Author Topic: Area in need of Rehabilitation  (Read 398209 times)

Offline Homer Jones

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Re: Area in need of Rehabilitation
« Reply #165 on: April 29, 2015, 02:56:52 PM »
If I am correct, the tracks were always the dividing line between the blighted area south of the tracks and the more active retail area north of the tracks. In that case, you would have SOTRA  and NOTRA.

Offline BLeafe

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Re: Area in need of Rehabilitation
« Reply #166 on: April 30, 2015, 11:25:53 AM »
Wellllll...........I was kinda going for that hip SoHo vibe that utilized an abbreviation for an identifiable street (South of Houston St), as opposed to "tracks".

Sometimes these abbreviated combinations work and become well-known and other times......................well, have you ever heard of the Hackensack Tresge Co building (below)? (combination of Kresge and The Hackensack Trust Co bank building, whose name is pretty hard to read)
« Last Edit: April 30, 2015, 05:36:27 PM by BLeafe »
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Offline Homer Jones

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Re: Area in need of Rehabilitation
« Reply #167 on: April 30, 2015, 12:07:19 PM »
Or an identifiable bridge which resulted in DUMBO.
Actually, life in The Big Apple was easier when you had The Five Points, Little Italy, Chinatown, The Village and my favorite- Hells Kitchen.

Offline irons35

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Re: Area in need of Rehabilitation
« Reply #168 on: April 30, 2015, 03:50:24 PM »
Kresge... the forerunner to K-Mart

Offline BLeafe

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Re: Area in need of Rehabilitation
« Reply #169 on: May 09, 2015, 01:32:34 PM »
I only found out about this because a Hackensack traffic cop I was talking to on Friday morning happened to mention that they were taking the building down that day. I headed right on over.

The minute I got to Main and Mercer, the bank's clock was being smashed down. I never got off a shot of it and I have no idea why it wasn't preserved. I think the remnants are in the sixth picture, but I'm not sure because I couldn't get close.

I got there at 11am and left at 12:15. I figured I'd come back later when the building was lower.

It was lower alright. When I returned 3 and 1/2 hours later, it was done.

In the future, if anyone is aware of building teardowns that are about to take place, please let me know.

Thanks.
« Last Edit: May 09, 2015, 01:35:40 PM by BLeafe »
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Offline itsamike

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Re: Area in need of Rehabilitation
« Reply #170 on: May 09, 2015, 09:00:54 PM »
It was on the Nixle. Subscribe, if you haven't already.

https://local.nixle.com/alert/5409351/?sub_id=1262999

Offline Homer Jones

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Re: Area in need of Rehabilitation
« Reply #171 on: May 09, 2015, 09:24:40 PM »
History in the making.

Offline BLeafe

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Re: Area in need of Rehabilitation
« Reply #172 on: May 10, 2015, 03:51:03 PM »
It was on the Nixle. Subscribe, if you haven't already.
https://local.nixle.com/alert/5409351/?sub_id=1262999

Thanks. It's a great idea, but the demolition had already started when that advisory was sent out - a little advance notice would be helpful. Also, if it doesn't mention the specific historic building being demolished, it's likely to be glossed over on this end.

I'm just trying to expand my contact list of those in the know a bit.

BTW - the traffic cop who tipped me off had written me a $57 parking ticket recently, so now we're buddies.
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Offline just watching

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Re: Area in need of Rehabilitation
« Reply #173 on: May 15, 2015, 11:22:00 PM »
Bob, they started taking down the smaller buildings next to this old bank weeks before.  Maybe the first demolition was at least a month before.  Have you not driven or walked by there  in all that time ?

Offline just watching

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Re: Area in need of Rehabilitation
« Reply #174 on: May 15, 2015, 11:24:20 PM »
Oh, and I also agree that the more iconic buildings should be preserved.  They could have built around that bank, and attached it to the new development.  And I'll be real upset if Poor's Tavern and that really old red-brick building (Main & Sussex) are torn down for some future development. Hackensack needs to balance history and progress. 

Offline BLeafe

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Re: Area in need of Rehabilitation
« Reply #175 on: May 16, 2015, 01:07:49 AM »
Bob, they started taking down the smaller buildings next to this old bank weeks before.  Maybe the first demolition was at least a month before.  Have you not driven or walked by there  in all that time ?

JW, I took (and posted on the previous page) lots of pictures of all the demolished smaller buildings 3 weeks ago. Have you not paid attention to this thread in all that time?

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Offline Skipx219

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Re: Area in need of Rehabilitation
« Reply #176 on: May 16, 2015, 10:45:12 AM »
I think the builder could have renovated the old clock and put it in the same place on the new building. The city should be more attentive to issues like that !

Offline Editor

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Re: Area in need of Rehabilitation
« Reply #177 on: May 16, 2015, 12:05:07 PM »
I had a bunch of conversations with the developer about the clock.  It was always his intention to preserve it.  He looked into it quite extensively. In the end, like the building, it was beyond redemption.  Getting the clock off the building, let along restoring it, would have been very difficult.  All the bracket-bolts inside the building were completely frozen. Even if they managed to get it off, restoring it would have been cost prohibitive.  All the internal components were rusted and fused together. There are no replacement parts available. Everything would need to be specially machined and fitted.  Thousands of dollars with no guarantees of success.

Believe me, I would have liked to have seen the clock saved but I don't think the city can or should dictate that property owners expend large sums of money for projects like this.  If there was a "save the clock" campaign to raise funds for a restoration project, I'm sure the owner would have cooperated.  There wasn't.  I'll also go out on a limb here and say that the clock, even if restored, wasn't much to look at.  Half of it was a lighted sign for the bank.  This was not "Big Ben".  That said, it was something of landmark that we all got used to seeing.  I get that. 

The developer also wanted to preserve the old façade at 170 Main and looked into bracing it with steel members to build around it (as you might see in Prague or elsewhere in Europe).  As it turned out, the installation/pounding of several hundred piles to shore-up the site negated that possibility (which would have been hugely expensive).

For the record, the city does make considerable efforts get developers to preserve history were possible. 210 Main Street is an example.  The developer had originally contemplated bifurcating the lobby to include more units.  The 1926 lobby ceiling would have been completely lost.  The city, working with its planner, prevented that.

We choose our battles.
« Last Edit: May 16, 2015, 12:15:42 PM by Editor »

Offline Skipx219

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Re: Area in need of Rehabilitation
« Reply #178 on: May 16, 2015, 01:47:11 PM »
Thanks for the explaination & your effort !!

Offline BLeafe

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Re: Area in need of Rehabilitation
« Reply #179 on: May 16, 2015, 07:45:50 PM »
That IS a great explanation and we need more of that here.

Couldn't the clock have just been saved as an historic artifact with no money invested in repairing it? It would have looked nice mounted on a wall in the future Hackensack History Museum next to a photo of it on the bank in its heyday.

We have to think ahead so others can think back.

« Last Edit: May 16, 2015, 07:55:56 PM by BLeafe »
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