The Beginning of the End on the Williamsburg Waterfront

Do you take a dim view of 40-story buildings on the Williamsburg waterfront? If so, this is a week when you will be muttering, "There goes the neighborhood." Construction is now underway on both the Palmer's Dock/Northside Piers highrises and "The Edge," a development between North 5th and North 7th streets. (Work has been underway on the former for months.) Pile drivers were parked on the property when we did our usual Sunday morning look-see, and Williamsburg blogger imnotsayin,imjustsayin has posted an entry about the construction-related hell developing across the street and the impending Loss of View. As a resident, imjustsayin can say it with a lot more authority than us:

Our beautiful, unobstructed East River vista was permanently pierced by the first salvo of ugly steel piles today - the beginning of what's to become two forty-story residential towers called "The Edge". The next couple of years - if we decide to stay - promise to include perpetual sleepless mornings, truck fumes and construction noise, and a gorgeous view (and sunlight) that shrinks daily until its completely obstructed by Miami Beach-style high-rises. We know we've been blessed with a million-dollar view for the price of a Brooklyn rental for the past 20 months; still, its sad to see it go...

Yes, the Williamsburg that everyone knew and loved over the last decade is going to get edgy, and not in a good way.