I have lived in hunters point for 16 years. When I was a kid I used to long wonder about the Vernon/Jackson stop on the 7 train and wonder why no one ever got on or off there.

It was a curiosity unexplored until I met some friends who lived on Vernon Boulevard and 47^th road. When I first laid eyes on the neighborhood, it seemed like a small town. Rife with friendly faces who seemed to know everyone by their first names, Imagine Mayberry but 5 minutes from grand central station. But this was no country town. It was the real New York. Mostly settled by Italian immigrants, it was a hard working neighborhood with turn of the century walk-up’s, glass showcase storefronts and Industrial warehouses all in the soup. Almost instantly, my favorite building was "the Schwartz chemical" plant.

I loved the way the sun played off its four great stacks reaching towards the sky. At night the lights of Manhattan cast an unearthly glow upon it, making it visible from almost every angle, every window. I did some research on my new icon and found out it was built as the "Pennsylvania Railroad power station" by McKim Mead and White" as part of the development for Penn Station in 1906. Of course this architectural firm was world renound having built some of the most palatial estates and magnificent public buildings throughout the United States. My love and fascination with old New York started with this structure and lead me onto a life long love affair with our Local history.

Through the years, the Power station lay dormant, still casting its iconic shadow on our everyday lives. That is until February 2005. That is when the new owner Cheskel-schwimmer applied for a permit to demolish all four existing chimneys and the 3^rd floor structure. Almost immediately the residents new and old started talking about it, hoping against hope that the fate of our beloved Icon could be saved By the Landmark commission. As soon as word got out the owner issued a statement promising "he had no intention to demolish the stacks, but to incorporate them into the new design". We breathed a sigh of relief. But In the first week of April, we knew that something was terribly wrong. Scaffolding had gone up and workmen stated to begin demolishing our

Skyline. Without warning, or any kind of public information. Cheskel schwimmer reneged on their promise. Perhaps it was just rhetoric to buy the time needed to get his master plan in place.