Wednesday, December 04, 2013

Small Wood Clad House On Smith Street Soon To Be Altered

oo
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I always wondered about the unusual three-story, mixed-use building at 159 Smith Street between Wycoff and Bergen Streets in Boerum Hill.  Amidst a row of brick buildings that seem to have been constructed at the same time, it was the only one that had wood cladding.  Over the last few years, the paint on the cladding had begun to peel and the house looked in need of  care, but it had a certain charm and had kept its  original ornate cornice as well as nice window details.
Sadly, instead of getting renovated, the building will soon be altered.  Permits for a two-story addition have been approved by NYC's Department of Buildings.

Not only will the addition make the building stick out from the others on that block, the work will most likely include a new façade.  Most probably, the cornice may not survive this alteration either.

Some roof demolition has already begun.

Of late, the building's storefront had been the home of Dr. Garry Levingard, a dentist, who relocated to #208 Smith Street recently.




6 comments:

Anonymous said...

How do you add two floor to a two story wood frame building without taking the entire building down. It is not built to hold an additional two floors. Your picture shows a sign from a company that demos buildings. I will bet that this permit was filed with the intention of a total demo and the hope that no one reports them to DOB.

Katia said...

I am sure you are correct.

Anonymous said...

Boo! I love that building. I'm sure that they are going to take it down little by little and build some crappy thing in its place.

Becky said...

Oh that is so sad.

JL said...

Boo! I'm surprised all of the Smith Street buildings aren't landmarked!

Sean said...

Not a defense of the decision to build atop this building, however I suspect this building still has masonry party walls just like nearly every other building in the area. The floor joists are supported by masonry - not wood. From that perspective it is easy to make these buildings taller. The same thing happened on 3rd Place between Clinton and Henry recently.