Broken Angel Fire
While walking to school this afternoon, I noticed that the top of the Broken Angel art structure, had some smoke coming out of it. Further inspection showed that the smoke wasn’t coming out of any chimney but that a small portion of the upper tower was on fire. Out came the cell phone. After talking to a couple of dispatchers (first general 911, then fire) I was told that the fire department was on the way.
The FD turnout was impressive. I think there were seven engines on surrounding streets within five minutes. By the time they arrived, the flames had grown to engulf the entirety of the upper tower. Soon, a bucket truck was up and they hosed down the tower continuously for several minutes, mostly extinguishing the fire.
There was still a small bit of the tower burning after the initial spray was shut off, but it remained tiny and didn’t spread. Some firefighters entered the structure and, after they emerged, a second round of spraying took care of the last bits of smoldering.
The Broken Angel seems to have survived this day and will continue to provide an interesting feature to the neighborhood. All the same, I have to wonder what toll the water took on the already decaying structure. How much longer will it continue to survive the elements? The fire remained contained to one tower and the surrounding buildings remained untouched (except for a bit of water fallout from the spraying), which is incredibly lucky considering the amount of dry wood I imagine is used in the construction of the building.
many thanks for your call you saved the day. Sadly today at 1pm Broken Angel caught fire by natural causes. No one was hurt minimal damage was done. Many thanks to the FDNY for quicky putting out the fire. Any contributions are welcome addressed to Arthur Wood, 4 Downing St, Brooklyn NY 11238, to help us rebuild. Thank you Brooklyn for all of your support.
Comment by christopher wood — October 10, 2006 @ 10:08 pm
more photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/onebadapple/sets/
Comment by christopher wood — October 10, 2006 @ 10:09 pm
I’m pretty sure the Broken Angel still has an old guy (70 years old or so) living in it. I’ve seen him come in and out before. To my knowledge, he still works to maintain it. Thats totally bizarre that it was on fire though.
Comment by rob — October 12, 2006 @ 1:34 am
My parents, Arthur and Cynthia Wood have been living in fear of the building department after a threat this week to throw them out on to the street without even their family possessions or artwork, and destroy their home of 30 years “Broken Angel”. Last night someone placed a broken angel statue in front of my parent’s door at 4 Downing Street. http://www.flickr.com/photos/onebadapple Thank you to the anyonomus donor, it meant the world to me and my parents as it gave us a spark of hope.
Many of you wonder what the hell my parents are doing with that building. They always were building an outline of a dream, a building that was different from the usual architecture of today. They did this while never having enough money to complete their dream. But that didn’t stop them for using found or discarded objects that we throw away ever day like the glass bottles that they used to create a stained glass windows. http://www.flickr.com/photos/onebadapple/sets This is the interior and exterior of Broken Angel. My name is Christopher Wood, I have worked for B&H Art in Architecture (web site here http://www.bandhartinarch.com/) for the past 4 years. I am a stone carver and have restored such landmarks such as the Cloisters Museum , Metropolitan Museum of Art , and Grace Church in Manhattan.
My parents and I would love to give back to the community of Brooklyn and turn Broken Angel into a nonprofit foundation for music and the arts which would include a school and museum. There are also complete building plans drawn up by my father in which the first page can viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/onebadapple/168044712/in/set-127493 But we need help from you, the residents of New York City.
All of your comments and ideas are welcome
Donations can be sent to Arthur Wood at
4 Downing street Brooklyn, New York 11238
I am at work on a web site with friends of Broken Angel to accept paypal donations
Comment by christopher wood — October 14, 2006 @ 11:05 pm
Update Broken Angel 11/13/06 please post
The building Broken Angel is a unique melding of art and architecture designed by my father Arthur Wood, and located in the Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn. The original building was bought at a city auction in 1979, and major construction was completed in 2002. On 10/10/06 a structure at the top of Broken Angel caught fire. Thanks to the quick action of the New York City fire department no one was harmed, and only minimal damage was done to the building. Unfortunately the fire brought the attention of the department of buildings (DOB) who vacated my parents, the owners and guardians of Broken Angel. My family is currently working with the architecture firm, Jordan Parnass Digital Architecture http://www.jpda.net/news.html, to bring the building to code, however we are still being threatened with demolition by the DOB. On Wednesday 11/15/06 the Brooklyn Supreme Court will begin hearings on whether the actions of the DOB are justified. Additionally we will be selling photographs and paintings as a fundraiser at Artez’n (444 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn NY). These works of art can also be viewed and purchased on line at http://www.artezn.com/product/?product_id=5246 .We are attempting to raise funds to save the building and develop it in a way that will help the community. In selling our art work we are hoping to make Broken Angel a permanent art installation and fixture of Brooklyn. For those who are interested in viewing the building additional photos of Broken Angel can by seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/onebadapple/ . In closing my family would like to say thank you to all of the people who have been so gracious in their offers of help. We deeply appreciate your support.
Comment by christopher wood — November 13, 2006 @ 10:18 pm