Today (Tuesday, December 19th) marks the anniversary of the opening of the Williamsburg Bridge in 1903. The Bridge was opened on a Saturday and was one of the greatest celebrations […]
Tag: forgotten 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
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 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 inArt, Culture
118 Milton Street: The House of Famous Artists
Many famous people have lived on Milton Street. Former Governor of New York, Secretary of State and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Charles Evans Hughes once resided on the […]
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 […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
Famous Greenpointers: Happy Birthday Mae West!
Mae West was a renowned stage actress, director, playwright and film star whose career spanned over seven decades. Born on Herbert Street in 1893 to a German mother, Tillie Doelger, with a […]
Posted inCulture
Forgotten Greenpoint: The Astral
The Astral is undoubtedly one of Greenpoint’s most iconic edifices. So much so, it even inspired it’s own novel. It sure is a purdy old pile o’ bricks, straight out of […]
Posted inCulture, Historical Greenpoint
Forgotten Greenpoint: WNYC Transmitter on the East River
Who listens to radio these days? I enjoy some WNYC action from time to time (when they are not doing a pledge-drive, of course), and my neighbor across the airshaft […]