These are the ruins of the Brooklyn Water Works, which are actually in Freeport, NY. The building opened in 1891 to send water to Brooklyn, and was active until 1929, and then was on standby for emergency use until 1977, using giant steam-driven pumps. The building is in the neo-Romanesque style. I photographed it about 20 years ago, for a story on great Long Island architecture. I shot it with a 4x5 camera, and spent several hours inside and outside the building. It is a stunning building both inside and out. It burned about 10 years ago, which was a shame. There was hope it could be converted to some other use to save the structure. I uploaded a really large file, so click on it and maybe download it, so you can see all the detail in the image.
It looks like it was once a beautiful building. It really looks ancient. The photo has a very peaceful feel to it despite the ruins.
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I was a bit nervous since I climbed through a fence to get on this property which was clearly posted "No Trespassing" so I didn't hang out very long this time. The front of the building is on the opposite side of the building, and the brickwork there is just stunning. I photographed the back side of this building in this photo. I should go back and try and photograph what the font now looks like.
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