Largest NYC fire in 10 years besides 9/11
This morning, the Greenpoint Terminal Market, a huge old warehouse on the Brooklyn waterfront, caught fire. More than fourteen hours after the nine-alarm fire started, I could still see the smoke from my street in Long Island City (the Queens neighborhood located directly north of Greenpoint section of Brooklyn).
The city's Fire Commissioner said that excluding 9/11, "this is unquestionably the largest fire we've had in more than 10 years." Authorities said the fire has been deemed suspicious in nature. Local speculation will undoubtedly center around the development gold rush which has been underway since the city rezoned the Greenpoint/Williamsburg waterfront several years ago.
"Cause of Brooklyn Blaze Is Under Investigation" [New York Times]
"Greenpoint Warehouse on Fire" (featuring local reports) [Gothamist]
Photos of the fire from the East River [Flickr]; from Greenpoint [Flickr]
Photos of the Greenpoint Terminal Market before and after the fire [Flickr]
Satellite map - West Street and Noble Street [Google Maps]
UPDATED 5/2/06:
I forgot to mention that the Greenpoint Terminal Market site includes the former grounds of Continental Iron Works, where the USS Monitor, the Union's first ironclad ship, was built in 1862. This engraving, from an 1862 issue of Harper's Weekly, shows the Monitor's launch into the East River on January 30, 1862:
Department of the Navy - Naval Historical Center [history.navy.mil]
USS Monitor [Wikipedia]
UPDATED 5/5/06:
Last night I walked down to Greenpoint to see what was left of the Greenpoint Terminal Market. To my surprise, the fire was still smoldering, more than 60 hours after it had begun on Tuesday morning. In the photo shown below, you can see firefighters hosing down the ruins of one of the warehouses as the sun sets (click on photo to enlarge).
The city's Fire Commissioner said that excluding 9/11, "this is unquestionably the largest fire we've had in more than 10 years." Authorities said the fire has been deemed suspicious in nature. Local speculation will undoubtedly center around the development gold rush which has been underway since the city rezoned the Greenpoint/Williamsburg waterfront several years ago.
"Cause of Brooklyn Blaze Is Under Investigation" [New York Times]
"Greenpoint Warehouse on Fire" (featuring local reports) [Gothamist]
Photos of the fire from the East River [Flickr]; from Greenpoint [Flickr]
Photos of the Greenpoint Terminal Market before and after the fire [Flickr]
Satellite map - West Street and Noble Street [Google Maps]
UPDATED 5/2/06:
I forgot to mention that the Greenpoint Terminal Market site includes the former grounds of Continental Iron Works, where the USS Monitor, the Union's first ironclad ship, was built in 1862. This engraving, from an 1862 issue of Harper's Weekly, shows the Monitor's launch into the East River on January 30, 1862:
Department of the Navy - Naval Historical Center [history.navy.mil]
USS Monitor [Wikipedia]
UPDATED 5/5/06:
Last night I walked down to Greenpoint to see what was left of the Greenpoint Terminal Market. To my surprise, the fire was still smoldering, more than 60 hours after it had begun on Tuesday morning. In the photo shown below, you can see firefighters hosing down the ruins of one of the warehouses as the sun sets (click on photo to enlarge).
posted at 8:52:00 PM | permalink
<< Home