["Before" photo courtesy of Bridge & Tunnel Club. "After" photo courtesy of Roving Gastronome]
When we last heard from Astoria it was because the lights were out and there was a little riot at their pool during the summer heatwave. Anyway, the Roving Gastronome Blog, which is based in Astoria, brought our attention to their item about the fate of the Eagle Electric factory on 21st Street, pictured above, before & after. Gastronome writes:
Not that I want Astoria to be cool, but it does sort of irk me the way Brooklynites write the place off completely. (And Manhattan residents–forget it. The word ‘Queens’ just sticks in their throat, and they start to pass out.) But then I cruised by the Eagle Electric renovation over on 21st Street the other day, and I realized this neighborhood is pretty much doomed–by utter tastelessness. I think there’s more nonironic acid-wash denim on the N train than anywhere else in the city, and it seems developers have the same love of the 80s. This is so heinous and depressing, this photo alone cannot convey it. This went from being a cool old factory building to a baby-shit brown concoction that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a beach in Cancun in 1982.
There you have it.
· Why Astoria Will Never Be Cool: Eagle Electric Building [Roving Gastronome]
· After the Astoria Blackout, the Pool Riot [Curbed]