Greenpoint
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Culture on the Cheap
Meet the Belvederes!
The recent discovery of “Belvedere 28” made me (finally) realize exactly how many of these buildings blight the Greenpoint landscape. To apply cold deductive reasoning, if there is a “Belvedere 28” there must be a “Belvedere 27”, “Belvedere 26”, etc., etc. The previous gave me an idea; why not track down all these buildings, document them and place them on a handy map? Last weekend I commenced my quest. Here are my findings.
Belvedere 28
Location: 137 Java Street
Belvedere 12
Location: 150 Java Street
Sure it hasn’t been built yet, but the sign clearly (if illiterately) indicates this will be the location of “Belvedere 12”. It should be noted that I found something rather unusual at this site.
Looks like some type of portal. Does the Belvedere Empire employ an open door policy for felines or is this the worker’s entrance for non-union elfin employees? I for one hope it is the previous, not the latter.
Belvedere 22
Location: 636 Leonard Street
They were having an “Open House” when I took this picture last Sunday. Didn’t see any takers, though. Perhaps noise from the illegal weekend contruction being conducted inside kept potential clients at bay?
Belvedere 8
Location: 116 Calyer Street
Arguably, this has got to be the ugliest of the lot (so far). Its location (near McGuinness Boulevard) isn’t exactly stellar either.
Belvedere 6
Location: 114 Calyer Street
Immediately next door to “Belvedere 8”, #6 makes one wonder where “Belvedere 7” is located. Miss Heather will find this phantom condo. Next time…
Miss Heather
Comments
4 Comments on Meet the Belvederes!
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lisacat on
Tue, 22nd May 2007 7:06 am
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ntodd on
Tue, 22nd May 2007 2:21 pm
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missheather on
Tue, 22nd May 2007 2:31 pm
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Land ‘O Leonard | Brooklyn Imbecile on
Mon, 14th Nov 2011 8:56 am
Ugh, I think there’s one on my block. Mediocrity rules, but if it is a “Belvedere” I must admit the owner/builder did built it slowly and methodically, unlike the sloppy scarano-specials left open to the elements and trashing up the sidewalks and skyline.
Maybe this will help, I have come across these sites regarding the Belvederes.
http://www.nybridge.com
http://www.belvederepartners.com
I look forward to your findings and comments.
These buildings are atrocious.
Thanks “ntodd”. The thought of consulting their web site(s) had crossed my mind. Especially regarding Belvedere “XXX”. I’m all over that shit.
Otherwise, yes these buildings are “atrocious” —but what gets me more than anything is how damned many of them there are here.
I was making a statement when I turned the Williamsburg Savings Bank into a “Belvedere”: since these condos are confined to Greenpoint no one seems to care. The general mentality seems to be “Who cares, it’s only Greenpoint.” I disagree. If one of these fuckers was being built in Park Slope, Fort Greene or Clinton Hill you’d hear about it. They’d be crying holy hell about it. I bet it would even find its way onto Brownstoner or the Brooklyn Record.
But since it’s only Greenpoint (which is already “ugly” to most people anyway) no one seems to mind. I won’t even go into my rant about affordable rental housing. I am in a fairly good mood right now and would like to stay that way.
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