Broken Angel House

Broken Angel or the Broken Angel house is a building located at 4/6 Downing Street in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, at the intersection of Downing and Quincy street. The house is a neighborhood institution and was featured prominently as a backdrop in the film Dave Chappelle's Block Party. Numerous articles have been written about the building and its unique architecture. As a result of a fire on October 10 2006 the New York City Department of Buildings declared the building dangerous and issued a vacate order to its owner Arthur Wood and his wife Cynthia [ [http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/story/461985p-388702c.html 'Angel' owners may be cast out] " New York Daily News article October 16 2006] . When the Woods defied the vacate order by staying in the building, they were arrested and taken from the building in handcuffs [ [http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/story/463008p-389599c.html Angel pair broken Couple forced from Clinton Hill home by police] " New York Daily News article October 19 2006] .

On January 11th, 2007 [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/11/arts/design/11angel.html?ei=5088&en=a8fb60c84c6ace94&ex=1326171600&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=print An Angel Is Pulled Closer to Earth] " New York Times article January 11 2007] [ [http://www.therealdeal.net/breaking_news/2007/01/11/1168498348.php Broken Angel to go condo?] " The Real Deal article January 11 2007] it was announced that Arthur Wood had partnered with local real estate developer Shahn Andersen to renovate Broken Angel, build a new addition to its side, and convert the building to residential condominiums and artist space.

History

Brooklyn artist Arthur Wood originally purchased the 4-story brick tenement building in 1972 for $2,000. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F06E3DB143CF937A25757C0A9649C8B63 A Broken Angel Lifts Its Eccentric Wings Over the Brooklyn Skyline] " New York Times article, April 14 2002] He lived in the house with his wife Cynthia and raised their son Christopher who is now a stone carver. The artist explored ideas about design and vernacular architecture with improvised construction to add new floors and rooms to the original building, to the point where the structure reaches 104 feet, or about 9 stories above the sidewalk. The site has been compared to Watts Towers in Los Angeles for the ad hoc construction and is acknowledged for its value as folk art and as part of the cultural heritage. [" [http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bohemian3dec03,0,5430607.story?coll=la-home-headlines 'Broken Angel' has its wings clipped] " LA Times, December 3 2006]

References and external links

* [http://www.anangelrises.com The Broken Angel renovation blog hosted by Brownstoner.com]
* [http://www.samology.com/archives/2006/10/#000535 Several photos of Broken Angel on Samology.com]