July 17, 2001

7/15/01

Implosion of the Brooklyn Union Gas Tanks

I am convinced my neighborhood is going to be one of the most documented industrial wastelands in this country. I guess that’s what the advent of affordable technology and a high density of creative types will do for you.

The day before these tanks were to be blown up I suddenly found myself possessed to get on my bicycle to get one last look,and take a few snaps. Unknowingly, I was to be joined by a whole flock of people doing the same thing including a documentary film crew. You can’t count out human curiosity.

The tanks I am disappointed to see go. With their checkerboard loudness they have served as the one landmark in the neighborhood recognizable from a distance,a point towards home. Now the landscape will all fade into the rest of Brooklyn and be just another blur from the highway.

By the time I touched down at the actual site of the tanks (which is truly industrial) about 5pm in the evening, the Police crews were rounding themselves up and getting ready to evacuate the area. Stacks of barricades made the business seem official.

The documentary film crew, making a blotter about the tanks, (working title: Implode!) were giving interviews to a handful of media types and selling T-shirts to fund/commemorate their project.

Tomorrow when I step out the door and walk a few blocks North to the park, I am sure it will be odd that gaping hole, giving way to a little more skyline and a little less comfort.

The tanks are scheduled to be blow up at 7:AM Sunday, July 15 2001. RIP.