November 11th will mark the ninety-ninth anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I. Even though America entered the conflict late, declaring war in April of 1917, the “Great War” […]
Tag: History
Posted inEvents
From Rooftop Garden to McGolrick Park — Join Historian Geoff Cobb and Artist Martynka Wawrzyniak for Local Lore, Nature, and Art on a Guided Walking Tour! (Sat, 10/7)
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, […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
The Illicit Affair That Brought Greenpoint’s own Mae West to Hollywood
In a previous piece I described how Mae West funded her scandalous 1927 play sex through her romance with the rich, handsome, but very dangerous gangster Owney Madden. However, it […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
Patrick Keely, The Prolific Architect of Saint Anthony of Padua Church
For years I passed the graceful façade of Saint Anthony of Padua church (862 Manhattan Avenue) and admired its beauty, but never really thought much about the man who built […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
How New York’s Most Notorious Gangster Bankrolled Mae West’s Broadway Hit
In my book about local history, Greenpoint Brooklyn’s Forgotten Past, I told the story about how in 1927, local Greenpoint gal Mae West scandalized New York by staging a play called […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
Greenpoint: The Birthplace of the American Carousel
Our area has been the birthplace of many things: the American porcelain industry, oil refining, but carousels? Who knew? Actually, Greenpoint has a long history of carousel production that goes […]
Posted inCulture
Greenpointer Hosts Tours About NYC’s History of Espionage
New York is known as the ultimate city for countless things: fashion, finance, art, Instagrammable food trends – the list is longer than the line at a Supreme drop in […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
Greenpoint and World War I: Farewell Parades, Lives Lost & A Fitting Monument
Last month marked the hundredth anniversary of America’s entry into World War I, a war which had many profound effects on Greenpoint. A hundred and fifty local men lost their lives […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
How A Greenpoint Statue Became A Target of Anti-Americanism
Many Greenpointers know that Ferdinand De Lesseps famous Iwo Jima memorial was cast locally at Bedi Rassy Art foundry on India Street; however many people do not know the story […]
Posted inHistorical Greenpoint
A History of the Greenpoint Ferry
Starting this morning, the East River Ferry is no more—it’s transitioning into a new entity, NYC Ferry, to provide city-wide service. The good thing about the new city-subsidized service is that fares […]