On January 30, 1862 the most important event that ever happened locally occurred. Greenpoint wrote its name in the history book when a ship was launched here that not only […]
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
The Pristine Beauty of Greenpoint? Or How Our Area Looked Before Industrialization
Today Greenpoint is a densely populated urban neighborhood, whose remaining factory buildings bear silent witness to its past as one of the largest centers of industrialization in America. However, Greenpoint […]
Posted inUncategorized
How A Greenpoint Family Became The Tugboat Kings of New York Harbor
McAllister Towing is one of the oldest and largest tugboat and marine transportation companies in the United States and it has deep Greenpoint roots. James McAllister, a native of Cushendall […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
Native American Greenpoint
Looking around Greenpoint today, it’s hard to imagine that this area of high rises and former factories was ever different, but three hundred and fifty years ago Greenpoint was the […]
Posted inNews
Greenpoint Loses a Legend: Hugh Reid (1927-2017)
Hugh Reid, who helped bury the dead of Greenpoint for generations, himself finally succumbed to death himself last Thursday, just short of his ninetieth year. I was lucky enough to […]
Posted inCommunity, Film
A Humble Greenpointer and His Extraordinary Documentary
I usually write about local history, not film, but doing historical research I accidentally met Joe Campo, Greenpoint’s most successful documentary producer. When some people get a whiff of success, […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
A Greenpointer who Survived Pearl Harbor
Last year on December 7th marked the seventy-fifth anniversary of one of the most momentous days in American history—the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, in which more than two thousand four hundred […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
North Brooklyn History: Creating McCarren Park
We take the green space that today is McCarren Park for granted, but it was not always a park. Once the ground that the park now occupies had its own […]
Posted inClasses, Community, News, Wellness
Tennis, Anyone? It’s Now Year-Round at McCarren Park, But Not Free
This past Sunday, January 8th marks the beginning of a new era of tennis at McCarren Park. Now players can play year-round thanks to a bubble that recently erected over […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
Bad Boys of the Past: The Notorious Gangs of North Brooklyn History
Think that North Brooklyn was a safer place back in the good old days? Think again! In the second half of the 19th century, North Brooklyn had many notorious gangs […]