Search Results for: Brooklyn Heights

This 1946 map shows how Native American trails became the streets of Brooklyn
July 30, 2018

This 1946 map shows how Native American trails became the streets of Brooklyn

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While we take for granted the paths and roads we use on a daily basis, it's interesting to find out how they came to be. It's not a new concept that paths worn by the comings and goings of early dwellers and subsequent settlers in a particular area became roads, streets and thoroughfares, often with names that reflect their beginnings. Brooklyn Heights Blog (via Viewing NYC) shares some insight into Brooklyn's familiar roads that began as Native American trails on a 1946 map titled "Indian Villages, Paths, Ponds and Places in Kings County."
Peruse the map
Men of steel: How Brooklyn’s Native American ironworkers built New York

Roger Horne, a Mohawk Ironworker in the Raising Gang, ca. 1970 via the Smithsonian

July 25, 2018

Men of steel: How Brooklyn’s Native American ironworkers built New York

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The Empire State Building. The George Washington Bridge. The United Nations. The Woolworth Building. 30 Rock. The Seagram Building. Lincoln Center. The Waldorf Astoria. Virtually all of New York’s most iconic structures were raised in part by Mohawk Native American ironworkers. Since 1916, when Mohawk men made their way to New York to work on the Hell Gate Bridge, ironworkers from two Native communities, Akwesasne (which straddles Ontario, Quebec, and New York State) and Kahnawake (near Montreal), have been “walking iron” across the city.
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Scrabble is played in 22 languages around the world, but it was invented in Jackson Heights, Queens

Image: Matthew D. Britt via Flickr

July 23, 2018

Scrabble is played in 22 languages around the world, but it was invented in Jackson Heights, Queens

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"Secret" details hidden in plain sight are pretty much the rule in New York City, and the “Scrabble” street sign in Jackson Heights is a fine example. The letters that make up the sign marking 35th Avenue where it meets 81st Street in the neighborhood’s historic district are–if you look more closely than you’d ever really look at a street sign–accorded numbered points below each letter, Scrabble tile-style. The sign honors the fact that the beloved geeky pastime–according to Hasbro, three out of every five American homes harbor a Scrabble board–was invented right here in Queens by the Poughkeepsie-born Alfred Mosher Butts in 1931. Butts was an architect, and as history tells us, an architect generally needed to find an alternate way to keep busy during the Great Depression.
A big hit at the church social
The history of Weeksville: When Crown Heights had the second-largest free black community in the U.S.

Historic Hunterfly Road Houses via the Brooklyn Historical Society

July 18, 2018

The history of Weeksville: When Crown Heights had the second-largest free black community in the U.S.

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It’s a mighty sounding moniker, but the name “King’s County” also speaks to Brooklyn’s less-than-democratic origins. At the turn of the 19th century, the city of Brooklyn was known as the “slaveholding capital” of New York State and was home to the highest concentration of enslaved people north of the Mason-Dixon Line. But, after New York State abolished slavery in 1827, free black professionals bought land in what is now Crown Heights and founded Weeksville, a self-supporting community of African American Freedman, which grew to become the second-largest free black community in Antebellum America. By 1855, over 520 free African Americans lived in Weeksville, including some of the leading activists in the Abolitionist and Equal Suffrage movements.
More about free black Brooklyn
July 10, 2018

Live across from Lincoln Terrace Park in Crown Heights for $822/month

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Right across the street from Crown Heights' Lincoln Terrace/Arthur S. Somers Park, a new affordable housing opportunity has come online. Ten units at the newly built rental 12 Ford Street are available to New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area median income, ranging from $822/month studios to $1,070/month two-bedrooms. In addition to building amenities including a bike room, laundry, on-site parking, roof terrace, and fitness center, the park offers baseball and football fields, handball, basketball, and tennis courts, playgrounds, water features, dog runs, and outdoor exercise equipment. Plus, the park is in the midst of a $4 million renovation which will only enhance this value.
Find out if you qualify
Live across from Crown Heights food hall Berg’n, from $1,769/month
June 27, 2018

Live across from Crown Heights food hall Berg’n, from $1,769/month

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Photo via Berg'n An affordable housing lottery launched Wednesday for four newly constructed, middle-income apartments in Crown Heights. Located at 916 Bergen Street, the rental building sits directly across from local favorite, Berg'n, a beer/ food hall from the founders of Smorgasburg. Residents will have access to a bike room and the building's rooftop. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 130 percent of the area median income can apply for the units, including one $1,769/month studio and three $2,635/month three-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify
Millennials flock to Washington Heights; Shark exhibit opens this weekend at Coney Island Aquarium

Coogan’s Restaurant in Washington Heights, via CityRealty (L); Via Wiki Commons (R)

June 26, 2018

Millennials flock to Washington Heights; Shark exhibit opens this weekend at Coney Island Aquarium

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Is Washington Heights the new Williamsburg? The upper-Manhattan ‘hood has 50,103 millennial residents, the most in the city. [NYP] See photos of Staten Island’s abandoned boat graveyard in the ’80s and 2000s. [Curbed] Mayor de Blasio announced a $400 million initiative to renovate 2,400 NYCHA apartments across 21 public housing developments in Brooklyn and Manhattan. [Office of […]

Lottery opens for 29 affordable units at Crown Heights’ former Fox Savoy Theater site

2011 Google Street View of the Fox Savoy Theater before it was demolished

June 26, 2018

Lottery opens for 29 affordable units at Crown Heights’ former Fox Savoy Theater site

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It's been four years since Crown Heights' historic Fox Savoy Theater was torn down to make way for a 114-unit apartment building at 1511 Bedford Avenue. Designed by famed theater architect Thomas Lamb in 1926, the neo-classical structure was not landmarked, therefore, developer Realty Within Reach was able to replace it with Isaac & Stern Architects' 10-story rental building. Twenty-five percent of the apartments, or 29 units, are set aside for households earning 60 percent of the area median income, and as of today, they're available through the city's housing lottery. The units range from $816/month studios to $1,064/month two-bedrooms, and amenities include on-site parking, bike storage, a gym, roof deck, and rec room.
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Live in an affordable three-bedroom near Brooklyn College in Flatbush for $1,279/month
June 18, 2018

Live in an affordable three-bedroom near Brooklyn College in Flatbush for $1,279/month

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Via NYC HPD An eight-story affordable rental building in Flatbush is offering up seven three-bedroom apartments for just $1,279/month. Located at 1345 Rogers Avenue, just a short walk from Brooklyn College, Crystal Towers contains 91,100 square feet of residential space with a total of 123 apartments. Residents will have access to amenities like an on-site super, a rear garden, bike storage and on-site laundry.  Qualifying New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area median income can apply for the seven $1,279/month three-bedroom apartments.
Find out if you qualify
The history of Brooklyn blackout cake: German bakeries and WWII drills

Photo via Kirti Poddar/Flickr

June 15, 2018

The history of Brooklyn blackout cake: German bakeries and WWII drills

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Chocoholics all over the country know Brooklyn blackout cake, a three-tiered devil's food cake with layers of chocolate pudding and chocolate frosting topped with cake crumbs. In recent years, the rich cake has become re-popularized from its heyday in the first half of the 20th century. But most of us who gluttonously indulge in this tasty dessert have no idea where its borough-centric name came from or just how long this confectioner's delight has been around. It all started in 1898 at a German bakery called Ebinger's on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, but it wasn't until World War II that the moniker took hold.
Get the full story here
Snag a one-bedroom at a passive house in Washington Heights, from $1,650/month
June 15, 2018

Snag a one-bedroom at a passive house in Washington Heights, from $1,650/month

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A newly constructed rental that meets passive house standards has launched a lottery for six middle-income apartments in Washington Heights. Designed by PM Architecture, the Uptown six-story building contains 20 units and boasts a facade of charcoal-painted insulated panels. Located at 577 West 161st Street, the building will have a medical office on its first floor, residences above it, and an outdoor recreation space in the back. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 130 percent of the area median income can apply for the $1,650/month and $1,800/month one-bedroom apartments.
Find out if you qualify
16 chances to live in the center of Brooklyn, from $1,017/month
June 11, 2018

16 chances to live in the center of Brooklyn, from $1,017/month

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Photo via CityRealty Maple East New York Housing, located where the Crown Heights and East Flatbush neighborhoods of Brooklyn meet, is accepting applications for 16 affordable apartments. The building, found at 918 East New York Avenue, contains a blend of affordable and supportive housing, offering a mix of studios, one and two bedroom units. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area median income can apply for the $1,017/month one-bedrooms and $1,224/month two-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify
Lottery launches for a boatload of affordable apartments across Brooklyn, from $850/month

Photo via CityRealty

June 1, 2018

Lottery launches for a boatload of affordable apartments across Brooklyn, from $850/month

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A lottery launched this week for 16 renovated, affordable apartments across five different Brooklyn neighborhoods: Prospect Heights, Clinton Hill, Flatbush, Williamsburg and Bushwick. Units available include four studios, four one-bedrooms, six two-bedrooms and two four-bedrooms. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area median income can apply for the affordable units ranging from $850/month studios to  $1,427/month four-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify
New, permanent public pool coming to Brooklyn Bridge Park
June 1, 2018

New, permanent public pool coming to Brooklyn Bridge Park

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A conceptual rendering of the pool via Brooklyn Bridge Park After five years of having a pop-up pool at Pier 2, Brooklyn Heights is getting its own permanent public pool. This morning, Brooklyn Bridge Park officially announced plans to build a pool at Squibb Park, above Pier 1 near the Pierhouse condo. Together with the NYC Parks Department, BBP will develop, operate and maintain the pool and future amenities. Tentatively, the pool is scheduled to open in 2020, with community planning sessions to be held this summer and fall ahead of issuing a Request for Design Proposals.
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May 22, 2018

Downtown Brooklyn gets another high-rise headed for 511 feet tall

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The new hotspot for tall towers, Downtown Brooklyn, will be getting another contender, CityRealty reports. Revised permits show that a 43-story, 511-foot tower set to rise at 540 Fulton Street will contain 327 residential units along with retail and office space. The building's height is only about a foot shy of the former Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower–now condos–which held the title of Brooklyn's tallest high-rise from 1929 to 2009. The new tower will join Brooklyn's future tallest towers: 720-foot 138 Willoughby Avenue (Brooklyn Point),986-foot 80 Flatbush, and 1,000+ foot 9 Dekalb.
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Live in a new Art Deco-inspired rental in Crown Heights, from $1,080/month

Via CitiHabitats

May 18, 2018

Live in a new Art Deco-inspired rental in Crown Heights, from $1,080/month

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A Karl Fischer-designed rental in Crown Heights launched a lottery this week for 40 affordable one- and two-bedroom apartments. Dubbed The Frederick, the building at 564 St. John's Place boasts a masonry and cast stone facade lined with stunning bay windows. To break away from the cookie-cutter look of new developments, the Frederick has residences with "state-of-the-art, but full of uncommon detail," according to the building website. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area median income can apply for the affordable units, consisting of $1,080/month one-bedrooms and $1,223/month two-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify
Behind the scenes at the United Palace, Washington Heights’ opulent ‘Wonder Theatre’
May 16, 2018

Behind the scenes at the United Palace, Washington Heights’ opulent ‘Wonder Theatre’

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Earlier this year, 6sqft got an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour at the Loew's Jersey City, one of the five opulent Loew’s Wonder Theatres built in 1929-30 around the NYC area. We've now gotten a tour of another, the United Palace in Washington Heights. Originally known as the Loew's 175th Street Theatre, the "Cambodian neo-Classical" landmark has served as a church and cultural center since it closed in 1969 and was purchased by televangelist Reverend Ike, who renamed it the Palace Cathedral. Today it's still owned by late Reverend's church but functions as a spiritual center and arts center. Thanks to Reverand Ike and his church's continued stewardship, Manhattan's fourth-largest theater remains virtually unchanged since architect Thomas W. Lamb completed it in 1930. 6sqft recently visited and saw everything from the insane ornamentation in the lobby to the former smoking lounge that recently caught the eye of Woody Allen. We also chatted with UPCA's executive director Mike Fitelson about why this space is truly one-of-a-kind.
Take the incredible digital tour
How did a flock of Argentinian parrots land in Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery?

Photo via Wiki Commons

May 2, 2018

How did a flock of Argentinian parrots land in Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery?

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It's usually the tours and events at Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery that get people talking, but the national landmark has its own chatty group that's attracting a lot of attention. The group happens to be a flock of lime green parrots from Argentina, appropriately named “Monk Parrots” since they are hanging out in the cemetery despite Green-Wood's nonsectarian nature. But how did these loud and exotic birds get all the way from South America to Greenwood Heights?
It's not as crazy as you might think
Crown Heights middle-income housing lottery gets you near all the action
April 24, 2018

Crown Heights middle-income housing lottery gets you near all the action

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But it won't really save you enough to enjoy all this happening 'hood has to offer. The latest in a string of "affordable" middle-income lotteries, this offering for three $2,716/month two-bedroom units at 85 Rogers Avenue is reserved for households earning between $93,120 and $111,670 annually, or 130 percent of the area median income. For a single person earning the lower end of the range, this is more than a third of their yearly income before taxes. So hitting up nearby Barboncino for wood-fired pizza or Super Power for tiki cocktails, might not be the most economical idea.
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Sunny Crown Heights condo with stained glass and bay windows asks $775K
April 11, 2018

Sunny Crown Heights condo with stained glass and bay windows asks $775K

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This laid-back, sunny home at 875 Saint Marks Avenue in where-it's-at Crown Heights is the kind of space you hope to find a pretty, historic townhouse across from the Brooklyn Children's Museum. With plenty of century-old details and carefully designed modern style–and did we mention sunlight?–this one-bedroom condominium looks like a great place to spend an afternoon.
Take a look
10 things you didn’t know were made in Brooklyn

Photos © James and Karla Murray 

April 5, 2018

10 things you didn’t know were made in Brooklyn

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The new exhibition at the Brooklyn Historical Society, "The Business of Brooklyn," celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and tells the fascinating story of the borough’s 100 years of business, detailing its industrial past, large companies, as well as its preponderance of mom-and-pop shops. It also showcases many objects and artifacts, which have their origins in Brooklyn, demonstrating the significant “role that Brooklyn has played in American consumer culture.” The exhibition is on view at the Brooklyn Historical Society’s landmark building in Brooklyn Heights located at 128 Pierrepont Street until Winter 2019. From those iconic yellow pencils to Brillo pads to Cracker Jack, you may be surprised to see what has been made in Brooklyn.
The history of 10 famous products made in Brooklyn
Brownstones and ballot boxes: The fight for women’s suffrage in Brooklyn

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

March 15, 2018

Brownstones and ballot boxes: The fight for women’s suffrage in Brooklyn

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Today, Brooklyn is home to all things avant-garde, but Kings County has always led the pack. Beginning as early as 1868, the women of Brooklyn established one of the first suffrage organizations in the country and began advocating for women’s enfranchisement and political equality. The "wise women of Brooklyn," as they were lauded in suffrage literature, made some of the foremost contributions to the movement. From the Silent Sentinels, who organized the first March on Washington, to the African American women who established the nation’s first suffrage organization by and for Black women, Brooklyn was home to extraordinary advocates. Here are eight badass Brooklynites who brought us the ballot.
Learn their histories here
Crown Heights’ oldest house debuts as a condo conversion, with two units each priced over $2M
March 15, 2018

Crown Heights’ oldest house debuts as a condo conversion, with two units each priced over $2M

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Crown Heights oldest home--long considered a neighborhood eyesore--has undergone a complete transformation. The Susan B. Elkins House is a circa-1850s wood frame at 1375 Dean Street, and the only home in the neighborhood that dates back to when the area was rural. In later years, the individual landmark fell into serious disrepair, only to be purchased in 2014 for a condo conversion. Now it's ready for residents after a complete and total renovation overseen by nC2 Architecture and Komaru Enterprises. The house has been split into four duplex units, ranging from 2,000 to 2,600 square feet. Two have just hit the market, with the eye-popping price tags of $2.3 and $2.7 million.
The interior was gutted
New renderings for ODA’s archway-filled hotel in Crown Heights

Rendering of the Bedford Hotel via ODA

March 1, 2018

New renderings for ODA’s archway-filled hotel in Crown Heights

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ODA Architects' boutique hotel planned for the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights got fresh renderings this week, revealing more details about its archway-filled, concrete design. Developed by All Year Management, the Bedford Hotel is located at 1550 Bedford Avenue, right by the Prospect Park, Brooklyn Museum and the Botanic Gardens. As designboom learned, the 100-room hotel's archway design stems from the classic Brooklyn architecture found elsewhere in the neighborhood, like the Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch at the Grand Army Plaza.
More this way
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