Maspeth Avenue Holders (Also known as Greenpoint Gas Holders, Keyspan Gas Holders or Brooklyn Union Gas Holders) were a pair of 400-foot tall twin natural

gas holder A gas holder or gasholder, also known as a gasometer, is a large container in which natural gas or town gas (coal gas or formerly also water gas) is stored near atmospheric pressure at ambient temperatures. The volume of the container follows t ...

s located on Maspeth Avenue in the Greenpoint neighborhood of

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York City. They were the tallest of their kind when constructed, until their demolition in 2001.

History

The gas holders were built by Brooklyn Union Gas, the first of them, Maspeth Gas Holder No. 1 was constructed in 1927, followed by its twin, Maspeth Gas Holder No. 2, which was constructed in 1948. The top portions of both structures had a red and white checkered paint-scheme as instructed by the FAA to prevent airplane collisions. Both gas holders fell into disuse by the 1990s respectively, as Maspeth Gas Holder No. 1 decommissioned in 1992, and Maspeth Gas Holder No. 2 decommissioned in 1997.

Demolition

In April 2001, KeySpan received a permit to implode the tanks from the city of Department of Buildings. In June 2001, company officials announced the demolition plans at a community board meeting, and met with neighborhood groups on July 11, to inform them as to what precautions were being taken to prevent lead dust in the surrounding area. On July 15, 2001, at 7:00 am, the two gas holders were both imploded with 750 pounds of explosives, by main contractor Mercer Wrecking Recycling Corp. of Trenton, New Jersey and subcontractor

Controlled Demolition, Inc Controlled Demolition, Inc. (CDI) is a building implosion, controlled demolition firm headquartered in Phoenix, Maryland. The firm was founded by Jack Loizeaux who used dynamite to remove tree stumps in the Baltimore, Maryland area, and moved on to ...

.{{Cite web, url=https://www.controlled-demolition.com/explosives-demolition/projects/keyspan-energy-gas-holders/, title=KeySpan Energy Gas Holders, website=Controlled Demolition Inc.

References

Gas holders 1927 establishments in New York City 1997 disestablishments in New York City Infrastructure completed in 1927 Infrastructure completed in 1948 Buildings and structures demolished in 2001 Buildings and structures demolished by controlled implosion Demolished buildings and structures in Brooklyn