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One Year After the Greenpoint Warehouse Fire
By
Jen Chung
Published May 2, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published May 2, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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A year ago, the Fire Department was trying to put out the massive ten-alarm blaze at the Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse. It took a day and a half for the FDNY to control the fire. A homeless man, Leszek Kuczera, apparently started the blaze while trying to burn insulation off copper wire, only for him to get off with a plea agreement.
Of course, the convenience of Kuczera as a fall guy who didn't even plead guilty makes some people believe the fire is still an open case. The Daily News offers this dramatic update:
A year after the city's largest inferno in a decade engulfed 15 buildings along the Brooklyn waterfront, the historic site of the Greenpoint Terminal Market remains a charred wasteland and a sore spot for locals.
Nobody has been convicted in the arson fire that broke out on May 2, 2006, and eventually took 6 million gallons of water to extinguish. And nothing has been developed on the scorched earth where the warehouses once stood.
"That fire destroyed one of the most beautiful industrial buildings on the waterfront. and that's a permanent loss," Councilman David Yassky, who represents the area, said yesterday. "There's nothing good about it."
And while owner-developer Josh Guttman was eyed with suspicion given his history with other properties, Guttman still hasn't developed anything on the land.
Who do you think started the fire? What do you think will go there?
Photograph by f.trainer on Flickr; f.trainer has a set of photographs that shows the warehouse before and after the fire
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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