Although the former Domino Sugar refinery on Kent Avenue does not lie in Greenpoint, the building and the firm that ran it, Havemeyer and Elder, cast a long shadow over […]
Category: Historical Greenpoint
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
A Greenpoint Landmark Now Seems Doomed
In a previous post I reported that there was an application to demolish 85 Calyer Street, the historic home of the builder of the first ironclad battleship in the United […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
Greenpoint’s Haunted House On Oak Street
If I had to pick one house in Greenpoint to set a horror movie in it would be the big old house set back off the street at the corner […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
The Forgotten History of Sugar in North Brooklyn
To understand the history of Greenpoint and Williamsburg you have to grasp the massive role that refining played in this heavily industrial corner of North Brooklyn. Our area became the […]
Posted inNews
The Pencil Factory Was Landmarked 10 Years Ago This Month!
Today at The Pencil Factory at 47-61 Greenpoint Avenue, you can get an amazing haircut, or see an exciting new art exhibit, or even stop by our very own Greenpointers […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
Check out the Mary Fisher Home, Greenpoint’s 19th Century Artists’ Colony
Greenpoint’s industrial past is well known, and its emerging identity as an artist’s hub might seem like a 21st century phenomenon, but back in 1888, Greenpoint was sporting its very […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
Greenpoint Doughboy: A Tragic Tale of A Greenpointer in World War I
November 11th will mark the ninety-ninth anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I. Even though America entered the conflict late, declaring war in April of 1917, the “Great War” […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
The Illicit Affair That Brought Greenpoint’s own Mae West to Hollywood
In a previous piece I described how Mae West funded her scandalous 1927 play sex through her romance with the rich, handsome, but very dangerous gangster Owney Madden. However, it […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
Patrick Keely, The Prolific Architect of Saint Anthony of Padua Church
For years I passed the graceful façade of Saint Anthony of Padua church (862 Manhattan Avenue) and admired its beauty, but never really thought much about the man who built […]
Posted inUncategorized
Greenpoint’s Notorious Sonny Franseze Released from Prison at Age 100
The reputed local crime boss, John “Sonny” Franzese was recently released from the Federal Medical Center in Devens, Massachusetts. The hundred-year-old reputed member of the Colombo crime family had been […]