When Transmitter Park finally opened in 2012, many longtime Greenpoint residents were shocked to realize that for decades they had been denied amazing views of the East River. They wondered […]
Tag: greenpoint history
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
Charles Evans Hughes: Greenpoint’s Forgotten Statesman
He did not look like a Greenpointer, he did not act like one either and with his eloquent vocabulary and upper-class speech he sure did not sound like one, nevertheless, […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
Glass Blowing and Greenpoint, a Continued Tradition
Echo Glass Works at 253 Greenpoint Ave. offers a dazzling variety of one-of-a-kind custom glass jewelry, kiln cast glass, along with blown glass vessels that simply stun. However, this is […]
Posted in(Not)Forgotten Greenpoint
The Lasting Gifts to Greenpoint From the Man Cheated out of the U.S. Presidency
Looking for a great local trivia question? Which two men associated with Greenpoint ran for president of the United States? The answer: Samuel Tilden who was cheated in the election […]
Posted in(Not)Forgotten Greenpoint
Greenpoint’s Vaudeville Era Theaters: Still Hiding in Plain Sight
It is almost inconceivable today, but in the 1920s Greenpoint had as many as eight Vaudeville theaters. Some of the buildings still survive, but with other uses. In the days […]
Posted inNews
Former Greenpoint Hospital Set for Redevelopment
In a city critically short of both affordable housing and homeless shelters, the long-abandoned former Greenpoint hospital can help alleviate both severe shortages in North Brooklyn. Over a year ago, […]
Posted in(Not)Forgotten Greenpoint
Woordworking Is Greenpoint’s Oldest Craft
The first Greenpointer was a woodworker: Norwegian immigrant, ship’s carpenter and master carpenter of the City of New Amsterdam, Dirck Volckertszen, built the first house here Near Franklin and Calyer […]
Posted in(Not)Forgotten Greenpoint
Heavy Metal: North Brooklyn’s Rich History of Casting Metals
There are few regions of New York City that can match North Brooklyn for its history of metal casting. Many of New York’s most iconic pieces of cast iron, steel […]
Posted in(Not)Forgotten Greenpoint
Aaron Burr’s Scandalous Trysts in Greenpoint
With all of the praise surrounding Lin-Manuel Miranda’s extraordinary musical, “Hamilton,” it is not surprising that the man who killed him, the villain Aaron Burr, has also enjoyed something of […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
A Stroll Down Historic Guernsey Street
Perhaps other blocks in Greenpoint have more elegant houses or more imposing churches, but no block has more beautiful trees than Guernsey Street, which runs parallel to the river between […]