Great literature never grows old or feels dated, and no local novel feels more current to local women than Betty Smith’s enduring 1943 classic A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, which […]
Category: Historical Greenpoint
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
Just In Time For St. Patrick’s Day – A History of the Irish in Greenpoint!
On Friday everyone becomes Irish for a day—at least in the local bars, but Greenpoint actually has a long and colorful Irish history. The first Irish came to Greenpoint way […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
Women’s History Month: Mae West, Feminist and Progressive
A lot of people know that movie star Mae West was born in 1893 on Herbert Street and that she became a and one of Hollywood’s first sex symbols, but […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
A History of Greenpoint in 25 Buildings: St. Anthony of Padua Church
For many Greenpointers there is no more iconic local image than the façade of St. Anthony of Padua church on Manhattan Avenue at Milton Street. The 240-foot-high church steeple is […]
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Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
The Unlikely Story of The White Greenpoint Woman Who Co-Founded America’s Most Influential Black Political Organization
Sometimes an unexpected event is a turning point in a person’s life. The story of Mary White Ovington’s trip to Prospect Park was just such a turning point. Ovington was […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
Women’s History Month: Peter McGuinness and Dangerous Smoking Women
Local lawmaker Peter J. McGuinness began his first term as alderman at the end of World War I when female behavior was rapidly changing, outraging conceptions of proper female behavior. […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
The Richest Man Who Ever Lived in Greenpoint: Henry H. Rogers
Today Henry H. Rogers is a largely forgotten figure in American history, but this self-made tycoon became one of the twenty-five or so richest men ever in the history of […]
Posted inEvents
Check Out This Talk On The History Of Greenpoint Architecture (Tues. 2/28)
Our very own Greenpointers writer and local author Geoff Cobb is giving a free talk on some fascinating local history this Tuesday, February 28 at Gallery AWA (61 Greenpoint Ave. #306) from 6-8pm.
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
Greenpoint’s Most Famous Reputed Living Gangster Turns One Hundred Years Old
John “Sonny” Franzese turned 100 in federal prison on February 6, 2017. Franzese, from Leonard Street, is the oldest inmate in the Federal Prison system and was denied compassionate release last […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
Elegance Lost: Greenpoint’s Colonnade Row on Humboldt Street
For years I had admired Manhattan’s Greek Revival Colonnade Row, the imposing landmark row houses with their austere, yet graceful Doric columns on Astor Place in NoHo, never imagining that […]