With Mayor de Blasio’s announcement of an imminent light rail line along the East River, history could be preparing to repeat itself. For many years, Greenpoint had only two mass […]
Category: Historical Greenpoint
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
Casting the Iwo Jima Memorial in Greenpoint
The Bedi-Makky building at 227 India Street looks like any other ordinary industrial Greenpoint building. However, it was here that the one of the largest bronze sculpture ever cast in […]
Posted in(Not)Forgotten Greenpoint, Community, Culture, Historical Greenpoint, News
The New East River Trolley: Abridged Version?
When plans were announced by the de Blasio administration for a light rail system running from Astoria to Red Hook, many of us Greenpointers wondered about an important, but perhaps […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
A Gruesome Greenpoint Murder of Long Ago
Sometimes truth proves to be stranger than fiction. Not even the most ghoulish fiction writer could have created anything more macabre than the murder of William Simmons on January 26, […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
The Tragic Tale of Artist John Mulvaney
As a local historian it always amazes me how rich Greenpoint history is and how much local history is forgotten. I wrote a book called Greenpoint Brooklyn’s Forgotten Past to […]
Posted inCommunity, Culture, Historical Greenpoint, News
More Toxic Secrets In This Rare 1980s ‘Hazardous Neighbors’ Brooklyn Study
It’s been a busy couple of weeks in the world of toxic chemicals, specifically as they pertain to Greenpoint. First, Neighbors Allied For Good Growth (NAG) released the ToxiCity Map to bring […]
Posted in(Not)Forgotten Greenpoint, Community, Historical Greenpoint
Hey North Brooklyn, Here’s Our Toxins Mapped
To shine a light on Brooklyn’s murky legacy of contamination, the Neighbors Allied For Good Growth (NAG) and Pratt’s Spatial Analysis and Visualization Initiative ( SAVI) released a beta version of a ToxiCity […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
Distant Mirror of Today’s Anti–Immigrant Hysteria
One big reason we study history is that it repeats itself. The anti-immigrant hysteria being stirred up today is nothing new, especially in Greenpoint. While researching a book on local […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
The Most Colorful Character in Greenpoint History: Pete McGuinness
People who’ve read “Greenpoint’s Forgotten Past” have asked me who my favorite character from local history was. Without a second’s hesitation I say, Pete McGuinness, the King of Greenpoint. So who […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
Who was Patrick McCarren?
Recently there was controversy about the naming rights to the McCarren Park Pool. A company offered money for the naming rights and many locals became angry about the proposed name […]