153 Essex Sheds its Plywood and Netting

For a solid few years, 153 Essex Street has been an eyesore of a building, encased in dark netting and cordoned off by rotten sidewalk plywood.  It was essentially a push-up job - adding a small tumor to the original five-story building – but never appeared to have a clear completion date in sight. In the process, the street writers, wheat-pasters, and bill hangers all called dibs.  But last week, all that changed.

The battered sidewalk out front, scarred with pockmarks and indelible etches, is now completely unobstructed.  There is no longer any scaffolding, netting, or irksome plywood with which to contend.  It’s all gone.  What remains is a freshly renovated building with seven floors of residential living, including a rooftop-box penthouse.  And now the “for rent” signs are in the windows.