Virjune Manufacturing Co: Inside Waterbury's Vacant Factory

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J and I were already having a rough day. We'd just driven across town to check out an old industrial site he hadn't visited in a while, only to find it erased. Nothing left but a slab of concrete and chain-link fence. So we took a detour. Sometimes you salvage a disappointing afternoon with a backup plan, even if you're just ticking a box. The former Virjune plant hides in plain sight off Thomaston Avenue. If you drive past in summer, you'll miss it completely. Trees and shrubs swallow the building whole, nature reclaiming what industry left behind. Come winter, though, when the branches go bare and the world turns gray, the red brick skeleton reveals itself. Even then, you have to know where to look. I pulled up old Sanborn maps to trace the building's history. The earliest tenant was an auto body shop in 1922. By February 1950, something bigger had moved in. The map labels it simply "Stamping Wks." No company name. No flourish. Just function. That namele...
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Off-Limits New York Urban Exploration





2e the famous urban explorer photographer takes Animal New York around Brooklyn climbing on top of the Domino Sugar Factory Building, time lapsing underneath the Williamsburg bridge and going underground at the bombed and ragged Underbelly Project. The exhilaration and accomplishment of exploring abandoned and defunct structures around the metropolis of New York in the dead of night is something 2e hope he can do forever. To find out more about the man man behind the 2e moniker head on over to Animal New York's Exploring Off-Limits New York article.

Reminds me of my urbex exploration around a disused Brooklyn train line where I soaked up a lot of graffiti art. It feels real good going around on your own exploring areas many people in New York will never see in their lifetimes. Urban exploration is like the modern day Christopher Columbus trek across the West. I can't wait to explore this summer around others parts of Brooklyn.

2e Instagram, Animal New York,

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