I've written about Red Hook before and the landscape continues to excite me. It is both an industrial wasteland and a quickly gentrifying neighborhood isolated in South Brooklyn by the BQE. The biggest landmark is the Port Authority Grain Towers that are right next to the ball parks. In the summer, this area is filled with soccer and baseball players and the famous Red Hook Taco trucks and food vendors. I took my car on this photo tour and was glad to have the shelter.
The weather was brutal and despite early clouds, the sky was incredibly dramatic with shifts of intense,angled light. I spent a lot of time driving around trying to catch great shots when the sun shifted.
Ikea is a recent addition to Red Hook but was just sort of shoved in. Next to it is a large, cement floored space filled with graffiti, fragmities, and garbage. When I was there in August, I was too scared to walk into the large open holes in the fence and take picture but today I had no problems and just stepped in. The light was great but I got a few good shots. This space in an intersection of the new Red Hook and the old Red Hook, as if this part of Brooklyn isn't sure if it wants this whole gentrification of not.
I drove down the deserted pier that leads to some sort of NYPD storage facility. There are also coast guard facilities and it is a working port. While the city has argued about how to improve its tax revenue through malls and residential development, a plan to overhaul the port has been sitting there for years. I don't know the specifics but restoring it to what it used to be and to what the city needs makes a lot of sense. Either way, its a great place to see the Hudson.
This is the grain silo looking north. It is huge and is only one occupant in this cove. There were also tons of ducks riding out the storm in the relatively calm waters.
Follow the pier out and you will see a set of matching water towers and a large facility in Bay Ridge. My dad did some work there but I can't remember its name off the top of my head. As I was taking these pictures I saw large sprays of water farther south and hopped in the car to see where the waves were crashing.
I'm not sure if this is true but seagulls seem to come in two varieties, those who don't mind the cold and those who are smart. There were many places to take cover in the wind but this group just stayed there, all lined up beaks to the wind and just road out the storm. I, the human, had a hard time opening the car door and walking. I did round a bend and find a whole group huddled behind a wall so I guess some mind and others don't.
Watertowers and Spray
The rough water and shoreline
I divide Red Hook into two halves, the ball fields and Fairway. There is much more to Red Hook in between and points north but for taking pictures, the decaying industrial areas along the water front are much more interesting to me. This is a recently cleared plot of land on a small finger of land, probably build on landfill and piers. It is currently available if anyone is interested. The problem with Red Hook, is that while its beautiful, it is isolated and you have to rely on cars, buses, and water taxis to get you there. The water taxis sound cool but relying on the bus to get you home is less enticing.
And then we get to Fairway. I don't know the history of these buildings but I'm sure it is industrial. Fairway is one of my favorite places to go. It's a grocery store but is a strange mix of Costco and a gourmet high end fancy pants market. It seems as if a developer is slower working their way along the cost turning the buildings into mixed use neighborhoods. I am insanely jealous of the lofts above Fairway and in the jetty-like fingers that come off the main building.
The sun was really cooperating and I kept hopping back in my car, freezing and promising myself not to go out again and then the sun would pop out again and I'd jump out with camera and scamper up the ramp. The water was crashing against the rocks and as I worked my way west I stopped paying attention to the wet areas on the ground that would tell me where the water splashed and was promptly greeted with a face and body full of the brackish Hudson.
I dried off a bit, drove into the parking lot and grabbed my bags to go shopping. I had no intention of turning my grocery shopping into a photo tour but that's what happens. When I finally got inside the store the greeter was a bit surprised. I was literally dripping water off my rain coat, carrying enough reusable bags to qualify as a bag lady, and burning red with wind burn. You guess that people in New York have probably seen everything but a hypothermic photographing food shopper with a bright red hat and dripping pants who is cheerful is probably a bit on the rarer side.
About halfway through I couldn't resist any longer and went to the back for my just rewards, a cup of coffee and a lobster roll. Weird? Their lobster roll was rated one of the best in the city and is delicious and cheap. They have a small enclosed eating area in the back and I couldn't believe how toasty warm it was despite the rattling wind, sea spray, and below freezing temperatures. But it was packed with people, kids running around, and everyone out of their jackets. The sun was setting and I couldn't resist so I popped outside to take a few more shots before running back inside to my pickle, chips, and coffee, the lobster roll was devoured in record time.
The trolly cars are just sort of back there and actually form a fence for the loading docks of the store. The area is filled with people and is clearly more residential than it first appears. There was a craft fair going on, lots of people watching the water, and even a spare jogger or two.
More pictures can be found in my Red Hook Set on Flickr
