Hi there from the country hick to all you city slickers.  Now that
sugarin' season is done for I have time for a bit of polite
conversation.  (Not really, I haven't been actively involved in
sugarin' for many years, but it sounded impressive.)

My son, 6th grade, is going with his class to tour NYC in mid April.
Last night he gave me a very detailed itinerary of the trip and I
noticed that they are having supper one night at this South Street
Seaport place.  Is that safe?  It didn't sound to me that it was in a
very good part of town.  Also, could you please stop arguing about
Mr. Porky long enough to give me a bit of history on this place?  Is
there a website I could visit?  I'm sure he did the best he could
with the place given what he had to work with and the uses to which
it was to be put.  We have a similar situation in our area, a large
factory building that was probably built in 1850s-60s.  I believe it
was orginially a textile mfg place.  When I was young it had a plush
toy company in one part and a fabric mill end store in another, the
rest of it--3 floors--was unoccupied and mouldering away with dust,
cobwebs and rodent doodoo.  Some enterprising sort purchased the
whole thing and they have made it into a very nice, upscale--for this
area--"marketplace.''  It is, of course, all quite modern but they
have left the hardwood floors, all the brass fittings and copper
pipe, etc that were very utilitarian in the factory but add a nice
touch to a marketplace.  The separate building that housed the boiler
that supplied the power for the place is now a restaurant.  I haven't
been in there to see what they have left to attest to it's former
use.  Well this has gone on  long enough, TTYL, Ruth




>
>
>It does not help the character that the North exposure, where most people
>encounter the buildings, is open to a large plaza. If there was a narrow
>street with buildings filling the area, and people did not have a standing
>back vantage point, then I think the objection of dullness would not have
>been considered. So it is perspective in question. Let alone that this is not
>where the locals shop. If you wander around on the South side of the building
>it is more funky. I saw one day on a pre-bid walk-through a 6' iguana sunning
>in a window, and there is the small lot that appears to be a junk yard for
>wood boats. I think it is a case of adaptive re-use not being true to the
>historic uses of the site.
--
Ruth Barton
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Westminster, VT