The building was a very dignified mid-nineteenth-century Red Hook Brooklyn warehouse/factory built on the waterfront with local stone. The brick-surrounds of the old windows on the street side had later been filled in, some with the same cut stone used for the walls and others, much more recently, with cement blocks. When I saw them last week the blocks were painted a very gay bright blue; the stone-filled openings hadn't been touched. I have no idea what purpose the rusting wire had served, but their lines looked real nice.
There must be light and air coming into the building from other openings, as it appears to be in use today.