Walking Around the Neighborhood

Sorry for doing a throw back post. I have been meaning to post this process blog but didn’t find time to it in the last few days of the semester. Two weeks ago, I walked around Williamsburg in search for old warehouses map and had some interesting findings that led to the argument in my map.
Earlier in the semester, I was inspired by the concept of learning about a neighborhood through physical engagement in Jane Jacob’s book The life and Death of American Cities.  In the introduction, she mentioned the importance of going out and observing the reality of neighborhoods. The example she gave was that that when walked along the notorious slum area of Boston’s North End, she actually did not experience slum, but learned that local residents were rebuilding their neighborhood in creative ways.
Thus, I have really been hunted not going to Williamsburg and see the community (instead of vintage cloth shopping) myself. So I got there on Saturday afternoon, looking for all the locations on my map. I didn’t find anyone to interview, but seeing where the buildings once stood was at times very emotional, and many times it gave me an excitement that “This is the feeling that this article was talking about!”
As posted in my previous process blog, the New York Times article had a very vivid illustration about getting to the first bar Terry Dineen and Jean Francois established. It says the bar Lizard Tail “looks as if it had been built by high school students who pilfered their materials from junkyards and empty lots to make a clubhouse. To get to it, you first have to find it in the maze under the Williamsburg Bridge” So I also went on the journey of searching for now non-existant The Lizard Tail, and surprisingly the experience was kind of the same, it didn’t feel less dangerous. In order to get to the south side, I walked along kent avenue under the loud and scary sounds of Williamsburg bridge, passing still empty buildings of the Domino Factory with no one on the street. When I got to Lizard Tail I surprisingly found the location of is now used by the environmental cyclists organization Time’s Up. Unfortunately, the cyclists in front of the building didn’t know anything about the history of the place. Nonetheless, I find it encouraging to see that another grassroots organization entered the space, and breathed their own hopes and dreams into this crazy little building again.
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The other buildings I came across were mostly in used. Below is where Lalalandia entertainment once stood.
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Nearby where the first Cat’s Head warehouse party once stood:
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Is it because the prices are getting higher and higher that owners would just want to leave the space vacant until renovators take over the place? Is it possible to open it up, or allow art and cultural use before it’s sold?
I also had the chance to go with Hugo to interview No Longer Empty’s curator Naomi last week. She talked about policies in preserving space and how houses in England would be fined if owners leave it vacant. This links to the similar arguments Hugo and I have been thinking, should abandoned spaces in the city also be valued for the artistic possibilities it might bring instead of simply the pure economic values? Did artists and galleries have to move out of Williamsburg as it’s economic value rose?
These thoughts about abandoned space and it’s necessity for artists were formed as the argument in my map. If I had more time, I’d like to know more about these buildings and the relationship the early artists and space owners and develop this argument further.

One thought on “Walking Around the Neighborhood

  1. This is great, Jung! You really appreciate the value of fieldwork — of actually going on-scene and experiencing it with all your senses, talking to the people there, etc.

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