  Saruthma Member Username: Saruthma Post Number: 53 Registered: 06-2005 |
http://weburbanist.com/2007/12 /18/7-more-abandoned-wonders-o f-the-world-amazing-american-a bandonments/ Nothing from Detroit on here, although we certainly have some ruins that would give these a run for their money. What Detroit wonders would you nominate? (Message edited by saruthma on December 19, 2007) | ||
Charlottepaul Member Username: Charlottepaul Post Number: 2163 Registered: 10-2006 |
#2 on this list: http://weburbanist.com/2007/08 /30/urban-abandonments-part-tw o-7-more-deserted-wonders-of-t he-modern-world/ | ||
Gsgeorge Member Username: Gsgeorge Post Number: 477 Registered: 08-2006 |
ALL of Detroit? I dunno. MCS should definitely top one of these lists. Also, did they get permission to use Lowell's photo of the Hudson's implosion? | ||
Detroitrise Member Username: Detroitrise Post Number: 1160 Registered: 09-2007 |
LOL Charlottepaul. george, I think that is a pic of the MCS on the page. The irony is that it's the only building on the page that hasn't fallen down or hasn't been demolished (yet). | ||
Detroitrise Member Username: Detroitrise Post Number: 1161 Registered: 09-2007 |
If anything, their source IS DetroitYES, which is even more ironic. | ||
Detroitrise Member Username: Detroitrise Post Number: 1163 Registered: 09-2007 |
"Also, did they get permission to use Lowell's photo of the Hudson's implosion?" That's a good question. I'm sure Lowell will come in here and answer that, but my guess is that as long as they listed him as the source and didn't claim it as their own, he probably wouldn't care. | ||
Waz Member Username: Waz Post Number: 238 Registered: 11-2006 |
BOOOOoooo on the whole city of Detroit concept, while they freely pick and choose parts NY. That monastery on Staten Island doesn't look like it holds up to MCS, much less the Packard plant. I wish I knew about the Griffith Park zoo site when I was working in LA, though. That looks pretty cool. | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 11147 Registered: 12-2003 |
I'd bet good bucks that they used MY picture of Slumpy, too. Weird. | ||
Professorscott Member Username: Professorscott Post Number: 970 Registered: 12-2006 |
Noo Yawk has its own problems. The Fish Kill landfill on Staten Island is maybe the biggest garbage dump in the world, right inside one of the biggest cities on earth. Detroit proper doesn't even have a landfill that I know of, does it? ("Kill" isn't meant to be ironic in the name, it is the Dutch word for a creek. Lots of Dutch in the very early history of that City and State.) When the Prof used to take the subway to the Bronx to see the Yankees, back in his own Noo Yawk days, we chilluns all knew that if you missed the stop for Yankee Stadium the smart money said stay on the train until it turned around and came back. Plenty of trouble in the Big Apple, we don't have a monopoly on that. | ||
Gsgeorge Member Username: Gsgeorge Post Number: 479 Registered: 08-2006 |
There's an abandoned boat yard near Fresh Kills that so huge you can see it from space. Always wanted to go check it out. | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 4373 Registered: 10-2003 |
Great, they stole my photographs too. They also missed Efes and Chernobyl. | ||
Lefty2 Member Username: Lefty2 Post Number: 803 Registered: 07-2007 |
copyright infringement by how many views? I would wait awhile then go after them. Kind of like when musicians go after someone after their song tops out on the charts. | ||
Jonnyfive Member Username: Jonnyfive Post Number: 90 Registered: 03-2007 |
How is that place called Fresh Kills? Thats worse than Hell, MI. | ||
Gsgeorge Member Username: Gsgeorge Post Number: 480 Registered: 08-2006 |
A lot of New Yorkers were shaking their heads when the debris from the WTC site had to get sent there. But as Professorscott points out, Kills means "creek" in this case. | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 11148 Registered: 12-2003 |
That wasn't my picture of Slumpy, the torn-down plywood isn't at angles on the first floor. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 5945 Registered: 08-2004 |
The two creeks or water passageways around Staten Island both have the Dutch word "KILL" in them. One is the Arthur Kill, which runs west of Staten Island. The other is the Kill Van Kull, which runs north of Staten Island.  | ||
Clark1mt Member Username: Clark1mt Post Number: 113 Registered: 06-2005 |
Lowell: They didn't miss Efes because they were focusing on modern abandonment. And they listed Pripyat (Chernobyl) on the first edition of that list: http://weburbanist.com/2007/08 /08/urban-abandonments-7-deser ted-wonders-of-the-postmodern- world/ | ||
Elsuperbob Member Username: Elsuperbob Post Number: 104 Registered: 03-2007 |
And on the subject of Fresh Kills there's a rather impressive plan laid out by the office Field Operations (http://www.fieldoperations.net /) to turn it into one of New York's largest parks. http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub _your_park/fresh_kills_park/ht ml/fresh_kills_park.html It'd be interesting to see something along the lines of their work in some of Detroit's abandoned places. There would be a lot to work from with some of the interesting landscapes that exist. Perhaps a mix of preservation and re-integration. | ||
Dfd Member Username: Dfd Post Number: 344 Registered: 09-2004 |
I know it's gone now, but I thought Sinai Hospital was fascinating. It didn't look abandoned except for the parking lot. It would "leave one dumbfounded". | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 4328 Registered: 10-2003 |
Isn't that Lowell's photo of the Seven Sisters too? | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 4200 Registered: 02-2005 |
Nice link, Elsuperbob. Hopefully that sets a precedent for the re-use of other landfill sites. How long until Michigan imports New York City trash? Their trash already makes it to Virginia. | ||
Cman710 Member Username: Cman710 Post Number: 395 Registered: 07-2006 |
Hi everyone, As some of you may know from my past posts, I am from Staten Island, NY, and have lived their my entire life, except for when I went to college and law school. As Gistok mentions, the word "Kill" comes from a Dutch word. The landfill was called the Fresh Kills landfill, because the Fresh Killl runs through it. The landfill has not received garbage since 2000, and again, as Gistok said, the plan is to turn the landfill into a huge amount of parkland over the next 30 years. If completed, it will be a fabulous reclamation project. Also, for those of you who have never been to Staten Island, while there are some pockets of abandoned, interesting places on the island, the island is the fastest growing part of New York City by percentage of population growth, and has been for much time. There is an incredible amount of new development, both commercial and residential, and that will only continue growing for the coming years. Abandonment is an exception. Also, in response to Professorscot's implication that if you get off the train in the Bronx, you will be hurt: New York City, and the South Bronx in particular, have made great inroads during the past twenty years. I would suggest you visit again some time soon. Despite a growing population of over 8 million, New York City is on track for less than 500 murders this year, an amazingly low rate compared to other cities. Lastly, I hope to photograph the abandoned boat area soon. If I do, I will make sure to share the photographs with those interested. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 5970 Registered: 08-2004 |
Thanks for the post Cman710. In regards to the Bronx, it has the largest concentration of Art Deco apartment buildings in America, mainly along the Grand Concourse Ave. The Bronx is making headway from its' rough past. One of the bright new gems in the Bronx is the restoration of the Loew's Paradise Theatre on the Grand Concourse. This impossibly wonderful Italian Renaissance atmospheric theatre is possibly movie palace architect John Eberson's greatest achievement. With all that there is to look at inside this extremely opulent theatre, it's a wonder that anyone ever saw the movie! I haven't been to Staten Island since 1984, and I knew that it's wide open spaces would one day boom with new construction. I remember driving along the Fish Kill dump back then (when it was still open) and marvelling at the huge hills. Turning them into parkland will indeed be awesome. Plus there is no better way to get to Manhattan that via the Staten Island Ferry. Staten Island also has one of the greatest bridges in the world connecting it. The Verrazzano Narrows Bridge, which connects it to Brooklyn over New York Harbor is America's longest single span bridge. | ||
Cambrian Member Username: Cambrian Post Number: 1801 Registered: 08-2006 |
It is nice to see that other states and cities have blight too. LA really surprised me given the value of the real estate out there. | ||
Toolbox Member Username: Toolbox Post Number: 1120 Registered: 10-2003 |
Do you mean this boatyard in NY???? | ||
Gsgeorge Member Username: Gsgeorge Post Number: 486 Registered: 08-2006 |
Toolbox: yeah, I've been dying to go there. Ranks with MCS as one of the greatest American abandonments IMO | ||
Cman710 Member Username: Cman710 Post Number: 396 Registered: 07-2006 |
That is the same boatyard. The ships do not appear to still be as densely packed, but there still are still many of them (there are several more further south, closer to the Outerbridge Crossing). I live about three minutes from the site, and actually just noticed it the other day, since I was driving along and the trees now have no leaves. Believe it or not, it's not that easy to see, as a junkyard that owns the nearby property has most of the stretch fenced with an iron fence. The area near the boatyard not abandoned at all, though it is very close to a highway. The area on the block immediately near the boat-yard is commercial, but there are some residences and an old cemetery nearby. From what I have been told, there is an LST that participated in the Normandy invasion at the boatyard. I am hoping to get out with my camera soon and take some pictures. Unfortunately, most places from which you could take good photos are on private property (the junkyard) and fenced, so my access may be limited and may depend on the niceness of the people working there. I am not sure how that photographer got so close to all the ships, unless she took a small boat and went in close. For the Bird's Eye View, go here: http://maps.live.com/default.a spx?v=2&cp=qrsdsg8tfqhd&style= o&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-10 00&scene=8213387&encType=1 | ||
Cman710 Member Username: Cman710 Post Number: 397 Registered: 07-2006 |
Not that many of you probably care, but the red arrow points to roughly where I live. The blue arrow points to the location of the boat yard.  | ||
Lefty2 Member Username: Lefty2 Post Number: 821 Registered: 07-2007 |
we ALL care Cman. We are glad you still care about Detroit. | ||
Gsgeorge Member Username: Gsgeorge Post Number: 491 Registered: 08-2006 |
Cman, looks like you could access it from the foot of Rossville Ave. Might require a walk through some thick brush but it looks open from there to the water, where you could then cut over to the boatyard. Let us know if you get in. | ||
Soulhawk Member Username: Soulhawk Post Number: 328 Registered: 04-2004 |
Has anyone seen the Book "Ghostly Ruins?" http://www.bordersstores.com/s earch/title_detail.jsp?id=5602 1170&srchTerms=ghostly+ruins&m ediaType=1&srchType=Title It has several Detroit selections, including Brush Park and the MCS. | ||
Cman710 Member Username: Cman710 Post Number: 398 Registered: 07-2006 |
Thanks Gsgeorge. You're right. To the immediate east of Rossville, there's an old cemetery that is open to the public that would give initial access. I am not sure what kind of brush there is and whether it's safely passable, but I am going to try to go and take a look soon (perhaps tomorrow, if I get time). I will go just with camera in hand the first time and check out the situation. |
