Crown Heights' 73-99 Empire Boulevard Erased for Luxury Housing

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Photo courtesy of NYC Municipal Services/1940s.nyc From Mack Trucks to Apartments: A Century on Empire Boulevard For most of the twentieth century, the block at 73-99 Empire Boulevard in Crown Heights handled the heavy work of the city. Trucks came in for service. Tires were swapped out. Parts were stocked and sold. The buildings on this stretch of Brooklyn were built for vehicles, and for about sixty years, that's exactly what they served. The site directly neighbors the much taller Ebbets Field Apartment complex, which is the housing that replaced the ballpark. By 2025, both were rubble. By September 2026, the foundation of a 13-story apartment building was going in. A hundred years of industrial and automotive history on a single block, cleared in a matter of months. The main building at 73-99 Empire Boulevard went up in 1925 and opened as a Mack Truck auto service facility. At 29,000 square feet, it was built for the scale of commercial vehicle work: bay doors, floor drains, th...
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Dive into my collection of exploration videos, spanning from the early days to the present. While I confess that my initial attempts don't quite match up with the abandoned Urbex giants, video was never my first love. There were moments when, due to the rush of time, my budding editing abilities, or a simple lack of enthusiasm for filming, I didn't capture these adventures with the care they deserved. But there's a twist in the tale: I've partnered with an editor poised to infuse my past and future creations with a fresh vibrancy, ready to captivate audiences on TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram with eye-catching reels.

Explore my handpicked playlist of urban exploration adventures below!





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