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Thursday, September 11, 2008

Dumbo's False Balconies: Please Explain

We've never been much for false balconies, but these -- on the Gair No. 6 building at Washington and Water Street in Dumbo -- really have us scratching our heads. They are fully constructed concrete balconies with wrought iron railing, but they have big rectangular holes just where you might stand.

Hello? Somebody tell us, what's the point? These useless things were probably harder to make than real, functioning balconies.

Photo by MK Metz

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7 comments:

  1. Is the construction done? Maybe they are a frame for something. Maybe?

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  2. One piece of plywood. Done.

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  3. Wonder if they're the remains from a fire escape.

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  4. I think Epic wins the prize. It does look like it was once a fire escape and they jazzed it up a bit.

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  5. New concept...open air shaftway ! Pretty cool.

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  6. I have lived in Dumbo for 30 years. These "balconies" are remains of the original fire escapes.

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  7. This was originally an industrial warehouse building. I bet these were for hoisting heavy objects up to what is now the windows.

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