For this Brooklyn lover, there are few places that capture my imagination more than the romantic alleyways and dead-end streets of Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill. The old carriage houses that line the former mews hearken back to a much different time and place, one in which horses drove carriages along the cobblestone paths — [...]
July 19, 2010
Tucked into an unassuming entrance on Jay Street in DUMBO, I’ve long admired the beautiful tile work on the street level of this warehouse. I snuck inside an open fire door for a quick picture and then did a little sleuthing. Turns out there’s an interesting backstory. No wonder I felt drawn… these guys practically [...]
June 18, 2010
Last week, a friend-and-historian gave me the heads-up about a tour happening on Sunday morning. The walk, led by volunteer-run not-for-profit Save Coney Island, was designed to stroll down Surf Avenue and take an in-depth look at the historic buildings which line the boardwalk. Several of these buildings are currently in limbo, threatened with demolition [...]
June 14, 2010
Unless you have school-age kids who had the day off, you might not have even realized that last week we celebrated Brooklyn-Queens Day last Thursday. Originally founded in 1829, the holiday historically hosted a huge parade, seen at right in the photograph which FTLOB contributor Peter Puleo dug up, which features the procession of revelers [...]
February 19, 2010
Officer’s Row (Admiral’s Row) is ten houses (six buildings) built between 1864 and 1901 that formerly housed high-ranking officers and their families. Now an urban explorer’s dream site, Officer’s Row sits abandoned and crumbling on the corner of Navy and Flushing Ave in Brooklyn. Visit the galleries on The Officer’s Row Project website to see [...]
February 14, 2010
Every day for the last several years, I’ve made the trek to DUMBO from further south in Brooklyn for work. And every day, I feel like I learn more about the area’s illustrious history as a welcoming ferry port and hub of Brooklyn industry. My latest discovery occurred upon reading more about the trolley tracks [...]
July 27, 2010