The company is long gone, but the building remains. The Leviton Building just off McGuinnness Boulevard on Greenpoint Avenue has an interesting history. The Leviton Company was founded in 1906 by […]
Category: Historical Greenpoint
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
A History of Greenpoint in 25 Buildings #6: The Havemeyer Sugar Refinery
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, North Brooklyn was the largest place for refining sugar in the world and Brooklyn’s largest industry. Although Williamsburg refined far more sugar […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
A History of Greenpoint in Twenty-Five Buildings #5: The American Manufacturing Company
For decades the remains of the American Manufacturing Company buildings around West and Noble have stood, hulking and vacant, as a reminder of Greenpoint’s industrial past. Now all that is […]
Posted in(Not)Forgotten Greenpoint, Community, Culture, Historical Greenpoint, News
Goodbye, Old Neighborhood Store. Hello, Increased Population Density!
For generations, J. Joseph & Sons was a local business that occupied the entire block on Manhattan Avenue between Eagle and Freeman Streets. Three generations ago, when Greenpointers could only […]
Posted in(Not)Forgotten Greenpoint, Historical Greenpoint, Uncategorized
Greenpoint’s WWII Prisoner of War Camp and a Forbidden Love
One of the things I did while researching my local history book Greenpoint Brooklyn’s Forgotten Past was talking to as many Greenpoint seniors as I could. They have repeatedly told me a […]
Posted in(Not)Forgotten Greenpoint, Historical Greenpoint, Uncategorized
A History of Greenpoint in 25 Buildings: Greenpoint’s Haunted House?
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 in(Not)Forgotten Greenpoint, Art, Historical Greenpoint
Edward Lycett – Greenpoint’s Greatest Porcelain Artist
Greenpoint has produced many fine artists and artisans, but few achieved the renown of Edward Lycett, who is considered “the pioneer of China painting in America.” He worked at a […]
Posted in(Not)Forgotten Greenpoint, Historical Greenpoint, Uncategorized
A History of Greenpoint in Twenty-Five buildings: The Mansion House
The Mansion House is not just part of Greenpoint history, but also of baseball history. The colonial era house, near today’s Engert Street, was the home of the fabled Greenpoint […]
Posted in(Not)Forgotten Greenpoint, Culture, Historical Greenpoint
A History of Greenpoint in Twenty-Five Buildings: The Old Meserole Mansion
Until the 1960s, New York had very little sense of the importance of historic preservation. It allowed the majestic Pennsylvania Station to be demolished in a tragic act of architectural homicide. […]
Posted in(Not)Forgotten Greenpoint, Historical Greenpoint
A History of Greenpoint in Twenty-Five Buildings: Greenpoint’s First House
It is a shame that the very first colonial building in Greenpoint survived for around two hundred years, but then was demolished in a crime against posterity. The first house […]