New Red Hook Buildings, Photos by Micah B. Rubin

Does Red Hook have a neighborhood “style”?

Not really, it’s more of a attitude: old ghosts, waterfront grit, industrial innovation, creative hotbed, and a diverse caring community. Motley is another word that comes to mind.We used to have a lot of vacant or underused lots, over the past few years, many of them have been turned into new buildings. We hope that the owners and architects will honor the spirit of Red Hook, which is part historic, part industrial, and part creative with an eye to the future. We welcome creative design and technical innovation. We’re in a race against rising sea levels, more frequent flooding, extreme weather events, and other environmental challenges. Our survival depends on looking towards the future and embracing radical solutions. Some new buildings are failing miserably. Most are fine and show some effort to express an idea or at least not offend.

And then there are a few that really shine. We present one local critic’s opinion with this slideshow.

[slideshow_deploy id=’7200′]

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One Comment

  1. It would be interesting to now compare the buildings your reviewer likes (as well as other new or substantially improved buildings) with resiliency standards: I.E: which buildings conform to Appendix G and are either wet flood or dry flood proofed: which buildings either through poor elevation surveying, poor or criminal engineering, or good engineering and accurate elevation surveying.
    This can be considered important because all flood insurance rates are based on community building practices.
    Thank you.

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