Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center

Jedediah Baker

This is an incredible building. The many different small businesses housed within the walls of this old jute factory on Brooklyn’s shrinking industrial waterfront are a testament to the value of cluster businesses.

The stories of the men and women working at 1155 Manhattan Avenue run the gamut of experience. There are people who have been plying their trade for years, and people who’ve been doing it their whole lives. There are people who grew up in Brooklyn and people who moved here from Europe, not knowing a lick of English when they got here. There are cabinet makers, metal spinners, and window display designers. All housed within an old, beautiful building right on the river, that at one point was an old useless abandoned rope manufacturing center. And with Greenpoint (and Williamsburg’s) growing residential rezoning along the waterfront, this is one of the few places left like it.

The elevators are awesome. And the view of Manahattan, Brooklyn, and Queens from the roof are to die for. (Mar. 2008)