There was a time not long ago when Greenpoint was the ground zero for reasonably priced, delicious, home-cooked food. There seemed to be no end to the great cheap mom […]
Posts by Author Archives: Geoff Cobb
Geoffrey Cobb is a Brooklyn high school history teacher and writer of the blog historicgreenpoint.wordpress.com. He has lived in Greenpoint for over 20years and is the author of a book on the history of the area, "Greenpoint Brooklyn's Forgotten Past."
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
Greenpoint: The Birthplace of the American Carousel
Our area has been the birthplace of many things: the American porcelain industry, oil refining, but carousels? Who knew? Actually, Greenpoint has a long history of carousel production that goes […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
Greenpoint and World War I: Farewell Parades, Lives Lost & A Fitting Monument
Last month marked the hundredth anniversary of America’s entry into World War I, a war which had many profound effects on Greenpoint. A hundred and fifty local men lost their lives […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
How A Greenpoint Statue Became A Target of Anti-Americanism
Many Greenpointers know that Ferdinand De Lesseps famous Iwo Jima memorial was cast locally at Bedi Rassy Art foundry on India Street; however many people do not know the story […]
Posted inArt
Thursday Spotlight: Two Polish Artists Separated by Decades, Bound by Creativity
Martynka Wawrzyniak, a Polish-born local artist driven by a creative vision, recently learned that local history eerily repeats itself. Researching Greenpoint history for her local site-specific artwork, she learned she was […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
A History of the Greenpoint Ferry
Starting this morning, the East River Ferry is no more—it’s transitioning into a new entity, NYC Ferry, to provide city-wide service. The good thing about the new city-subsidized service is that fares […]
Posted inArt
The Phantom Wall – A Conceptual Art Project by Local Artist Jorge Cruz
Sadly, these days walls, and keeping people out of America, is an all too familiar topic of public discourse. Perhaps no people in the world feel as strongly about walls […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
A History of Greenpoint in 25 Buildings: 85 Calyer Street
85 Calyer Street looks like many other frame houses in Greenpoint, but it was the home of the greatest mechanical genius to ever live in Greenpoint, Thomas Fitch Rowland, and […]
Posted inCulture
Enjoy a Beautiful Polish Tradition Easter Saturday
I was raised Catholic, so before I lived in Greenpoint I knew nothing about the beautiful Polish Easter custom of Święconka (pronunciation: shi’ven-tson-kah), meaning “the blessing of the Easter baskets.” On […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
A History of Greenpoint in 25 Buildings: The Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center
One of the oldest surviving local factory buildings is the Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center located in the sprawling former factory building at 1155–1205 Manhattan Avenue. The factory dates from […]