Municipal Asphalt Plant, 1943.

Built by Ely Jacques Kahn and Robert Allen Jacobs, and completed in 1941, the Municipal Asphalt Plant replaced an earlier asphalt plant on the same site. The complex, which provided asphalt for Manhattan streets included a number of small structures for materials storage as well as the main building, a mixing plant, seen here during construction. Given that the once commercial neighborhood had become semi-residential by the 1940s, the Borough Present (who spearheaded the project) wanted an industrial building that somehow would also fit in with the new residential developments along the East River. The parabolic arch shape of the building satisfied these requirements while also creating an efficient space for the plant's equipment.

The style and shape of the reinforced concrete building were controversial at the time. Robert Moses called it the "Cathedral of Asphalt" and said that it was "the most hideous waterfront structure ever inflicted on a city by a combination of architectural conceit and official bad taste." (This is an ironic statement from a man who was often accused of similar vices.) The structure was lauded by others as representing bold progress in design and construction and as "functionalistic."

By the late 1960s, the asphalt plant was no longer in operation and the outlying buildings were razed. Though a recreational field was added adjacent in the early 1970s, the city had plans to demolish the plant for high rise buildings and a school. Local residents George and Annette Murphy, along with other community members, fought this plan, citing the lack of recreational space in the dense neighborhood. They succeeded and in 1984 Asphalt Green, a community center that offers sports activities opened to the public. The plant was retrofitted with a gymnasium, classrooms, and an indoor turf field.