Cayadutta Tanning Company: Inside Gloversville's Dead Tannery

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The Pink Flamingo on Harrison Street Whether it is a dead mill or tannery, a car will always be sitting in a discrete corner.  Gloversville, New York, earned its name for a reason. For decades, it was the undisputed glove capital of the world. But today, the massive tanneries, dressers, stitching factories, and dyers that built this city are quietly disappearing. One of the most fascinating casualties was the former Cayadutta Tanning Company Inc. Locals called it the Pink Flamingo. Before that, it was E.S. Parkhurst & Company, a place workers simply knew as the Hair Mill. Sitting at the southwest corner of Harrison Street and NY-30A, the property spanned two parcels. A private owner held one piece of the land, while the city owned the other. Visiting the abandoned site felt like stepping into a forgotten tannery that just needed a bit of TLC and elbow grease to restart operations sans a pocketed overhead roof. Just outside the main tanning building, a junked Mercedes sa...
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Corporación de Fabricación de Laca Unida





Sobre 2.72 acres, adyacente a las bulliciosas líneas de Amtrak y New Jersey Transit, el desolado esqueleto de United Lacquer Manufacturing Corporation estuvo una vez en pie. Ahora reducido a escombros, los ecos de su pasado se aferran obstinadamente al aire. Este trío de estructuras, abigarradas en altura de uno a tres pisos, alguna vez se dedicó a la producción de lacas, barnices y esmaltes. Sin embargo, durante 15 a 20 años fueron consignados al silencio, el abandono y la ruina. Esta propiedad abandonada estuvo sujeta regularmente a un sombrío ciclo de incendios y vertidos ilegales, lo que subraya su trágica trayectoria de declive.



La historia de la tierra, contada por la ciudad de Linden, se lee como una letanía de contaminación química de múltiples fabricantes y de un propietario anterior que desaparece en el éter, dejando atrás una pesada carga fiscal. Como era de esperar, la ciudad finalmente perdió la paciencia con este sombrío cuadro de incendios y negligencia iniciados por humanos. Como consecuencia, la propiedad se transfirió mediante expropiación a una empresa de desarrollo.



Pronto, este lugar una vez desolado latirá con el murmullo de la vida diaria, hogar de 402 habitantes. Meridia 1001 Linden LLC ha presentado planes para transformar el espacio en 1001 West Elizabeth Ave. Su plan prevé 402 unidades residenciales, junto con servicios, tiendas minoristas en la planta baja y una oficina de administración. La propuesta no se detiene en los ladrillos y el cemento, sino que se extiende para abarcar la estética más suave del paisajismo, la iluminación y las instalaciones de estacionamiento.



En los años de su abandono, recuerdo que el sitio era demasiado accesible, su puerta bostezando abierta sin una pizca de disuasión. Era un imán para las desventuras, y podría decirse que su abandono avivaba los fuegos que ardían de forma intermitente allí. El mugriento interior era un cóctel de desechos domésticos y de construcción, mientras que el edificio más grande mostraba las cicatrices viscerales de los daños causados ​​por el fuego. Vigas de madera ennegrecidas, convertidas en carbón, yacían esparcidas por el suelo de metal oxidado. El techo picado de viruelas, perforado con enormes agujeros, amenazaba con derrumbarse bajo el peso de los soportes derrumbados, reducido a grumos nudosos de madera y metal retorcido.



En cambio, el segundo edificio logró conservar algunos vestigios de respetabilidad. Parecía haber sido requisado por patinadores, sus pisos de concreto liso y rampas de madera improvisadas sugerían una nueva e ilícita oportunidad de vida. Otra parte de la propiedad fue menos afortunada. Se redujo a una fusión destrozada de tejas y cristales de ventanas, un testimonio sombrío de los furiosos incendios.



En una publicación anterior titulada "Químico X Almacén", he compartido más imágenes que capturan este evocador paisaje de decadencia urbana. Pronto, la narrativa de esta trama volverá a cambiar, esta vez para mejor. A medida que somos testigos de su transformación, recordamos las capas de la historia que se ven y el potencial que se avecina.


The English version of this essay can be found here: URL

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