Demolition Porn: Williamsburg's Old Dutch Mustard Tear Down

We make a point of doing a weekly wander past the Old Dutch Mustard factory on Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg. To us, it's one of the most superb remaining historic industrial buildings in the neighborhood, a constant reminder of the way this part of Brooklyn once looked.

Hope you have some pictures, because the Old Dutch is being demolished. (We knew it was part of a larger project, but were hoping for a restoration.) On our latest walk, we noticed that netting had been installed around the building (after windows were removed and asbestos removal done). Then we saw blue sky through the roof, where it hadn't been before. Then, we noticed a bunch of permits on the plywood wall out front and a sign for Breeze out front. It rang a very bad bell--from Red Hook and the Ikea demolition of the Todd Shipyards. Sure enough, we wandered across the street and found demolition permits. We were so stunned we must have stood there moronically for about five minutes, taking photos and trying to make sure that we weren't seeing things or terribly misunderstanding.

The Old Dutch was one of a number of buildings sold for $25 million to Steiner Equities this spring. It was on the Waterfront Preservation Alliance's list of buildings to landmark.

We normally try to watch our language a bit, but we're not going to do so here because we are absolutely beside ourselves. Destruction of the Old Dutch Mustard factory is an ugly act of vandalism. Shame on Steiner Studios for doing to the Old Dutch with jackhammer and shovel what was done to the Greenpoint Terminal Market with a match and shame on every New York City official that has let this happen. What a sad and awful loss of a building that could so easily have been converted to new use.

If we're missing something here--like a planned facadomy rather than a demolition--please do let us know.