Inside the Abandoned National Silk Dyeing Co.: Paterson, NJ's Forgotten Textile Mill (Photos)

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  The text message from my friend J was simple: a list of addresses in Newark and Paterson. An invitation. An urban treasure map with Xs marking forgotten places. I picked the one on Piercy Street. Pulling up, I saw the building wasn’t exactly hiding. It was a behemoth of brick and colorful lettered graffiti, a whole city block of decay. A door gaped open next to an old loading dock, but the scene gave me pause. Mounds of illegally dumped trash lay along the floor of the loading bay. This part of Paterson has a tough reputation, and the open doors felt less like an invitation and more like a dare. I took a deep breath and stepped inside. The air was thick with the smell of dust and damp. I found myself in a vast, open space littered with plastic containers and skeletal metal shelving. I moved deeper, drawn toward the old boiler house section. Before I reached it, I walked into a room that stopped me cold. Everything was stained a deep, blood red. A fine crimson powder coated the fl...
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Hidden Gems #1: Old American Flag Door

Old New York vs New New York


Where the hunt is all there is in this sport.

I think I came across an image of this defunct store located in New York City either on Flickr, a stock image resource or a short film. I seem not to recall where I had first seen it. Finding it curious if this place still existed I did the knee deep research and found it right here in my own backyard. It was not until recently this week I was around the neighborhood I ventured to take a look. I found it just as I had seen it online. The old Venetian curtains were now updated and bottom skirt curtains removed from the front windows. It seemed nothing had changed regarding the facade and yearly maintenance on it. Surprisingly, no tenant had taken ahold of the storefront as of 2017. Google images pegs earlier images from 2012 and as of yet no new bottom tenants. In fact, during my research, the occupant of the building and owner was actually born here and has been fighting to keep the property away from grubby developers. To find out more about the man, Jim Torpey, a Vietnam veteran, and the history of this place watch the video below by Danish filmmaker Lea Mathiesen.



In addition, a very colorful piece by Brolga has found its way on the side of the building adding to its value. It seems it was recently done based on Brolga's recent Instagram post a week ago.

Brolga Piece April 2017

On another note, I don't know how far this series will go here in the gentrifying city limits of New York. It is always not feasible to enter every spot there is but sometimes the mystique is a new change of pace and new perspective looking outside rather than exploring within. Stay tuned. 



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