# A night with the Broderick building - Detroit Michigan



## uliveandyouburn (Nov 1, 2010)

Treading gingerly across a rotted out fire escape I was trying to find an unlocked or broken window. Standing lookout fifteen feet below was Injektilo, Vadder, Bounce, Lord Awesome, and DJ Craig. Despite the rather intimidating nature of this group of five white kids in a Detroit alleyway one elderly paraplegic managed to break their perimeter. He rolled down the narrow corridor, parked his chair next to a dumpster and sparked up his pipe. As he held the flame beneath and inhaled furiously I could see the substance boiling through the cloudy glass.<em> Crack? Meth? Fuck it, this fire escape sucks and all these windows are rusted shut. </em>We wrote off that building and moved on. By this point it was getting dark and we were without accommodation, but we had a good camping spot in mind.







Feeling a tad out of place a couple forty ounce bottles of malt liquor were purchased before retrieving sleeping bags from the car, which was left devoid of any valuable items. Our entry lay at the end of an unlit, dirty, and rather pungent alley. A not-so-subtle application of a car jack got us an entrance. We held the busted door open for each other as we each shoved our gear through and squeezed inside. Half the group was forced to wait outside as a raggedy looking fellow stumbled down the dead end alleyway towards us and began rummaging through the dumpsters. He looked up, hesitated a moment, and promptly turned a one-eighty and left. Clearly the fact that we were up to no good was apparent. The rest of the group crammed inside and we began a long climb up 35 flights of stairs. Inside it was hot and stuffy, I was glad to have my large condensating bottle of Colt 45 to quench my thirst.






Going from the top floor to the roof was a bit of a tight squeeze and I got momentarily stuck carrying my big olive green C-bag full of blankets and camera gear. With a swig from the 40 and a little bit of aggression I freed myself and climbed the last couple treads to the roof. We took pictures as always, laid out our bedrolls and put ourselves to sleep with the remainder of our beverages and a bowl Injek had brought. The night was interrupted by a few loud bangs, the source of which became a point of discussion the next morning. They echoed through the artificial canyons of downtown Detroit and woke all of us briefly. I drank the last quarter inch of Colt 45 and went back to sleep.






I woke before dawn in the cold and wet air. I took a few more photos before packing up. By the time the sun breached the edge of the earth and lit up our campsite everyone had all their gear ready to go. We took in the view for a few minutes before heading down. I looked through a hole in the door before pushing it open. We all squeezed back out the opening and into the alleyway. We made it back to the cars and then to a gas station. Parched throats quenched and empty stomachs filled by cheap junk food we piled back into the cars, we had a lot left to see.


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## woodstack (Nov 2, 2010)

fuck! so sick!
nice pics


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## tylis durden (Nov 10, 2010)

cool story!

Read through most of your site over the past few days. Great adventures and amazing pics! 

Saw some mentions of you getting arrested on your site, was that for this type of stuff? care to share that story?


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## thefourthgeorge (Nov 11, 2010)

Great stuff! The kind of story-illustrating photography I love.


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## Mouse (Nov 11, 2010)

please tell me what type of camera and how you took those pictures!


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## uliveandyouburn (Nov 12, 2010)

rememberusername said:


> I've never heard of that building. I'm actually leaving for Detroit tomorrow. I've explored Michigan Central, which iheard is harder to do because of movies currently being filmed using the building. Good pictures.


 
Its the building with the giant whale mural on one side.

MCS is almost always a piece of cake to get into. Every month or so they close up the entrance under the rail overpass and it lasts all of two days until some home bum pulls down the plywood.


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## DoctorApocalypse (Nov 21, 2010)

those pics are badass.


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## mikefwt (Nov 21, 2010)

sweet


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## murdermittenkid (Feb 6, 2011)

the david broderick tower is amazing.can be tough to get in sometimes


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## Trains (Feb 13, 2011)

I swear there isnt a whale mural anymore.


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## venusinpisces (Feb 24, 2011)

These pics are gorgeous.


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## MrD (Feb 24, 2011)

I always enjoy your photos, good story man!


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## JungleBoots (Mar 14, 2011)

you went up brodrick tower!!!!?????? FUCK i work at the Y just down broadway.

ive wanted to go up there so bad... 

dick... you need to call me next time 

810-300-4703

fucking beautiful scenes tho... god damn...

@trains... the mural is still there... Verizon just thinks its giant banners are better looking than the mural so they cover it up with a series of huge fabric billboards...

as of right now tho... the whales are swimming free and in full view.


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## murdermittenkid (Mar 25, 2011)

i love the broderick tower.a few years ago you could get into the bars storage room that is on the first floor. It was as much as you could carry out.that didnt last long and kinda blew the spot up for awhile sorry..


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## IrishTinker (May 11, 2011)

JungleBoots said:


> you went up brodrick tower!!!!?????? FUCK i work at the Y just down broadway.
> 
> ive wanted to go up there so bad...
> 
> ...


 

Is it just me or do you look like me jungle boots??


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