We’re starting a new series here that focuses on distinct art and craft of a particular place in the U.S. Some of this craftsmanship is now extinct, some is headed that way, but fortunately for us, a small subset is seeing a regeneration. With these short articles, we hope to shed light and build a list of some of these special crafts and old world workmanship. Let us know if there is something in your town that you’d like for us to cover.
First up… Distinctly NYC, are the wooden water tanks that are quickly disappearing from the new building construction. They are in almost every NYC visitor’s photo… definitely an object to admire and not take for granted. There are only 2 companies left in the area that make these water tanks from wood. One of them, Rosenwach has been around since 1865. They even mill their own wood in their original Brooklyn workshop. In order to keep their staff busy year round, Rosenwach has ventured into other areas such as facade lifting, building cooling units and fixing sprinkler systems. It’s competition Iseeks Brothers on the other hand had to move production to Pennsylvania in order to stay in business.
Image 1: Michelle Molinari
Image 2: Robert Banat via inhabitat.com. Tom Fruins plexiglass water tower in Dumbo.
Madesmith 