The Domino Sugar Refinery on the East River waterfront in Williamsburg is a hulking testament to the neighborhood’s industrial past: built in  1884 and shuttered in 2003, the factory site (chock full of “abandoned offices, lunchrooms, science labs, locker rooms and loading bays; floor after floor of vats, boilers and furnaces”) was finally landmarked in 2007. Now, a $1.2 billion redevelopment project has been approved for an eight-month public review phase, aiming to rework the three main buildings as a mixed-use site with a riverside esplanade. After the jump, we discuss affordable housing, bureaucratic red tape, and the iconic Domino Sugar sign with lead architect Rafael Viñoly and team, pairing Domino’s projected future with documentary shots of the abandoned buildings by urban photographers Nathan Kensinger and Jake Dobkin.

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Nathan Kensinger is a photographer with a penchant for out-of-the-way places; his shots of abandoned urban landmarks – factories, sea captains’ quarters, garbage dumps – evoke nostalgia for a New York that most of us never witnessed. This week, just in time for an appearance at Open City Dialogue, Kensinger posted a roundup of images from secret parties around the city. Some you’ve heard of (the dumpster pool party made the rounds earlier this summer) and a few are solidly under-the-radar. Click through for Kensinger’s shots of the so-called “urban pirate” ferryboat, shuttered observation decks, and the dome of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank, plus a Q&A with the party promoters behind ReSOLUTE, another of Gotham’s most clandestine shindigs.

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