MacDonough Street Buildings Still Stand

New York City is a mosaic of stories.  And one of the most heartrending  yet heartwarming  can be seen in action on MacDonough Street, between Lewis and Stuyvesant Avenue in historic Stuyvesant. 
It began early Wednesday morning, January 20, when Mrs. Doreen Prince, owner of 331 MacDonough, awoke and could not go back to sleep. 
She got up to get a glass of water, and when she returned to bed, she smelled gas.  She went back to the kitchen and then decided to check the boiler. As she opened the door to the basement, the gas odor was powerful. 
She looked down the stairs, and saw the wall her building shared with 329 was now mostly a mountain of rubble and brick.  She could see into neighbor Robert Providence’s house through the gaping hole.   Even at that point it did not hit her how dangerous the situation was.  Stunned, she could only think of alerting her tenants and Mr. Providence next door.  But what was to develop into a nightmare unfolded very quickly. Within hours, it was determined that the two buildings were in eminent danger of collapsing under 100 tons of weight, that Mrs. Prince and her tenants, who left the building only with the clothes on their backs and their keys to the house, could not return. Ever.  The building would be demolished.   There were rumors the adjacent buildings sandwiching 331 and 329 might also be razed.
And the story had only just begun.
The buildings were slated to go down on Thursday in compliance with Buildings Department regulations concerning public safety.  And the tenants were restricted from entering the building to retrieve their belongings.
On Thursday, Mr. Providence secured a stay so the buildings would not be torn down.  On Friday another stay was granted until Monday.  On Monday, a stay until yesterday, January 27 when Justice Bert Bunyan ruled that  property owners’ structural engineers could have until Tuesday, February 2 to come up with a viable plan to save the structures.

It’s a story of people working together to find solutions; it is a story of compassion; it is a story where there are no enemies; it is a story about being on the brink; it is a story about “stuff;” keeping legacies alive, heritage intact and the quest to build new foundations; and more than bricks and mortar, it is ultimately the story, said 331 renter, Omalara Reginald Rose Deas, of grace under pressure. “And people.”

Two of those people were Lieselle Pascal, Mr. Rose’s neighbor, and Mr. Tim Lynch, a buildings forensic expert.  Mr. Lynch personally brought the tenants’ and Mrs. Prince belongings out of the building.  The very first items came from Miss Pascal’s apartment.

The cardboard box Lynch thought Miss Pascal requested contained the bible her grandmother had given her 10 years ago.  
Keedra Gibba of the December 12 Movement was seated comfortably in Bread Stuy Caf‚ at about 1pm, Friday (22), when 327 McDonough Street condo owner Suzette Hunte, entered and implored diners to come out to the  hearing that was taking place in an hour. Gibbs, without hesitation, responded to Miss Hunte’s “call to action.”

And then there are Krystal Coddett, Crystal Bobb-Semple, Eddie and Bea Atwell, Daniel and Jordana Rosen, Michael Charles, Doris Pinn, Dan Durett, Councilwoman Tish James, Kenny Kweku, Frantz, and Alan Greaves, Mrs. Prince’s son and stalwart protector — all playing a part in the drama.
The Department of Buildings told Our Time Press, “The stay on demolition has been extended to Tuesday, February 2. The buildings are being closely monitored, and there are no signs of movement at this time. The property owner will continue to submit monitoring reports to the Department. Meanwhile, the property owner (Robert Providence) must submit plans to the Department that show how the buildings can be stabilized.”  The results of the Tuesday hearing will be reported – and some of the individuals who brought the MacDonough Street story to this point will be introduced — next week in Our Time Press.

Fedrecia M. Hartley, Bedford-Stuyvesant’s Artful Home

 Bedford-Stuyvesant’s Artful Home: When Fedrecia Hartley purchased her property several years ago she fulfilled three dreams: brownstone ownership in her Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood; the establishment of a home for exhibiting artists’ works, including her own; and creation of creative art opportunities for community building and empowerment.

 

Hartley is the Director of Zion Gallery and President and Co-founder of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Artists’ Association (BeSAA).

 

Hartley obtained her house in 1996, and opened her Zion Gallery in 2005. In this space, residents right here in the community can view art within the framework of a setting that is similar to their own, then acquire these works for their own homes.  “It gives collectors a chance to see how the artwork will work in their houses,” says Ms. Hartley.

 

But the Hartley MacDonough Street homestead is more than a venue to display and sell artworks by famous local artists who live in the neighborhood.  Ms. Hartley also hosts workshops for young students – preschool to high school; creates holiday-oriented celebrations, including last year’s Art and Vine mini-fest; presides over meetings for BeSAA, and blueprints major community events, like the recent Bed-Stuy Alive! festival of last October.

 

In the ground-floor entry hallway, she established the Small Works Gallery – a dedicated space for originals and prints that are 12 inches-by-12 inches or smaller.  “As pieces are sold, more are added,” she says.   Among the offerings are jewelry, handmade hats and small artworks. 

 

A door on the right leads to the main room of the gallery – which has been home to works by such artists as Otto Neals, Gerald Jones, Olivia Cousins, Annette E. Brown, Halima Cassells, Ramona Candy, Pamela D. Jones, Rita D. Strickland and Maxine Townsend-Broderick.

 

Ms. Hartley’s major exhibitions have included: Honoring Men with artists Corey Lightfoot, Stephan L. Davis, Cornell Jones and Trevor Brown; Freedom’s Journey: Passageways Along the Underground Railroad  featuring the photographs of Cousins, and an exhibition of the art of the Long Island Black Artists Association , among others.

 

“Zion Gallery functions to collect, preserve, study, document, interpret and exhibit community artists and beyond,” she informs visitors to her blogspot. “While these goals are common to many galleries, Zion Gallery distinguishes itself by emphasizing art’s historical, cultural and social contexts through experimentation and interpretation in workshops, art classes, special events and presentations.”

 

Fedrecia’s bold signature works, a mixed-media series entitled Urban Flowers, is easily distinguishable.  She describes her art as “capturing the everyday beauty and strength that can be found blooming in corners of the vast urban landscape of New York.”  This is an appropriate description of the home and gallery – a treasure in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Zion Gallery, located at 152 MacDonough Street, Brooklyn, is opened Saturdays and Sundays, 12 noon to 6pm (by appointment; telephone number is below). 

 

On Saturday, November 21 during the smART Brooklyn Gallery Art Hop, an initiative of Borough President Marty Markowitz  (www.visitbrooklyn.org), Ms. Hartley is helming curatorial duties at two galleries: Zion on MacDonough Street and George Washington Carver Gallery at the Magnolia Tree Earth Center, 677 Lafayette Avenue, between Tompkins and Marcy Avenues.  Both Zion Gallery in Stuyvesant Heights and Carver Gallery in North Bedford-Stuyvesant will be two of the 69 exhibiting galleries.  BeSAA is presenting the Fulton Art Fair artists at MTEC’s Carver Gallery in an exhibition entitled “TREASURES” featuring the works of Brent Bailer, Denzil Belisle, Bob Carter, Olivia Cousins, Bob Daniels, Diane Grazette-Collins, Rudolph Greenaway, Ruben Holder, Gerald Jones, Edward Martin, Dinga McCannon, James Mingo and Emmett Wigglesworth.

 

“Zion Gallery’s outreach Bedford-Stuyvesant’s “urban landscape” is a realization of the community involvement aspect of Ms. Hartley’s early dreams.  “In extending Zion’s and BeSAA’s missions to all parts of  Bedford-Stuyvesant, we are recognizing our community as a home for artists and a builder of artists,” she says.

 

For more information about Zion Gallery, BeSAA and Ms. Hartley’s other projects, at home and beyond, visit: www.ziongallery.blogspot.com and www.besaa.org.  718-919-8014