Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Broken Angel

Last month, the Times reported on the transformation of Broken Angel, a wildly creative Brooklyn treasure, into high-priced condos.

Wrote Ronda Kaysen: "as Clinton Hill, like so many Brooklyn neighborhoods, reinvents itself as yet another gentrifying enclave, Broken Angel recalls a moment in city history when such a creation could seemingly rise out of thin air."


New York Times

Filmmaker Michael Galinsky of "Battle for Brooklyn" is putting together a documentary about Broken Angel and its creator, Arthur Wood.

He's got a 5-minute short on his site, and hopefully more is to come:

at

4 comments:

  1. onemorefoldedsunsetJune 30, 2015 at 8:53 AM

    Oh this one makes me so sad. The whole development boom and branding of Brooklyn incorporates the misuse of the word "creative," which is used to define entrepreneurs - young business people, not artists. They take the buildings, the land, and hijack the vocabulary. They sell artificial dreams of desirability - expensive homes, objects, lifestyles that are as far removed from creativity as you can get. But people flock like lemmings to buy a piece of it. And can you imagine, incorporating Woods' art into the condos as nice little design motifs? This place was so beautiful - a crazy, wonderful, personal vision. For more photographs, check out some of Christopher Woods' photos:
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/onebadapple/albums/127493/page3
    The late journalist/writer/blogger Robert Guskind covered the story of Broken Angel and Woods' run-in with developers and the city on his blog Gowanus Lounge. RIP Bob. Here's a post from 2006 - there are many more.
    http://gowanuslounge.blogspot.com/2006/10/broken-angel-update_31.html

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  2. laura r.June 30, 2015 at 6:30 PM

    the artist owned the building. didnt he sell it for a fortune of $$? it is kind of unclear.

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  3. AnonymousJuly 7, 2015 at 10:35 AM

    i lived on cambridge place from 1992 to 2006 and i knew the culture of that area was a wrap way befor i moved out.

    the artist owned that building so i'm sure he cashed out for many, many millions of dollars.

    i'm really happy i don't live there anymore, but my new block in bed stuy is getting just as bad.

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  4. onemorefoldedsunsetJuly 8, 2015 at 8:52 AM

    I don't know about all the millions. He did own the building, but after the fire he got evicted, sucked into a disastrous partnership with a developer, and the building went into foreclosure.

    ReplyDelete

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