New Yorkers: Anyone see the fire in Greenpoint?

[The Colossus]

I was in Williamsburg early this morning looking at an apartment and saw huge plumes of black smoke coming over Brooklyn when I got off the L. After I was done looking at the apartment, I walk to the water to see where the fire was coming from. Initially I thought it was the UN Building or something from the city (I feared the worst again). Once I got to the water, I could see that it was not in Manhattan but it was the Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse on fire.

Those of you that don't know what that building is, it is an old Civil War era warehouse (actually about 16 total buildings), that is currently unoccupied, and has been sometime. It is not a landmark, but probably should be due to its (former) surreal feeling you get walking around and under it. The waterfront in Greenpoint has been rezoned for residental towers all along the East River, and this area was in the center. Developers have been going in at night and stripping the building of its architectural beauty for the past year, so that the chances of it being named a landmark are lessened, the property devalued, and profits will rise when they put a 25 story apartment building on the site.

I just heard on the news that this is now an 8 alarm fire, the largest in NYC in 10 years. Arson is suspected because it spread so fast.

Here is a picture of it last fall:



CBS 2 Coverage

[hawk59]

i saw it early AM from new jersey and thought the worst when i saw it too. have never seen that much smoke from a fire.

[mrkilla]

DIdnt see this up close but whent I came over the Tri boro this AM and down teh FDR I saw it.

Its most deff a fire job.

I just called my friends who live in Williamsburg they say the whole place is blacked out right now with smoke

[The Colossus]

I got about a half block away from the back of the fire. Ironically, I was about as far away as I was in the picture above. The whole left side of the of the picture was in flames, and the wind was blowing toward the left side of the picture. Brick and debris was starting to fall out the back. It didn't look like the fire had already gutted the place (this was about 8:30am). One of the platforms in between the buildings was on fire as well.

It was so windy this morning I think this must have been a bitch to try to put out and/or contain. The scary part about it is that there is a huge refueling station 3 blocks to the south, on the other side of the Bushwick Inlet. If that caught on fire, you'd feel the explosion in Manhattan.