ILA Site Development Stalled, With No End In Sight

A fairly well-known fact in Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill and the Columbia Street Waterfront District is that at one point in time, they were all part of the larger neighborhood of Red Hook, and before that, South Brooklyn. 

Red Hook's economic engine was powered by its location on the waterfront -- the deepest natural harbor in the region. Hence, the area was home to some of the busiest docks on the eastern seaboard. With these docks came many elements, good and bad, that drove the neighborhood's development. One of the longest lasting elements was the presence of the International Longshoreman's Association, and their buildings on Court and Union streets.

The old ILA medical center site on Union and Court was torn down more than two years ago for a development that never materialized, leaving behind only a legacy.

The ILA rose to prominence in the neighborhood because its members populated the neighborhood; Longshoremen would walk down to the docks in the morning, and walk back up in the evening. After years of working in pre-containerization environments, where workplace safety was not up to the standards it is today, and where hard manual labor was required, Longshoremen looked to their union for protection, support and assistance.

To care for their members, the ILA founded the Brooklyn Longshoremen's Health Center at Union and Court streets, later to be named in memory of the longtime boss of the Brooklyn docks, Anthony Anastasio (he of the notorious brother).

Although no architectural masterpiece, and certainly not within the context of the existing built environment of brownstones and row houses, the building provided health care for ILA members and their families for years, having a full compliment of health care professionals under one roof. If an ILA member was out of work, he could receive his health care on the west side of Court Street, and then cross over to the east side to pick up his unemployment benefits (in the building now occupied by the ). Without the health center, ILA members now have health care plans like most other union members.

In 2000, the property was passed on to , which sold it in November, 2007 for $23,750,000. The purchaser, a national developer named The Clarrett Group, promptly tore down the building in early 2008. They had planned to redevelop the site into a mix of townhomes, retail spaces and one large condo building, known as "The Collection at Court Street".

The proposal was one of a few that stirred the ire of many in Carroll Gardens (see reports from Pardon Me For Asking) and spurred some community members to pressure lawmakers to downzone large swaths of the neighborhood. And as with so many sites that ran into funding problems, after building the parking structure and foundation for the project, construction ceased in late 2008.

The change in zoning had made certain portions of the bulk and height of the project non-conforming, and The Clarett Group filed an application with the Board of Standards and Appeals to allow them to proceed with the project as originally approved. BSA rules and hearings are complicated, and unfortunately for foes of the project, the standards the BSA must look at involve the foundation, and the foundation was the only portion of the project that was complete. As such, their application was approved and their building permits renewed.

But so far other than some minor cosmetic changes to the site and surrounding sidewalks, and the freeing up of long-taken parking spaces on Court Street, the site has not seen any substantial action for years. Ruth Ann Blankenheim of the Clarett Group would only say that they were "moving forward" with the project, but declined to give any time table or reasons for the delay in development.

The one real remnant of the building can be viewed at , where Buddy Scotto has the flagpole from the old site sitting out on First Place. When asked, Scotto said that it was such a part of the neighborhood's history, he couldn't let it go with the rest of the building.