Ben Shahn’s name today is obscure, but Shahn was perhaps one of the greatest artists ever to come out of Williamsburg. Born in Lithuania, Shahn grew up in the Southside […]
Category: (Not)Forgotten Greenpoint
Posted in(Not)Forgotten Greenpoint
The Lasting Gifts to Greenpoint From the Man Cheated out of the U.S. Presidency
Looking for a great local trivia question? Which two men associated with Greenpoint ran for president of the United States? The answer: Samuel Tilden who was cheated in the election […]
Posted in(Not)Forgotten Greenpoint
Greenpoint’s Vaudeville Era Theaters: Still Hiding in Plain Sight
It is almost inconceivable today, but in the 1920s Greenpoint had as many as eight Vaudeville theaters. Some of the buildings still survive, but with other uses. In the days […]
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Legendary Urbanist Jane Jacobs’ Prophetic Warning to Greenpoint
The name Jane Jacobs (1916-2006) is legendary in urban planning and in the last year of her life, Jacobs had a prescient warning about the future of our waterfront in […]
Posted in(Not)Forgotten Greenpoint
The Neglected Abstract Masterpieces of the Williamsburg Houses
For years brilliant avant-guarde murals lay hidden inside a local housing project, but thanks to an intrepid art history detective they were rediscovered and everyone today can enjoy their […]
Posted in(Not)Forgotten Greenpoint
The Abandoned Subway Tunnel Teasing Williamsburg
Imagine how much easier it would be for alternative transportation with the L train apocalypse if there was a parallel subway line from Williamsburg providing another route to Manhattan! In […]
Posted in(Not)Forgotten Greenpoint
Serpico’s North Brooklyn Connections to the Iconic Tale of an Honest Cop
Arguably one of the greatest films ever made about New York City, the film “Serpico” and the eponymous biography by author Peter Mass, which sold over three million copies, is […]
Posted in(Not)Forgotten Greenpoint
Woordworking Is Greenpoint’s Oldest Craft
The first Greenpointer was a woodworker: Norwegian immigrant, ship’s carpenter and master carpenter of the City of New Amsterdam, Dirck Volckertszen, built the first house here Near Franklin and Calyer […]
Posted inCulture
The Greenpointer Who Became a Taxidermy Legend
Greenpoint does not seem like a very likely place to have a tradition of taxidermy, but this is an area that is always full of surprises and it turns […]
Posted in(Not)Forgotten Greenpoint
Williamsburgs’ Enchanted Fillmore Place and the Author Who Immortalized the Street
Thanks in large part to the writings of celebrated author Henry Miller and the stately Italianate houses on the street, Fillmore Place were landmarked in 2009 and will forever […]