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34 Illicit Photos From Deep Inside The Abandoned Domino Sugar Refinery
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 10, 2013
Modified Jan 11, 2013
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 10, 2013
Modified Jan 11, 2013
Share
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Last month an impromptu group of "urban explorers" infiltrated the abandoned and very much off-limits Domino Sugar Refinery on the East River in Williamsburg. The massive complex, built in 1884, was once the largest in the world, producing at its peak 3 million pounds of sugar a day and employing some 5,000 workers. It closed in 2004, and was later bought by a developer who tried (and failed) to turn it into a luxury condominium complex. That project was abandoned amidst the economic turmoil of recent years, but was recently taken up again by Two Trees Management, which gentrified much of DUMBO.
Two Trees bought the complex for $185 million, and is currently deciding what shape the "New Domino" will take. For now, the site sits as empty and forlorn as ever—except when a couple dozen curious adventurers risk arrest to explore it. And you can read all about what they found in our previous story about their pre-dawn "Wanderlust" expedition.
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John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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