Brownstoner posted this photo today of a pre-BQE Promenade: This photo from the turn of the century shows a much different promenade in Brooklyn Heights. Until they were demolished in 1946 to make way for the expressway, this arched viaduct, greenhouse and buttressed wall were accessible by the stone stairways that led down from the […]
Tag Archives | brooklyn heights history
Heights History: If You’re Thinking of… Brooklyn Heights 1982
On November 21, 1982, the New York Times published If You’re Thinking of Living in Brooklyn Heights outling the benefits of living here in the nabe. We found a few passages to be of interest, especially this one which had us regretting selling our time machine: Real-estate people in the Heights report that a two-bedroom […]
Heights History: Songs for Drella
On this day in 1989, Velvet Underground founding members John Cale and Lou Reed paid tribute to their friend and co-conspirator, Andy Warhol by performing Songs for Drella at St. Ann’s Church on Montague Street. The songs were written as an homage to the artist, who died suddenly in 1987. “Drella” was Reed and company’s […]
Heights History with Pratt Professor
via Brownstoner: Some enterprising Pratt student had the presence of mind to bring a video recorder along when architecture prof Bob Pelosi gave a walking tour of Brooklyn Heights and Park Slope. Among other things we learn that the St. George Hotel was considered “one of the wonders of New York” in its time. Taking […]
Heights History: 215 Montague Street
The structure that once stood at 215 Montague Street is gone, replaced by a commercial building anchored by Commerce Bank, but the address has earned its place in history. As the “Front Office” of the Brooklyn Dodgers it was where club President/GM Branch Rickey broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier on August 28, 1945 by […]
Heights History: Brooklyn Heights Railroad
On July 20, 1891 the cable cars connecting Brooklyn City Hall (now Borough Hall) and the Wall Street Ferry started running on Montague Street. The line was designed by Robert Gillham who was known for his work on the Kansas City Cable Railway. It ran until 1924, twelve years after the Wall Street Ferry stopped […]
Heights History: Brooklyn Heights Historic District
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Brooklyn Heights residents persuaded “Power Broker” Robert Moses to re-route his plans to ram the BQE through the heart of the neighborhood and to halt bulldozing Willowtown in the name of progress. The woman who led the resistance against Moses on his Willowtown proposal was Mrs. Darwin James, […]
Heights History: Vintage Henry and Cranberry Photo
With the imminent opening of the Blue Pig Party Place at 50 Henry Street, we found this vintage photo of the spot to be quite interesting. Anyone have background on the store that was once there or an idea of the year this photo was taken? Photo via Flickr user vinceconnare
Heights History: Nabe vs Robert Moses
To some Robert Moses was the most brilliant urban planner who ever lived. Others will argue that Moses’ cold and wreckless vision stymied beauty and fostered the urban blight of the mid-twentieth century. Among his accomplishments, Moses built the Belt Parkway and replaced Brooklyn’s shorefront towns with horrific high-rise apartments worthy of the Eastern Bloc. […]
Heights History – 21 Clark Street
Your friends ask you what that castle building is on Clark Street and if you’re a smarty pants you know that it was once known as the Leverich Towers Hotel. It’s now a residence hall for Jehovah’s Witnesses but in its heyday it played host to the Brooklyn Dodgers (they stayed there during homestands), housed […]
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