Karl Junkersfeld sent us this YouTube video by DatanBasen of the recently renovated Egyptian Rooftop at the Hotel St. George Tower. You may remember the 2009 destruction of terra cotta columns from the roof raised the ire of many in Brooklyn Heights. Now, as promised, the columns have been replaced and look great! Video after […]
Archive | History RSS feed for this section
U.S. Justice Department Orders Park Service to Review Tobacco Warehouse De-Parking
The U.S. Department of Justice announced that the National Park Service is reviewing its decision to remove the Tobacco Warehouse from federally protected park land. DOJ has also taken the unusual action of issuing a letter to the City directing it to treat the Tobacco Warehouse site as if it were still under federal protection, […]
Capote House, on Market Since May, Gets a Haircut
The Real Deal reports that the asking price for 70 Willow Street, which hit the market in May for a potentially record setting $18 million, has been slashed to $15.9 million. If sold at that “bargain” price it would still hold the record for highest amount paid for a single residence in Brooklyn.
The 250-Year-Old Ratzer Map on Video
The Brooklyn Historical Society’s recent unveiling of a 250-year-old map of New York City has garnered much hoopla over the last couple weeks. And with good reason—the map was restored from a crumbly, neglected state into a historic work of art. The map will be on display until Friday, after which it will be exhibited […]
BHS to Display Rare Map Today, Next Week
If you want to take a look at the rare 1770 map of New York City, which includes Brooklyn, discovered by the Brooklyn Historical Society among items that had been held in storage, you’ll need to go to the Society’s Othmer Library, located in their building at Clinton and Pierrepont Streets, this afternoon or next […]
BHA, Others Sue to Stop Development of Tobacco Warehouse
The Brooklyn Heights Association, along with the Fulton Ferry Landing Association and the New York Landmarks Conservancy, have sued both the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (NYSOP) and the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation in state court, claiming that NYSOP acted illegally in its application to the National Park Service to […]
NY1: Plymouth Church Featured in Underground Railroad Tours
As we’ve previously noted, Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims, at Hicks and Orange Streets, was an important part of the “Underground Railroad”. This was the clandestine system established by abolitionists, of which Henry Ward Beecher, minister at Plymouth in the pre-Civil War Years, was an inspirational leader, to help fugitive slaves escape to freedom in […]
Rare 1770 Map at Brooklyn Historical Society
The New York Times has an article about a rare map of New York City from 1770; it was discovered at the Brooklyn Historical Society last year, and is one of only four such maps created by the venerable cartographer Bernard Ratzer. Almost as intriguing as the map itself are the steps that were involved […]
BHS Surveys the Sudsy Side of Brooklyn’s History
The Brooklyn Historical Society will host a program on an important part of Brooklyn’s manufacturing past that has also become an important part of its present and, perhaps, future:
Privy Pit on Pierrepont Proves Treasure Trove
Friend and Carroll Gardens near-neighbor Katia Kelly, of Pardon Me for Asking, came across a fascinating bit of urban archaeology going on in the backyard of a townhouse on Pierrepont Street. Among the items excavated are the porcelain horse and female figurine in the photo.
Nabe Chatter