The Candy Factory
Ann Ballentine bought an old candy factory building in Brooklyn in 1979. She filled it with working artists and became something of a fairy godmother to them all.
It entails someone who’s not as money driven, because you’re not gouging people for huge rents, and it requires being determined to do that over a long stretch of time.
This is a lovely little short film.
Comments 2
Holy mother of god, as they say. I've been this building's secret admirer for, let's do some scary math... a quarter century. I live a few blocks away in another oddball loft building as it happens, and this place is on the way to the food store and stuff, and as I've passed over the years I just loved it and wondered, what's going on in there? It seemed especially frozen in time.
Let's just say things have changed for this old candy factory in the past year or so. Relentless city moves on. Nice that the moment was captured in this film.
So sad to see that she passed and it has since been sold to developers.
I worked in a Lower East Side building that featured a very diverse array of buildings including an atelier. While the vibes were much more varied than The Candy Factory, I look back on some fond memories there.
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