This wondrous 1905 image shows Brooklyn Heights looking northwest up what was then known as Columbia Street. The background reveals nearly the entire span of the Brooklyn Bridge. In the upper right corner of the photo is the renowned Hotel Margaret, between Orange and Cranberry Streets, which was built in 1889 as the neighborhood’s “first skyscraper”; unfortunately, it burned down during a 1980 renovation. Continue Reading →
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Heights History: A Magnificent 1905 View Looking Up ‘Columbia Street’
BHA, Other Groups Settle with City and State over Park Land
Last year, neighborhood and preservation organizations, including the Brooklyn Heights Association, prevailed in lawsuits in both federal and state courts in which they contested the actions of the National Park Service and the city and state governments to transfer the Tobacco Warehouse site from Brooklyn Bridge Park for use as a new home for St. Ann’s Warehouse Theater, as well as the Empire Stores building for possible commercial development. Following the court decisions, BHA and the other successful plaintiffs began negotiations with city and state officials to establish rules governing possible development of these sites. Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg announced that an agreement had been made under which, among other things, additional land will be added to Brooklyn Bridge Park should the Tobacco Warehouse and Empire Stores be made available for non-park use. Continue Reading →
Roof Cornice Breaks Off At 7 Old Fulton Street
Our faithful videographer & correspondent Karl Junkersfeld was on the scene on the Brooklyn Heights/DUMBO border as a piece of the roof cornice at 7 Old Fulton Street—which houses a restaurant by the same name and has apartments above—collapsed onto the street, at 12:45 Monday afternoon. Fortunately, no one was injured. Karl notes that a similar incident recently took place at Grimaldi’s Pizza up the street. See his 1:21-minute report below. Continue Reading →
Heights’ Downtown Neighbor Reclaims Residential Rights
In recent times, the 15,000 folks that reside across the half-square mile of Brooklyn designated as “Downtown”—unfolding at the ends of the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges—have again earned the right to call their locale a “neighborhood.” With a massive influx of new residential projects, it is no longer merely “near Brooklyn Heights” or “on the edge of Boerum Hill,” says Nora McCauley, who has lived in the destination for six years. “I’ve started to say just that I live Downtown.”
That’s the calling card of a Thursday New York Times story titled “To the Heights and the Slope, Add ‘Downtown’.” Continue Reading →
Brooklyn Heights Cinema At 70 Henry Street To Be Razed, After All
After a push & pull tug of war throughout 2012, it appears the beloved Brooklyn Heights Cinema building at 70 Henry Street is about to meet the wrecking all, after all. But there’s hope: Plans call for a movie theater on the ground level.
BHB Top 10 2011 honoree and Cinema owner Ken Lowy—who wrote this guest post in January—said then that his lease runs until June 30. According to a Brownstoner post today, a new five-story rental will indeed replace the current building, which will result in shuttering of the theater in August.
SEE KEN LOWY’S COMMENT ON THIS POST AFTER THE JUMP…
Continue Reading →
30 Henry Street Reaps $500K Above Asking Price
DUMBO-based developer Fortis Manor, which purchased the homely one-story Brooklyn Eagle Building at 30 Henry Street & Middagh in November 2011, paid $3.5 million for the property, according to a post today on Brownstoner. Broker Massey Knakal confirmed the figure, which is $500K over its asking price of $3 million.
That comes out to a cost of $209 per buildable square foot. Brownstoner notes that the site allows for a total of 16,740SF on the site. As previously reported, a six-story red brick building is slated to take its place. Continue Reading →
Quote Of The Day: 1966 Heights Was ‘Brought Back From Slum Death By Influx’ Of Gays
Writer and theologian William R. Wineke, a columnist for the Wisconsin State Journal and an ordained clergyman of the United Church of Christ, expresses his views on same-sex marriage in an opinion piece for WISC-TV Madison, Wisconsin’s news website Channel3000.com.
We’re neither supporting or dissuading the author’s perspective here, but highlighting his reflections on Brooklyn Heights some 45 years ago. Wineke describes living here in 1966 as “a beautiful community of brownstones that had been brought back from slum death by an influx of gay and lesbian citizens.” Continue Reading →
SOLD! Historic Bossert: Plan In Place To Convert Back To Hotel
After revealing last week that Brooklyn Heights’ historic Bossert Hotel was returning to its roots as a hotel, Brownstoner reports today that city filings offer a confirmed buyer for the Jehovah’s Witnesses property. Continue Reading →
Intro To Brooklyn Heights… From The 1939 NYC ‘WPA Guide’
As part of a government-sponsored project to put the nation’s talented writers back to work during the Great Depression, the “WPA Guide to New York City” was published in 1939 by Federal Writers Project. The travel triptych was deemed by the New York Times as “one of the best books ever published about New York.”
Its passage on Brooklyn Heights is a precious view into a bygone era. The full descriptor is below, but here are some choice passages: Continue Reading →
Is The Bossert Being Converted Back To The ‘Waldorf Astoria of Brooklyn’?
Consider this a potential game-changer for Brooklyn Heights: The magnificent Bossert at 98 Montague Street, owned & maintained by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, is apparently returning to its original domain as a hotel. Brownstoner reported Tuesday that according to a Public Hearing notice sent out by Community Board Two, a variance application has been filed to allow “reconversion of the existing community facility hotel back to its original, transient hotel use.”
What remains unclear is whether the flip is a maneuver on the part of Jehovah’s Witnesses to find an interested buyer for the building. Continue Reading →
Sign Of The (Past) Times: Hebrew National At 139 Montague Street
The former La Traviata cafe, which is en route to becoming an Irish pub and restaurant, has revealed its roots, as the shuttered eatery’s signage came down today. Before La T took over 139 Montague Street 
(between Henry and Clinton) some 30 years ago, a full-frontal sign heralded “Hebrew National.”
Sure enough, our precious 1976 Montague Street Revitalization Proposal verifies that a restaurant by that name was based at the address some 35 years ago. Who remembers more? Continue Reading →
Vintage Image: Key Food Market, 1976
The 1976 Montague Street Revitalization project offered grand plans for the ailing Brooklyn Heights neighborhood, and included numerous photographs of everyday life. Of course, some 36 years later, these casual B&W shots offer a cool triptych to a time gone by: the fashion, hairstyles and simply the way folks gathered back in the day.
We’re featuring Key Food here—nothing overtly dramatic, but entertaining for those very reasons. And below, the view at 106 Montague Street today. Who knows, a few decades from now, we’ll probably be smiling over how “vintage” these millennial images are. Continue Reading →
Last Minute Weekend Suggestions
The Brooklyn Historical Society, 128 Pierrepont Street (corner of Clinton) will present a screening of Nancy Buirski’s film, The Loving Story, a love story about a couple whose wedding set the stage for the Supreme Court’s decision, in Loving v. Virginia, that struck down statutes prohibiting interracial marriage.
The show begins at 3 p.m. Saturday, and there will be a discussion with Buirski afterward. The event is free with museum admission, which is free for BHS members; for non-members it is $6 for adults, and $4 for seniors over 62, teachers, and students 12 and over (college students must have ID; children under 12 are free). Continue Reading →
2012 Brooklyn Heights House Tour: A Preview Of Its Five Historic Townhouses
The 2012 Brooklyn Heights Assn. Landmark House & Garden Tour, which takes place Saturday May 12, has announced the five privately owned historic townhouses that comprise the annual event.
Highlights of the five homes include: Continue Reading →
Tour BHS Building Thursday Evening
The Brooklyn Historical Society, 128 Pierrepont Street (corner of Clinton) will present a guided tour of its historic building this Thursday evening, May 3, starting at 7:00 p.m. The building, completed in 1881, is noted for its elaborate terra cotta exterior decoration, but its interior is also dazzling, including elaborately patterned tile floors, carved woodwork, and stained glass windows. The Othmer Library is a spectacular space. The building was designed by George B. Post, among whose notable surviving buildings are the New York Stock Exchange and the Wisconsin State Capitol. Continue Reading →
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Brooklyn Bugle
- Open Thread: Wednesday, May 23, 2012
- A Peek Inside Montague Street’s New Starbucks
- Adam Yauch Park Closer to Reality: On State Street In Brooklyn Heights
- Heights’ Resident Lena Dunham’s HBO ‘Girls’ Renewed For Second Season
- Tips for New Dog Owners from Brooklyn’s DogBoy Robert Haussman
- Taxi Commission Supports 20% Cab Fare Hike
- BHA, Other Groups Settle with City and State over Park Land
- Parade of Ships Opens Fleet Week Tomorrow
- Brooklyn Hosts opSail At Red Hook Marine Terminal Memorial Day Weekend
- Roof Cornice Breaks Off At 7 Old Fulton Street
Cobble Hill Blog
- Brooklyn Hosts opSail At Red Hook Marine Terminal Memorial Day Weekend
- Third-Annual Brooklyn Bridge Birthday Celebration At Brooklyn Tattoo May 27
- Super Kitsch! Nostalgic Shuffleboard Club Coming To Gowanus
- Yikes! A Bed Bug (As In One) Found On Premises At The Carroll School
- NYC Bike Share Program: Cobble Hill Shunned Until At Least Spring 2013
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Open Thread: Wednesday, May 23, 2012
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Packer Institute SAT Scandal Gets More Egregious
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Brooklyn Heights Rallies For Montague Street Retail Corridor
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Adam Yauch Park Closer to Reality: On State Street In Brooklyn Heights
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Roof Cornice Breaks Off At 7 Old Fulton Street
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Montague Street Revitalization Continues With Launch Of Ruby And Jenna
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BHA, Other Groups Settle with City and State over Park Land
- Picture Perfect Promenade Sunday
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Parade of Ships Opens Fleet Week Tomorrow
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A Peek Inside Montague Street’s New Starbucks
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Film Shoot Moratorium Short-Lived: Remsen Street Site For ‘Amish’
- Heights History: A Magnificent 1905 View Looking Up ‘Columbia Street’
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Open Thread: Wednesday, May 23, 2012
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A Peek Inside Montague Street’s New Starbucks
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Adam Yauch Park Closer to Reality: On State Street In Brooklyn Heights
-
Heights’ Resident Lena Dunham’s HBO ‘Girls’ Renewed For Second Season
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Tips for New Dog Owners from Brooklyn’s DogBoy Robert Haussman
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Taxi Commission Supports 20% Cab Fare Hike
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BHA, Other Groups Settle with City and State over Park Land
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Parade of Ships Opens Fleet Week Tomorrow
Nabe Chatter