Sitt eschews preservation option in Red Hook

Real estate developer Joseph Sitt began tearing down a 19th-century sugar refinery warehouse in Red Hook last week, quieting speculation that he might repurpose the building for use as a BJs Wholesale Club. Residents had rallied in favor of saving the building, arguing that it qualified for preservation under the National Register of Historic Places. Sitt had torn down most of the old sugar factory in 2006, but the warehouse had remained untouched since that time. Some had thought that the site of the sugar refinery, on the southwestern tip of Red Hook’s peninsula, near Beard Street, would become a major shopping center for the neighborhood.