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.
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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.” […]
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 […]
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 […]
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:
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, […]
Memory Lane: Abraham & Straus Department Store, Born & Bred In Brooklyn
Without the commanding presence of Brooklyn’s heralded Abraham & Straus, we surely would not have today’s Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Filene’s or Stern’s. In 1865, before the Brooklyn Bridge linked New York’s largest borough to the rest of the city, Abraham Abraham and Joseph Wechsler opened dry goods retailer Wechsler & Abraham on Fulton Street in the […]
Next Homer Fink ‘Hidden Brooklyn Heights Walking Tour': April 21
The next jocular, wonderfully educational Homer Fink’s Hidden Walking Tour takes place this coming Saturday, April 21, at 11 a.m. Learn about the odd, weird, controversial and amusing history of America’s First Suburb over a sprawling 90 minutes of fun, led by the faithful kingpin of the Brooklyn Heights Blog, Cobble Hill Blog and Brooklyn […]
On This Day: April 12, 1816, Brooklyn Became a Village
On April 12, 1816, New York officially incorporated the village of… Brooklyn. The State of New York legislature passed an act of incorporation on this day—with the participation of Brooklyn Heights founding father Hezekiah B. Pierrepont—that gave Brooklyn its first charter, establishing its official boundaries. Among the primary regions defined was Brooklyn Heights, which the […]
Heights History: 52 Livingston Street, Then & Now
The standout Gothic Revival three-story brick row house at 52 Livingston Street (between Court & Clinton streets) has changed precious little since this Brooklyn Public Library photograph was taken in 1953, nearly 60 years ago. (Then & Now pics below the jump.) Among few changes following its construction in 1846 (despite conflicting reports of it […]
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