that it was for the world's top collectors of Dom Pérignon rosé.

Some excerpts from the article…

Nine rosé Champagne aficionados sat down for an intimate, one-of-a-kind pairing dinner … with Dom Pérignon Chef de Cave Richard Geoffroy.

Guests at the East Village event included New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony, real-estate executive Michael Fascitelli and wine-store owner Robert Schagrin.

And!

The seven-course dinner featured dishes showcasing a global range of spices, from a Thai bouillon to an elegant mole verde to a duck entree, redolent of cumin and coriander, based on a 17th-century French recipe.

The dinner was held at 421 E. Sixth St. and the space decorated for the occasion by rock star Lenny Kravitz’s Kravitz Design, which brought in sculptures, dramatic lighting and sleek furniture.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Neighbors curious about the 11 days of activity at Peter Brant's exhibition space on East 6th Street

The art of noise on East 7th Street ahead of tomorrow night's event at the Brant Foundation

Thursday, March 26, 2015

The art of noise on East 7th Street ahead of tomorrow night's event at the Brant Foundation


[Wednesday night on 6th Street via @hanyakrill]

The other day we noted that there is a big event taking place at the incoming exhibition space for the Brant Foundation on East Sixth Street.

Crews have been busy coming and going from the building's back entrance on East Seventh Street between Avenue A and First Avenue, where two high-powered CAT generators have been stationed since March 19. According to a security guard, the event is for Dom Pérignon tomorrow night.

All told, the party-related activities at the Brant building, which has been cast in a pinkish glow inside the last few nights, will last 11 days, per the signs posted on the building at 421 E. Sixth St.



Several neighbors have grumbled about all this, from 11 days of reserved parking on the street to the often-noisy generators.

A few commenters to our post on Monday thought we should all just mind our own business.

He's probably having some kind of celebration / party in his new space. People need to get lives and mind their business. Now the guy is getting written up on blogs?

And!

Peter Brant is bringing much-needed class and sophistication to this neighborhood. If you want your squats back move to Detroit. Echoing the previous commenter: get lives just because you can't afford champagne!

Some of these comments prompted a resident on East Seventh Street "to demonstrate what a racket they're making."

To the reader: "I'm excited Brant has taken over the space and I'm sure he'll do lovely things for the community, but those babies are loud! I live right in front of where [the generators are] parked and it's very loud up here on the uppers floors. I'm attaching a video of the noise the trucks make — this might set straight some of the commenters who think this is an overreaction!"



Previously on EV Grieve:
Neighbors curious about the 11 days of activity at Peter Brant's exhibition space on East 6th Street

Monday, March 23, 2015

Neighbors curious about the 11 days of activity at Peter Brant's exhibition space on East 6th Street


[East 7th Street]

Some neighbors don't think that the people behind the incoming exhibition space for the Brant Foundation are being ... very good neighbors.

Last Wednesday, workers began loading equipment into the back of 421 E. Sixth St., the under-renovation exhibition space expected to be used by the billionaire art collector Peter Brant's Brant Foundation between Avenue A and First Avenue. This included the arrival of several high-powered CAT generators parked on East Seventh Street, outside the driveway/back entrance to the East Sixth Street property.

In the past several days, a handful of parking spaces (with generic No Parking Police Department signs) have been blocked off on East Sixth Street and East Seventh Street ...


[East 6th Street]


[East 6th Street]

There are also security guards posted on both streets... none of the guards have been very forthcoming with details. A reader finally found one to divulge more than a no comment/I don't really know ... according to one of the hired hands, the space is hosting an event for Dom Pérignon on Friday.

In total, the activity surrounding this event will last 11 days, per the signs posted on 421 E. Sixth St.



If you have any questions or concerns about this, then you can call the caterer, as the sign suggests.

One neighbor who emailed us about the situation hopes that this won't be the upscale party norm for the building now that Brant and his organization is the owner.

Artist Walter De Maria, who died in July 2013 at age 77, bought the former Con Ed substation in 1980 to use as a home and studio.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Confirmed: Peter M. Brant buys Walter De Maria's amazing East 6th Street home and studio

1st permits filed for renovation of Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

More about the 1st show at Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

Here's what Peter Brant wants to do with his new exhibition space on East 6th Street


[EVG file photo]

Thursday, March 19, 2015

A big show at Peter Brant's new East Village exhibition space?



Something big seems to be happening over at 421 E. Sixth St., the under-renovation exhibition space that art collector Peter Brant bought last year.

There has been a lot of activity on the building's Seventh Street side between Avenue A and First Avenue ... where there is a rear driveway and side alley.

Per Dave on 7th: "Peter Brant must be putting on a big show. Saw staging being loaded in yesterday and today they are running in a TON of power from these CAT generators. That's rock concert size shit going on here. Maybe a fashion show. Not a film."

Maybe we will all be invited?

Previously on EV Grieve:
Here's what Peter Brant wants to do with his new exhibition space on East 6th Street

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Here's what Peter Brant wants to do with his new exhibition space on East 6th Street



We finally have an idea of what art collector Peter Brant plans on doing with the renovations of 421 E. Sixth St., the former home-studio of artist Walter De Maria here between Avenue A and First Avenue.

Tonight at 6:30, CB3's Landmarks Committee will discuss a Certificate of Appropriateness application for the building that Brant bought last year for $27 million. (The address falls in the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District.) Brant told the Times last October that he plans on opening an exhibition space here.



Among other things, the proposal calls for:

Exterior work includes the restoration and repair of the existing brick facade, replacement of the existing windows with new thermally broken steel windows to match existing, new window openings on the west and north facades, a new occupiable roof terrace with a new glass skylight. there is an increase in height of the bulkhead to accomodate the elevator and the addition of a roof mounted hvac unit which will be screened from view on all four sides.

Here's a side-by-side look… showing the existing building (left) and the proposed front...





Some of the most noticeable changes would occur on the lot's East Seventh Street side … where there is currently a wall/rolldown gate leading to the back of the property…



… that would be converted into a garden space… (no word if this space would be open to the public, or just guests of the Brant Foundation).



In addition, Brant's reps are calling for a rooftop terrace and a garden to the west of the building, currently an empty lot that was also part of the sale…



You can find a PDF with all the proposals (diagrams! renderings! photos!) right here.

If you want to see if all for yourself, the 6:30 meeting tonight is at the JASA/Green Residence, 200 E. Fifth St. at the Bowery.

The building was a Con Ed substation built in 1920. De Maria, who died in July 2013 at age 77, bought it in 1980 to use as a home and studio.

Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect

Walter De Maria's home/studio on East 6th Street is now on the market for $25 million

Rumor: The Brant Foundation buying Walter De Maria's E. 6th St. studio for an exhibition space (19 comments)

Confirmed: Peter M. Brant buys Walter De Maria's amazing East 6th Street home and studio

1st permits filed for renovation of Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

A soft opening at the Brant Foundation's new space at Walter De Maria's former East 6th Street studio

More about the 1st show at Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Construction crews spotted at Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street



Reps for billionaire art collector Peter Brant, also the new owner of 421 E. Sixth St., filed work permits back in October for the former home-studio of artist Walter De Maria.

The plans for now just call for the rather generic "removal of interior non loading bearing partitions and related finishes" here between Avenue A and First Avenue.

EVG regular peter radley spotted a work crew inside the space yesterday...





Brant told the Times last October that he plans on opening an exhibition space here in a few years.

There was a show in this space last December titled "Dan Colen: The L...o...n...g Count." However, that was reportedly not a project of the Brant Foundation Art Study Center in Greenwich, Conn.

No. 421 was built in 1920 as a ConEd substation, but had been converted into a photography studio after De Maria bought it in 1980.

De Maria died of a stroke in July 2013 at age 77.

Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect

Walter De Maria's home/studio on East 6th Street is now on the market for $25 million

Rumor: The Brant Foundation buying Walter De Maria's E. 6th St. studio for an exhibition space (19 comments)

Confirmed: Peter M. Brant buys Walter De Maria's amazing East 6th Street home and studio

1st permits filed for renovation of Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

A soft opening at the Brant Foundation's new space at Walter De Maria's former East 6th Street studio

More about the 1st show at Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

Monday, December 29, 2014

Sidewalk fire on East 6th Street



A small fire broke out earlier this evening on the sidewalk next to Walter De Maria's former home-studio at 421 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue... @chewbaklava shared this photo with us... a neighbor coming out of his apartment saw someone light a bunch of cardboard boxes and run off... no word on any damage here...

Monday, December 15, 2014

More about the 1st show at Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street



Last week we noted that a new exhibit was now taking place at 421 E. Sixth St., the former home-studio for Walter De Maria that Peter Brant bought for $27 million.


[Photo last Wednesday night by Shawn Chittle]

Andrew Russeth, co-executive editor of ARTnews, has an essay on the show, titled "Dan Colen: The L...o...n...g Count." For starters, this is NOT not a project of the Brant Foundation Art Study Center. Brant told the Times back in October that he plans on opening this space in a few years.

So we don't know if this is just some one-off show … or the first of many before the new space officially opens.

And now some thoughts via Russeth's article:

It will be hard for many — this writer not included — not to see the Colen show as the latest example of the relentless commingling of big money, new art, and real estate in present-day New York, but let’s just admit that there is a very slim silver lining: at least it wasn’t converted into condos.

And!

[M]y hope is that, when Brant opens the space, he will get weird in a major way. Yes, he should do some big-name exhibitions (the Urs Fischer and Karen Kilimnik shows at his Greenwich estate were superb), but he should also take some aggressive chances, inviting in marginal institutions and little-known young names. He should give artists, big and small, free rein and see what happens, establishing a legacy.

The Colen show, which Russeth described as "deeply mediocre," runs through Sunday here in the former Con Ed substation between Avenue A and First Avenue.



Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect

Walter De Maria's home/studio on East 6th Street is now on the market for $25 million

Rumor: The Brant Foundation buying Walter De Maria's E. 6th St. studio for an exhibition space (19 comments)

Confirmed: Peter M. Brant buys Walter De Maria's amazing East 6th Street home and studio

1st permits filed for renovation of Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

A soft opening at the Brant Foundation's new space at Walter De Maria's former East 6th Street studio

Thursday, December 11, 2014

A soft opening at the Brant Foundation's new space at Walter De Maria's former East 6th Street studio



Back in August, news reports confirmed that billionaire art collector Peter Brant bought Walter De Maria’s former home and studio at 421 E. Sixth St. for $27 million.

While nothing has been made official about what Brant intends to do with the space, a tipster told us last spring that it will serve as exhibition space.



And last night, the Brant Foundation apparently had some kind of soft opening inside the space… EVG reader Shawn Chittle was there and shared these photos… We don't have any details on the exhibit… which included carefully placed scattered bottles and a drunken Scooby Doo… [Updated: Page Six reports this is the work of Gagosian gallery artist Dan Colen.]




[Click on image to enlarge]





De Maria died of a stroke in July 2013 at age 77.

No. 421 was built in 1920 as a ConEd substation, but had been converted into a photography studio after De Maria bought it in 1980.

All photos via Shawn Chittle

Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect

Walter De Maria's home/studio on East 6th Street is now on the market for $25 million

Rumor: The Brant Foundation buying Walter De Maria's E. 6th St. studio for an exhibition space (19 comments)

Confirmed: Peter M. Brant buys Walter De Maria's amazing East 6th Street home and studio

1st permits filed for renovation of Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street

Monday, October 20, 2014

1st permits filed for renovation of Walter De Maria's former home-studio on East 6th Street



Back in August, news reports confirmed that billionaire art collector Peter Brant bought Walter De Maria’s former home and studio at 421 E. Sixth St. for $27 million.

In May, a tipster told us that The Brant Foundation would use the building between First Avenue and Avenue A as an exhibition space.

While Brant's reps haven't released any further details on what he plans on doing with the address, work is underway on the building. Plans filed with the DOB Friday call for the rather generic "removal of interior non loading bearing partitions and related finishes."

Gluckman Mayner Architects are listed as the architects of record. Among their projects: the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, N.M., the Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin, the renovation and expansion of the Whitney and the conversion of the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh.

De Maria died of a stroke in July 2013 at age 77.

Per artnet: "De Maria is best known for The Lightning Field (1977), 400 stainless steel poles planted in a one-by-one-mile grid in the New Mexican desert. The famously isolated piece can only be visited by six guests per day, each of whom must stay overnight in an isolated cabin."

The property, which includes the empty lot to the west, had been listed for $25 million. It was built in 1920 as a ConEd substation, but had been converted into a photography studio after De Maria bought it in 1980.

Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect

Walter De Maria's home/studio on East 6th Street is now on the market for $25 million

Rumor: The Brant Foundation buying Walter De Maria's E. 6th St. studio for an exhibition space (19 comments)

Confirmed: Peter M. Brant buys Walter De Maria's amazing East 6th Street home and studio

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Confirmed: Peter M. Brant buys Walter De Maria's amazing East 6th Street home and studio


[File photo]

Back in May, a reliable source told us that The Brant Foundation was in contract to buy the longtime home-studio of the late Walter De Maria for use as an exhibition space.

This sale has been confirmed. The Real Deal reported that billionaire businessman Peter M. Brant paid $27 million for the building at 421 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue, according to property records filed with the city yesterday.

Here's more about the Greenwich, Conn.-based Foundation via its website:

The Brant Foundation Art Study Center, designed by Richard Gluckman, has a mission to promote education and appreciation of contemporary art and design, by making works available to institutions and individuals for scholarly study and examination. The Brant Foundation Art Study Center presents long-term exhibitions curated primarily from the collection. The collection is remarkable in that scores of artists are represented in depth, including works from the earliest period of their practice through their most recent works. Currently, The Brant Foundation, Inc., established in 1996, lends works to more than a dozen exhibitions per year.

Paper magnate-publisher-art collector-wealthy person Brant is the founder and president, as you may have guessed.

The building was a Con Ed substation built in 1920. De Maria, who died last summer at age 77, bought it in 1980 to use as a home and studio.

Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect

Walter De Maria's home/studio on East 6th Street is now on the market for $25 million

Rumor: The Brant Foundation buying Walter De Maria's E. 6th St. studio for an exhibition space (19 comments)

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Rumor: The Brant Foundation buying Walter De Maria's E. 6th St. studio for an exhibition space


[File photo]

The longtime home-studio of the late Walter De Maria hit the market this past Feb. 19. By early April, the listing for the $25-million property was no longer available.

Now we hear from a tipster that The Brant Foundation is in contract to buy the building for use as an exhibition space.

Here's more about the Greenwich, Conn.-based Foundation via its website:

The Brant Foundation Art Study Center, designed by Richard Gluckman, has a mission to promote education and appreciation of contemporary art and design, by making works available to institutions and individuals for scholarly study and examination. The Brant Foundation Art Study Center presents long-term exhibitions curated primarily from the collection. The collection is remarkable in that scores of artists are represented in depth, including works from the earliest period of their practice through their most recent works. Currently, The Brant Foundation, Inc., established in 1996, lends works to more than a dozen exhibitions per year.

Paper magnate-publisher-art collector-wealthy person Peter Brant is the founder and president.

There's nothing yet in public records to indicate that the sale occurred. While still in rumor stage, perhaps this is comfort to people who feared the property would be Shaouled into condos or micro apartments for students.

The building was a Con Ed substation built in 1920. De Maria, who died last summer at age 77, bought it in 1980 to use as a home and studio.

Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect

Walter De Maria's home/studio on East 6th Street is now on the market for $25 million

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Where's the listing for Walter De Maria's $25 million home-studio on East 6th Street?



The longtime home-studio of the late Walter De Maria hit the market this past Feb. 19. The asking price for the building: $25 million.

On Tuesday, we noticed that the listing was "no longer available" on Streeteasy



We wondered if someone, perhaps, has the property, which also includes the empty lot next door at 419 E. Sixth St., in contract. Or maybe there's a price chop in the works. Hard to say!

A rep for Cushman & Wakefield, who listed the address, did not respond to an email about the status of property.

The building was a Con Ed substation built in 1920. De Maria, who died last summer at age 77, bought it in 1980 to use as a home and studio.

Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect

Walter De Maria's home/studio on East 6th Street is now on the market for $25 million

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Walter De Maria's home/studio on East 6th Street is now on the market for $25 million



A few weeks ago, the Times brought the news that the longtime home-studio of the late Walter De Maria was ready to hit the real-estate market for $25 million. The artist, who died last summer at age 77, had lived/worked here since 1980.

The listing arrived on Streeteasy yesterday. Here's the pitch:

421 East 6th Street is a 4-story, 16,402 square foot loft-style building featuring soaring ceilings, original 1920s interior fixtures and spectacular views, ideal for an ultra-luxury single-family. Since 1980, the building has been the home and residence of the renowned artist Walter De Maria.

Constructed in 1920 as a Con Edison substation, 421 East 6th Street maintains many of its original 1920s industrial finishes and features including exceptional slab-to-slab ceiling heights ranging from 14-3 to 32-3. Other remnants of its classical design include dramatic multistory warehouse windows, an old-fashioned through-floor pulley system and exposed brick and ceilings.

The building is one of the tallest in the immediate vicinity providing spectacular views of the surrounding area and New York City skyline. Constructed on a through-block lot, the Property has a driveway entering the rear of the building from East 7th Street. The building is also afforded light and air on three sides.

And some photos…









… and the view from the roof…



The sale also includes the empty lot next door at 419 E. Sixth St.

To date, we are still waiting for someone to randomly lend us, or better, give us, $25 million.

Seriously, though: Any thoughts/predictions on what might happen with this building? Converted to condos? Kept as a single-family home? Turned into an art gallery/museum? (Heh.)

Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect

Monday, February 3, 2014

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect



Famed sculptor Walter De Maria died last July at age 77. De Maria owned one of the most intriguing buildings in the East Village — the mysterious 421 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Avenue A. The building was a Con Ed substation built in 1920. (NYC Songlines described No. 421 as "a giant-robot laboratory.") De Maria bought it in 1980 to use as a home and studio.

We had never seen any photos of the interior … or met anyone who had been inside. Who is up there? What is up there?


[Photo by Goggla]

We were curious what would happen to this after his death. (After all, it was our dream home.)

Well, Robin Finn at the Times has the story: The building and adjacent lot are ready to hit the market for $25 million.

Meanwhile, the Times got a look inside… and it is as amazing as we expected.

In keeping with his Minimalist philosophy, Mr. De Maria left the substation’s industrial origins intact: An impressive grittiness prevails throughout the raw space. Major improvements were confined to the overhead lighting that illuminated his room-size installations.

Even the elevator is a vintage artifact, as is the Viking stove in the bare-bones kitchen where he cooked steak and vegetables. But mostly he worked, dreaming up installations like Bel Air Trilogy, an assemblage of three classic, two-tone (red and white) 1955 Chevrolets, each with a silver stake embedded in its front and rear windshields. A two-story ramp at the back of the property made it possible to take the cars, and other huge objects, up to the second-floor studio.


[Katherine Marks for The New York Times]

There are a lot more photos on the Times website.

The sale will include the lot next door.



Per the Times:

The sale also includes an unimproved lot at 419 East Sixth, a 7,920-square-foot expanse of grass and gravel partially enclosed by a chain-link fence with the potential to be repurposed into gardens, a noncommercial gallery, a garage or townhouses.

The mind reels at what a developer might do to/with this.

P.S.
Can anyone lend us $25 million?

Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Monday, July 29, 2013

RIP Walter De Maria


[Photo by Patrick Rogers]

Famed sculptor Walter De Maria died last Thursday of a stroke, according to published reports. He was 77.

Here's part of a feature obituary from The Los Angeles Times:

Throughout his career, De Maria cultivated a somewhat reclusive personality as far as the media was concerned. He seldom gave interviews and disliked being photographed. He also avoided participating in museum shows when he could, preferring to create his installations outdoors or at unconventional urban locations.

As a result, his work was not widely exhibited in the U.S. and he never became a household name. But critics championed his work, finding his large-scale installations to be conceptual and intellectually complex, while at the same time accessible to the general public.

He was also a one-time drummer for the Primitives, a Velvet Underground precursor. The band members included Lou Reed, John Cale and Tony Conrad.

De Maria also owned one of the more intriguing buildings in the East Village — the mysterious 421 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Avenue A... I wonder what will happen to the building... Here's what I wrote about the address back in December in a post titled "What is your East Village dream home?"

-------

I've always had my eye on 421 E. Sixth Street between First Avenue and Avenue A.


According to Forgotten New York: "421 was a Con Edison substation built in 1920-21 that converted direct current to alternating. It is at present (2008) the studio of modern artist/sculptor Walter De Maria."

Off the Grid just had a post on this landmarked building, offering more background:

According to a 1919 Board of Appeals resolution, the “four-story fireproof transformer building” would accommodate a switchboard room, static air chambers, blower room and rotary foundations on the first floor; rotaries, transformer, and booster compensator on the second floor; a battery room on the third floor; and a high tension room and blower and exhaust chambers on the fourth floor. Three people would work on the first floor and two on the second.

I've never met anyone who has been inside. I'm not sure if any photos exist of the interior. Kinda "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory"-ish.

------

Here's more on the building via Wikimedia Commons:

421 East 6th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City was built in 1919 as a transformer substation for the New York Edison Co., and was designed by William W. Whitehill in the Neo-classical style. It converted DC current into AC. The bulding was converted to a multi-use commercial structure in 1963, and has been owned by artist Walter De Maria since 1980.


[February 2013. Photo by Derek Berg]

Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

[EVG Flashback] About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

Originally posted on Sept. 24, 2008...

As you may know, New York has a great piece this week on 190 Bowery, a space that I've long been curious about. Wendy Goodman gets right to it in her lead:

The building at 190 Bowery is a mystery: a graffiti-covered Gilded Age relic, with a beat-up wooden door that looks like it hasn’t been opened since La Guardia was mayor. A few years ago, that described a lot of the neighborhood, but with the Bowery Hotel and the New Museum, the Rogan and John Varvatos boutiques, 190 is now an anomaly, not the norm. Why isn’t some developer turning it into luxury condos?

Because Jay Maisel, the photographer who bought it 42 years ago for $102,000, still lives there, with his wife, Linda Adam Maisel, and daughter, Amanda. It isn’t a decrepit ruin; 190 Bowery is a six-story, 72-room, 35,000-square-foot (depending on how you measure) single-family home.


There's another building that I've been curious about: 421 E. Sixth Street between First Avenue and Avenue A.



I was told years back that an artist lives there. Indeed.

According to Forgotten New York: "421 was a Con Edison substation built in 1920-21 that converted direct current to alternating. It is at present (2008) the studio of modern artist/sculptor Walter De Maria. His most famous installation is The Lightning Field (1977) is permanently installed in the desert at Quemado, New Mexico, and was commissioned by the Dia Art Foundation, who run the site and provide accommodation for visitors. The work consists of hundreds of stainless steel rods projecting from the ground to a uniform height of around six metres (20 feet). Rows of 20 rods extend for one mile, while rows of 16 extend for a kilometre, making a square grid of standard and metric proportions. The work is designed to attract spectacular lightning strikes."

NY Songlines has a few more details: "This building, which looks like a giant-robot laboratory, was actually built in 1919-21 as a New York Edison transformer substation — turning DC current into AC. Since 1980 it's been owned by artist Walter De Maria."



Wonder if we'll ever get to see the inside of this space...

Related:
Miss Representation on 421 E. Sixth St.