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Backtrax: Downtown’s Martin’s Dept. Store & Offerman Building

As the Landmarked Romanesque revival Offerman Building along Fulton Street Mall continues buildout of TJ Maxx and a bevy of boutique stores—alongside H&M’s new-construction two-story glass modernist structure—it’s high time to take a look back at the history of the storied location at 505 Fulton Street. Its life began in 1891, commissioned by mogel Henry […]

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Photo Of The Day: Brooklyn Man ‘Stalked By Stork, I Want Work,’ 1937

Times haven’t changed but so much between 1937 and 2012. Some 75 years ago, the U.S. was enduring a marked recession that lasted 13 months and catapulted unemployment from 14.3% in 1937 to 19.0% in 1938. Thankfully, in 2012, the national unemployment rate isn’t quite as dire—but it remains stagnant for a fifth dismal year. […]

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Last Minute Weekend Suggestions

In addition to tomorrow’s (Saturday, June 16) Atlantic Avenue Extravaganza, there are several other diverting (not in the subway sense) things to do this weekend. The Brooklyn Historical Society, 128 Pierrepont street (corner of Clinton) tomorrow is having another of its walking tours, “Hiding in Plain Sight: A Walk Down Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn Heights.” The […]

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Heights Deal Of The Day: 204 Columbia Heights, $7 A Week! (In 1902, That Is)

With summer just around the corner, this is the ideal time to reserve your summer space here in Brooklyn Heights. And have I got a deal for you: 204 Columbia Heights, The Berkshire. Overlooking the Harbor. “Why put up with country inconveniences when you can find all the comforts and coolest of sea breezes at […]

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Reflections On 1974 Brooklyn Heights From A BHB Reader

We’re plucking this endearing reader comment from the June 10 BHB post “Montague Street Is Stirring As It Hasn’t In Years,” which was contributed by Richard Grayson, whose musings on growing up in the borough are published in his multi-series e-book “The Brooklyn Diaries,” available on amazon.com here. Grayson was born in Brownsville in 1951 […]

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Heights History: Meet 1912 Brooklyn Historical Society Staffer Mary Ingalls

Pleased to meet you, Miss Mary E. Ingalls, an attendant at the Gallery Desk of what was known in 1912 as the Long Island Historical Society, which is, now, of course, the Brooklyn Historical Society on Pierrepont Street at Clinton. While the dress code of the BHS—founded in 1863—may be more casual today, the oak-laden […]

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Last Minute Weekend Suggestions

There’s lots going on this Saturday, June 9. Are you an uptight Brooklyn Heights woman? Take a walk down Squibb Hill to the lawn in front of the Tobacco Warehouse (New Dock Street at Water Street), where, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., you can… …[j]oin our dance circle under the Brooklyn Bridge. Learn women’s traditional […]

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‘Dean Of Brooklyn Reporters’ Dennis Holt Dies At 77

Dennis Holt, a longtime columnist and staff writer for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle and sister publication Brooklyn Heights Press, died at age 83 77 Thursday after complications from a fall in his home on May 14. He had suffered broken ribs and a blow to the head, made worse by a blood thinner he had […]

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A Local Toast To The ‘Brooklyn Brewery Beer Gardens’ At BHS

Around 200 locals turned out for the Brooklyn Brewery Beer Gardens at Brooklyn Historical Society Thursday evening. Brooklyn Brewery brewskies were sold & served on the patio of Brooklyn Historical Society’s beautiful landmark Pierrepont Street building, while folk trio Tres Amigos provided entertainment. The event will be repeated the last Thursday in June, July and […]

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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 […]

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