As most, if not all, regular readers of this blog know, Brooklyn Heights was New York City’s first designated historic district. This means there are strict controls on what can be built here and how existing buildings can be modified. Without these rules, it seems likely to me that all the townhouses along the west […]
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“The Great Escape”, Commemorating Washington’s Evacuation of Brooklyn, at Brooklyn Bridge Park Saturday
This Saturday, August 27 marks the 240th anniversary of the Battle of Brooklyn, also sometimes called the Battle of Long Island because where the fighting took place, in what is now Prospect Park, Park Slope, and Green-Wood Cemetery, wasn’t yet part of Brooklyn. It was the first battle in which regular Patriot troops under the […]
Coming Events at Brooklyn Bridge Park
Tomorrow (Saturday, August 20) from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. there will be a free Pier 5 Family Field Day, with potato, sack, and Hula Hoop races, parachute games, soccer skills lessons, and scrimmage games. More information here. On Sunday afternoon, August 21 from 2:00 to 5:00 the Nantucket lightship (photo), docked at Pier 6, […]
Historian on Emotional Roots of American Revolution at Brooklyn Historical Society Thursday
Nicole Eustace, Professor of History at New York University and author of Passion is the Gale: Emotion, Power, and the Coming of the American Revolution will speak at the Brooklyn Historical Society this Thursday evening, August 18 on “1776: Revolution and Emotion”. The program begins at 6:30 p.m. This event is presented in connection with […]
Times Covers 100 Clark St. Restoration
Yesterday’s New York Times piece is a fascinating read on the painstaking architectural endeavor behind the reconstruction of 100 Clark St., and the owner’s commitment to restore, as closely as possible, the building to its original glory. Margaret Streicker Porres, the owner of the realty company that bought the building in 2010 for $1.2M, hired Tom van den […]
Coming at Brooklyn Bridge Park
Tomorrow (Monday, August 15) evening at 7:00, at the Granite Prospect on Pier 1, Brooklyn Bridge Park, in partnership with BookCourt will present Eowyn Ivey reading from her latest novel, To the Bright Edge of the World. The event is free; books will be available for purchase and signing. Perhaps this Alaskan writer can bring […]
Two Montague Buildings Nominated for Landmarking
Two buildings on Montague Street between Clinton and Court, 181-183 Montague and 185 Montague (left and right in the photo), have, the Eagle reports, been nominated for landmark status. Last November we reported that, during a discussion between preservationist Anthony Wood and architectural historian Francis Morrone at the Brooklyn Historical Society, it was mentioned that […]
The Long, Sad Story of the Selling of LICH
Thanks to Mary Frost, of the Brooklyn Eagle, we now have a detailed chronology, with links to Eagle stories giving further information about each incident, of the steps leading to and following the sale of Long Island College Hospital. Despite the money SUNY received from the sale of LICH, SUNY Downstate continued to have financial […]
100 Clark St. Reconstruction Plan Approved by Landmarks – Finally!
The long, unfortunate history of the eyesore of a brownstone at 100 Clark St. (aka 1 Monroe Pl.) dates back to May 2008, when BHB reported that the building had been condemned after years of neglect and disrepair. At the time, the three remaining, rent-stabilized tenants living in the 18-unit building were forced out and the building […]
Coming at Brooklyn Historical Society
Who knows the secrets that lurk in the vaults of the Brooklyn Historical Society? Reference Librarian Joanna Lamaida and Exhibition Coordinator & Registrar Anna Schwartz do! Come to BHS this Wednesday evening, August 3 at 6:30 for “Tales from the Vault: The Skeletons in Our Closets”. Admission is $5, or free for BHS and Green-Wood […]
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