New building at 8 Stone Street

[londonlawyer]

A plywood fence now encloses the empty lot at 8 Stone Street. Was there a building there recently, or was it a parking lot?

[dchui]

It was a parking lot.

[lofter1]

There was a building on that site (http://wbmljackson.home.westpa.net/family/minugh2.html) once upon a time ...
The Minugh Family

William Minugh was born in New York, NY and was employed as a New York Harbor pilot. He married Abigail Winants 9 October 1787 in Trinity Church, New York, NY and had Jane, Rachel, John Matthias, and Mary Catherine as children. He later married Maria Christina Raden 31 January 1798 in Trinity Church, New York, NY. They had William, Jane, John, Henry, Ann Eliza, and Ann Maria. Maria Raden Minugh died 5 Feb. 1814 in New York, NY and William died in 1817 in New York, NY. William lived at 31 Duke Street in New York City in 1792 and at 28 Stone Street in 1803. In 1805 he was living at 8 Stone Street as a branch pilot.

[stache]

Life before television...

[londonlawyer]

There was a building on that site (http://wbmljackson.home.westpa.net/family/minugh2.html) once upon a time ...
The Minugh Family

William Minugh was born in New York, NY and was employed as a New York Harbor pilot. He married Abigail Winants 9 October 1787 in Trinity Church, New York, NY and had Jane, Rachel, John Matthias, and Mary Catherine as children. He later married Maria Christina Raden 31 January 1798 in Trinity Church, New York, NY. They had William, Jane, John, Henry, Ann Eliza, and Ann Maria. Maria Raden Minugh died 5 Feb. 1814 in New York, NY and William died in 1817 in New York, NY. William lived at 31 Duke Street in New York City in 1792 and at 28 Stone Street in 1803. In 1805 he was living at 8 Stone Street as a branch pilot.


Thanks for the information. I wonder if it was destroyed in one of the many fires that razed a lot of Manhattan's oldest structures or if some schmuck tore it down for no particular reason.

[lofter1]

Most possibly the 8 Stone building mentioned above was destroyed in the "Great Fire" of 1835.

Info from wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_New_York) :

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/1835_Great_Fire_of_New_York.jpg
View of the Great Fire in N.York, Dec. 16th & 17, 1835,
as seen from Williamsburg (sic)
Nicolino Calyo
1835_Great_Fire_of_New_York.jpg (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/1835_Great_Fire_of_New_York.jpg)‎ (18KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)


The Great New York Fire destroyed the New York Stock Exchange (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Stock_Exchange) and most of the buildings on the southeast tip of Manhattan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan) around Wall Street (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street) on December 16-17, 1835.The fire began in the evening in a five-story warehouse at 25 Merchant Street (now called Beaver Street)[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_New_York#_note-0) at the intersection with Pearl Street between Hanover Square, Manhattan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanover_Square%2C_Manhattan)[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_New_York#_note-1) and Wall Street in the snow covered city and was fed by gale forced winds blowing from the northwest towards the East River (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_River). With temperatures around 17 below zero (F) and the East River frozen solid, firefighters had to cut holes in the ice to get water. Water then froze in the hoses and pumps. Attempts to blow up buildings in its path were thwarted by a lack of gunpowder in Manhattan. Firefighters coming to help from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia%2C_Pennsylvania) said they could see signs of the fire there.
About 2 a.m. Marines returned with gunpowder from the Brooklyn Navy Yard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Navy_Yard) and blew up buildings in the fire's path. By then it covered 50 acres, 17 blocks of the city, destroying between 530 and 700 buildings. The area is now reported as Coenties Slip in the south to Maiden Lane in the north and from William Street in the west to the East River[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_New_York#_note-2). The losses were estimated at twenty million dollars, which, in today's value would be hundreds of millions. Only two people were killed.
Insurance was not forthcoming because several insurance company headquarters burned bankrupting those companies. A description of the conflagration was in the History of New York:[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_New_York#_note-3)
Many of the stores were new, with iron shutters and doors and copper roofs, and in burning presented the apperance of immense iron furnaces in full blast. The heat at times melted the copper roofing, and the liquid ran off in great drops. The gale blew towards the East River. Wall after wall was heard tumbling like an avalanche. Fiery tongues of flame leaped from roof and windows along whole streets, and seemed to be making angry dashes at each other. The water of the bay looked like a vast sea of blood. The bells rang for a while and then ceased. Both sides of Pearl Street and Hanover Square were at the same instant in the jaws of the hungry monster.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e9/GreatFireNY1835.jpg/768px-GreatFireNY1835.jpg (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e9/GreatFireNY1835.jpg)

[lofter1]

This seems to show the area described above ...

***

[mumbles]

wow. has anyone ever seen the east river frozen?

[stache]

No but there are stories of the Hudson getting so frozen that people could walk across!

[londonlawyer]

Thanks for the info, Lofter. These fires are a prime reason why many 18th Century buildings no longer exist in Manhattan. Moreover, the dearth of these buildings is further impetus for that wanker Chang not to raze the buildings on Greenwich Street.

[lofter1]

With the amount of money that Chang seems to have on hand there is absolutely no excuse for him to continue to build the POS-type hotels he has been building.

Good design doesn't have to cause exhorbitant increases in building costs.

He really needs to step up and contribute something to NYC beyond an increase in the tax base.

[antinimby]

Obviously I agree but from his standpoint, why should he?

The man clearly has no appreciation for architecture or the aesthetics of a building.

If you asked him, he will probably tell you his buildings are attractive.

Waiting and hoping he will change is just wishful thinking, not gonna happen.

SAM CHANG IS THE DEVIL.

[stache]

Chinese esthetic.

[antinimby]

McSam sells FiDi lot for $60 million


By Adam Pincus
Updated On 04/17/08 (http://ny.therealdeal.com/articles/mcsam-sells-fidi-lot-for-60-million) at 06:10PM

Sam Chang, the city's biggest hotel developer, sold a Financial District lot for $60 million, far above the $17 million he paid for the parcel in January 2007, according to city records posted today.

The purchaser, Rhode Island hotel development company Magna Hospitality Group, went into contract in October and closed March 24 on the 6,800-square-foot vacant property at 8 Stone Street.

Chang had plans to develop the site as a 192-unit Doubletree Hotel, The New York Times reported. The city Department of Buildings Web site shows approved plans for a 43-story tower.

Last month, Chang's McSam Hotel Group sold two Midtown hotel sites for $40 million to Magna Hospitality Group. Chang also sold the Comfort Inn at 305 West 39th Street to Gemini Real Estate Advisors for $24.64 million.

© 2008 The Real Deal

[antinimby]

It would be nice if Magna dumps McSam's previously approved plans by Kaufman for something entirely new (and by a different architect) although I doubt it.

[lofter1]

Magna is HQ'd in Rhode Island.

The look of the Magna website (http://www.magnahospitality.com/index.htm) doesn't instill hope that they are a design-forward team :cool:

[sfenn1117]

http://i38.tinypic.com/6rlxly.jpg

http://agavios.powweb.com/listmanager/8StoneStreetFlyer.pdf

[Antares41]

Four hundred plus feet of ho-hum!!!