City Sidewalks

When it came around to doing the sidewalk in front of the house, many options came to mind. Being that it was a brick building, the first thing that popped into mind was a brick walkway, perhaps in a herringbone pattern, but matching old bricks get tricky, not to mention what vintage bricks cost. Another thought was cobblestone, but there was nothing style-wise to tie the cobblestone to. Looking up and down the block, I saw mostly uneven blacktop. Even if it formed a consistent look along the street, I couldn't picture asphalt sidewalks 100 years ago, so I refused to have anything blacktopped .

Considering form, function, and budget, we laid a cement sidewalk. Cement was the most durable option we had being that slate or stone is more susceptible to the elements and traffic. If they are not cemented in place, water (snow or rain) seeps in  in the colder months, that water freezes, slowly dislodges the stones over time. If the stones are cemented into place, the mortar tends to wear away and then you still have the problem of the stones being displaced.High foot traffic also displaces these walkways over time. The biggest factor we considered was what was the best when it came time to start shoveling snow off of the sidewalk.

 As a small compromise to having a cement sidewalk, we stenciled a brick border around the sidewalk. It wasn't the bricks I wanted, I had even considered inlaying real bricks for the border, but another thing working against us was the seasons changing. It was late fall when we were finally done with anything that had to run underground from the street to the building, and wanted to get the sidewalk in before winter hit.

Laying the sidewalk took a day. With as much cement as we needed we had a truck deliver premixed cement, we'd spend less time and money just going with the cement delivery, not to mention a cement truck is better equipped and has more control than if you were trying to mix it yourself..

 As the sidewalk was done and we were roping off the sections of fresh cement, I was wondering if the smooth finish would survive the night, wondering if I'd find names, drawings or who knows what etched into the cement the next morning. I'm happy to say that nothing was disturbed overnight, and the sidewalk had set just as we left it.

The End Of Summer

I am convinced that as kids we really get to enjoy the summer. As adults we just have glimpses of what it used to be. I hope everyone is enjoying the summer. I find summers are a time where all I want to do is be outside and just soak in the sun, so I've taken a sort of internet break.

As we go into fall, this is an ideal time to get things done outside, without the overbearing sun beating down on you or freezing from the winter chills. Around this time, we were buttoning up the building, protecting it from addition weather damage. The top of the list was putting a top on the place- replacing the non-existent roof. There wasn't a whole lot to work with, so in reality, we were putting an entirely new roof on.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t brave enough to venture up the stairs and wander around before the roofing started, so I have very little recollection and no pictures of the starting point, like what remained of the original roof. Eventually I made it up there, and I’m glad I did. It was one of the greatest feelings being up there, being that much closer to the sky, in the crisp air, looking around with a bird’s eye view of what surrounds. One window even had a view when you stood at just the right angle. Being that I try to make the most of everything, that window was another place where my stubbornness won out. That window opening had to stay, and be used for something more than storage space.

Looking up from the street, I wondered how they’d get all the materials four flights up. My exposure to roofing prior to this was small roof repairs, where all you needed was a few bundles of shingles and a several 2x4s, quantities you could get yourself with a single trip pickup truck or van. Delivery of these roofing materials came along with a boom truck, where pallets could be raised directly to the fourth floor, provided the patches of floor could hold the weight, which it was able to do. One thing that helped is how much more solid structures were built way back when.

The roof itself was a gable style roof (where the side walls come to a triangular point) as opposed to a flat roof often seen on buildings. I think a gable roof adds a little more to the aesthetics of the building, but I find the thought of a flat roof where I could place a rooftop garden and enjoy the feeling of being up there on a regular basis very tempting. Our framework of the roof (the truss) consists of approximately 16 rafters (the beams that actually hold the roof up) and was topped off with asphalt shingles. This type of shingle is relatively common and doesn’t provide too much visual interest to the roof, but the roof line was high enough were the material really wouldn’t be noticed. If the roofing were more visible from a distance, I might have wanted a more original option.

The fingerprints meant someone had to paint again

We played up other aspects of the roof, things you might not even notice, They were visible, or invisible by design, if you ever decided to look up: the overhanging part of the roof. One thing we did was have Yankee gutters installed, rather than the exposed metal gutters you usually see today. Yankee gutters are gutters that are incorporated into the cornice, along the roofline and are not easily visible from the outside.

Choices were limited due to the style of the building (remember, this is in the historic district, and choices have to stay true to the original style of the structure) and the plain fact that there really isn’t a lot you can do to the roofline. The decisions that were to be made came in the form of the paint colors and the design of cornice (the part that sticks out past the walls). It was kept very simple. Everything was painted a white, providing a very clean look, except for the edge of the cornices. The cornice has a simple scalloped edge, and we painted that edge with a burgundy, just to provide some contrast to the white and help highlight the scalloped edge of the cornice.

The transition into the autumn season gave us the motivation to get the roof done, and with the roofing being completed, we were ready to take on colder days.

The Awe of Awnings

Do little things make a difference? Are these small efforts contagious? I hope so.

Driving down Broadway the other day, I noticed an awning over what I thought was a storefront. I think it’s new, but I can’t say for sure. It wasn’t a commercial sort of awning you’d expect to find over a store with a bright color and the store name screaming out at you. This was a subtle awning with deep red and beige stripes and coordinated perfectly with both the color of the brick and the pointing between the bricks.

However a small a detail this might be, it brought to mind images I had seen of the Palatine Hotel (opened in 1893, and demolished in 1970). When I first came across a picture of this hotel years back, I fell in love with it. I couldn’t understand how they could tear it down, but that was exactly the imagery I wanted to see when I’d think of the future of Newburgh.

In writing this, I was looking for a picture of that grand hotel. When I found one, I realized why that new awning reminded me so much of the hotel, it was practically identical to the hotel’s awnings in both style and color The Palatine must have left a positive impression on someone else, too, enough for them to want to mimic the style of the former hotel’s awnings. I hope this triggers some similar thoughts in someone else’s head, and they in turn do something small in nature to remind us of how great Newburgh was, and so on, and so on…

I still don’t understand how you could let such a structure fall apart and get torn down. The Palatine may be gone forever, but to me, this small insignificant awning symbolizes the return of what was once great.

Curb Appeal

How do you build curb appeal when there is nothing seems to appeal to anyone on the block? Some cracked or uneven sidewalks, buildings that show their age, and the few patches of undeveloped land that tend to be dumping grounds for garbage and overgrown with weeds is what I see when I look around, but that's the worst I see.

I've done everything I could do within my means to make my place as appealing as possible, but as people not familiar with the neighborhood come through, the area always manages to scare them off. It isn't like they witness a crime scene or find themselves victims of any sort. They come to find an empty lot full of garbage, sidewalks needing some repair, and litter strewn here and there. Still, there is something that I can't seem to put my finger on. What is this unappealing trait that the neighborhood conveys?

The neighborhood needs help from everyone. I'm not putting this all on the property owners. The City doesn't exactly make it easy to make these repairs, with the fees and permits needed for just about anything that requires more than a paintbrush, in addition to Architectural Review Board approval for those within the historical district. If the landlord makes an effort to repair small things, perhaps the tenant will take a little pride in where they live and make a little effort on their part to keep things nice.

Looking out my "thermal pane windows with true divided lights", as specified by East End Historic District Design Guide, I see two extremely obvious, broken replacement windows across the street with tacky sheets blowing in the wind. Next door, I see they erected a chain link fence, even though when I was meeting with the Architectural Review Board about a fence, they specifically said "anything but chain link". I have come to ask myself why the City goes through the trouble to mandate these standards, or why I even bothered. Negativity seems to be far more contagious than a positive outlook and I find myself caring a little less each time I'm there. Still, I try to remain optimistic and hope something, somewhere will change for the better, and I'll keep trying to contribute to that better place in my own little ways.