Hey, Greenpoint! I know you’re always looking for that history fix, and North Brooklyn has you covered. There are several wonderful history events coming up this weekend and in the next few weeks! But, at any time, our lovely little ‘nabe is jam-packed with fabulous institutions where you can dive into an exploration of what has shaped our city, from sugar, to garbage, to oysters! The array is so gloriously wide, it helps remind us that everything is history, and there’s a history of everything!
City Reliquary
Perhaps the best place to learn about “the history of everything” in New York City, is our very own City Reliquary (370 Metropolitan Avenue). The museum’s collection of artifacts and ephemera includes everything from vintage seltzer bottles to Dodgers fan merchandise and memorabilia from the 1939 World’s Fair. The museum also features community collections and rotating exhibits. The current exhibit, NYC Trash!: Past, Present and Future, is on view until April 29, 2018. The Reliquary will host a screening of the film Canners THIS SATURDAY 1/27 @ 7pm.
The Williamsburg Art and Historical Center
The next day, head over to The Williamsburg Art and Historical Center (135 Broadway). The museum is housed in the landmarked Kings County Savings Bank Building, and has been supporting arts and culture in Williamsburg since 1996.The 19th Annual Salon Show is on view until February 18, 2018. THIS SUNDAY 1/29 @ 2pm Salon Members will hold special travel presentations. Continue reading →
Hey Greenpointers! How’s everyone’s New Year’s Resolutions going? Excited for the Super Bowl?
If you’re anything like me, you don’t really have any resolutions (just trying to live my best life) and you absolutely despise the Patriots (Tom Brady is a cheater and a T-supporter), so all the more reason to check out some art this weekend!
On Friday, the Greenpoint Gallery is hosting its first open call group exhibition of 2018. Also Friday (and through the weekend), check out the politically-overt exhibition at SHIM/ArtHelix. And come Monday evening, we have two very interesting literature events: Geoff Cobb reading from his book Sugar King and the all-women publishing collective Mag Mob discussing the future of independent publishing.
You see, there’s a reason why you live in the center of the universe, even if it costs you 60% of your income to rent an apartment here!
For “Home”, Westergren combines recent works and two-site specific installations. Recalling a house in the country, the works use elements of elite traditional decor like Murano glass, wallpaper and hunting trophies to explore interior distress amid outer luxury. “Gut Renovation” combines trompe l’oeil and papier-mâché animal heads that glare back at the viewer to create a menacing domestic space. “Carolyn Glasoe Bailey June 25, 1969- November 16, 2015,” titled in memory of a friend, is a taut juxtaposition of images of Scandinavian domestic life with motifs of emptiness and loss. The final piece, “Gardening,” gathers natural forms and vintage glass pieces into a sculpture that invites viewing from multiple angles. Its structure of twisted brass pipe recalls rusted and rotting infrastructure even as its lights rise to transcendence.
Inside the Domino Sugar Factory, from the “Sweet Ruin” exhibit, photo by Paul Raphaelson
There’s been a lot of activity and news lately about the iconic Domino Sugar Factory on the Williamsburg waterfront. Our own historical writer Geoff Cobb recently published a new book about Domino titled The Rise and Fall of the Sugar King, and he’s been sharing some of those stories here on our site. Additionally, the redesign proposal for the Domino site was recently approved, and the architects shared the final plans for the waterfront park. And just a few weeks ago we were able to tour the first new building in the Domino Sugar complex at 325 Kent Street, with the major selling point seeming to be the stunning views of Manhattan and the Williamsburg Bridge.
From now until January 14th, photos taken inside the Domino Sugar complex are on view at former Williamsburg gallery Front Room (48 Hester Street) in Manhattan. According to the gallery, “In 2013, Paul Raphaelson received permission from the developers of the Domino site to explore every square foot of the refinery just weeks before its gutting and demolition. Raphaelson is the last photographer given access to the factory.” The gallery is open Wednesday through Sunday from 1-6pm. Smithsonian has a detailed article about the photos, and the site’s history.
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 the Newly formed city had ever witnessed. The air all around Williamsburg that brisk winter morning was electric and buzzing with excitement. After six long years of watching the construction of the bridge, the span would finally open. There was jubilation in the area, especially amongst property owners who knew that the bridge would dramatically increase the value of their properties. Continue reading →
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 local history. Having spent the summer researching the plant for my upcoming book The Rise and Fall of the Sugar King, it is hard to express how much suffering is associated with the refinery.
The plant, which was opened in 1858, employed thousands of Greenpointers over its almost a century-and-a-half of existence. Much of the reason that we have a Polish population today is because the refinery had a policy of hiring Slavic men, principally Polish, who could not recount to outsiders the misery that working in the plant entailed. They worked in horrendous conditions that we can scarcely imagine today. Continue reading →
Kingsland Wildflowers rooftop, the starting point for Saturday’s tour.
Local artist Martynka Wawrzyniak‘s site-specific sculpture, Ziemia, will take the form of a ceramic sphere atop a meadow garden in McGolrick Park, and she’s having the local community help create it. Ziemia, which means Earth in Polish, will celebrate our neighborhood’s many cultures, become a locus for community programming, and carry personal significance for the participants who help shape it.
Ziemia site in McGolrick Park, via Ziemia on Instagram
McGolrick Sculpture Installation & Walking Tour With Greenpoint Historian When: Saturday, September 30, 3pm – 5pm Where: Kingsland Wildflowers Green Roof | 520 Kingsland Avenue Who: Greenpoint artist, Martynka Wawrzyniak & Greenpoint historian, Geoff Cobb $15 donation (proceeds go to the Ziemia art project), RSVP
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. Continue reading →
Led by Greenpointers writer and local historian Geoff Cobb, a historical walking tour of Greenpoint this Thursday evening will explore the northern part of the neighborhood with a focus on local ecology. If you’ve ever wondered what was there before the WNYC Transmitter towers, or why our area’s formerly pristine estuary and green section of Brooklyn became a center of heavy industry, this tour is for you. Considering our rapidly changing neighborhood, it’s important to honor elements of the old Greenpoint. The tour, is approximately 1 mile, and will last about 1.5 hrs.
The FREE tour will meet by the Greenpoint Avenue gate to Transmitter Park at 6:30pm and will walk to Greenpoint Playground. All participants will receive a map of the area with tour highlights, and enjoy complementary hot cider and gingerbreads. Bundle up!
In a neighborhood where we like to keep it real, Pete McGuinness’ legacy lives on in much more than McGuinness Blvd. He was larger than life and one of the most colorful characters in local Greenpoint lore.
This is just a small glimpse of the character and life of Pete McGuinness and there is so much more interesting information in local historian Geoff Cobb’s latest book “The King of Greenpoint.”
Tonight he will be reading and will answer questions during a fun night of history and booze at Shayz Lounge (130 Franklin St) starting at 7PM!RSVP here.
City Reliquary
The Williamsburg Art and Historical Center
Our very own Greenpointers writer and local author 
Led by 
