Check out the story of their Brooklyn roots below, via this unabridged company history:

"Cyrus, Frank, and Charles Jones founded what was to become Grand Union in 1872. They called the business the Jones Brothers Tea Co., starting with one store in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where the shelves were stocked with coffee, tea, spices, baking powder, and flavoring extracts. The brothers expanded the business steadily, branching out with new stores in eastern Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New York. By the time it built its headquarters and warehouse in Brooklyn, New York, the company was known as the Grand Union Tea Co.

In 1912 Grand Union was a 200-outlet chain store with operations across the country. In addition to its business establishments, the company supported a small army of 5,000 door-to-door salesmen and delivered goods in horse-drawn wagons. The brothers incorporated the Jones Brothers Tea Co. in 1916.

…

[Grand Union] helped evolve the supermarket concept by demanding that the spacious supermarkets be designed carefully so as not to overwhelm customers used to smaller shops. Shield suggested breaking down the open spaces by building more walls and dispersing special product displays throughout the aisles. By the mid-1950s, Grand Union operated about half the number of stores it did in the 1930s, but the stores turned out nearly seven times the volume of sales. By then the company had outgrown its Brooklyn headquarters. It opened a new facility in Elmwood Park, New Jersey, in a red brick tower that was later to become a community landmark."

The firemen were already at the scene when the second manhole blew several stories into the air, followed by a third explosion of 10 feet of flames from the manhole we were standing ten feet away from. Sorry I didn’t get a photo of either of these things, I was busy running and looking for something to hide under.

For the Love of Brooklyn blogger Matt Nedbalsky is volunteering all weekend for the event, and reported today that the exhibits are well worth seeing; he even ran into Velvet Underground rocker / NYPH curator Lou Reed last night as the preview festivities came to a close.

For those of you interested in following along in real-time, check out the NYPH Twitter for a detailed account of the upcoming programs and events (hey, look! there’s a cocktail party that starts in an hour!). Their website has all the details if you’re planning a visit…

And if you need even more incentive get on down to DUMBO this weekend, Leica will lend you an M9 for the afternoon if you hand over a credit card and ID!! Seriously. (Drool.) Just bring your own SD card and steel yourself against the gear-envy that will inevitably transpire.

Hope to see you all this weekend!

Nothing like a cold, dark, and rainy winter to make you appreciate the nice weather. It is so amazing to be able to ride my bike down to the water after work and still have a bit of sunshine. The Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 1 opened just in time for us to soak up some some beautiful spring sunsets. Adding 6 acres of park and 1,300 feet of promenade to Brooklyn’s waterfront, Pier 1 provides not only good people watching, but also some sick views of the Harbor, Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Skyline.

With views like that, you’re bound to run into other photographers, but don’t start turf wars — they just might be fellow ForTheLoveofBrooklynites. Here are some other shots from Pier 1 that have been spotted in the FTLOB Flickr pool.

“New Paths,” by Krugerlive:

“Watching the Sun Set,” by Barry Yanowitz:

“Brooklyn Bridge Park,” by Jackie Weisberg:

Untitled, by This Charming Broad:

It was quiet and the snow was like a soft blanket covering the cobblestone streets. There were a few other photographers out, but for the most part seemed like other locals–not the usual population of tourists.

It was funny looking on Flickr in the afternoon and seeing some of the other photographers shots already up. I hope you are all having a nice weekend.

Check out some of my warm-up shots below from the South Slope, Gowanus, and DUMBO! And make sure to contribute your own to our Flickr pool!

First of all, starting Friday, the DUMBO Arts Center (map) is hosting a giant pop-up art shop featuring the works of loads of borough artists at completely reasonable prices (starting at $50?! yes, please). And the great news is that proceeds from the sale will benefit the small non-profit, which hosts great events like the Art Under the Bridge festival, young artist internships, and other programs.

Also on Friday, the Brooklyn Heights Association celebrates their Centennial with a special exhibit opening and gallery talk from 6:30pm-8:30pm at the Brooklyn Historical Society (map), featuring a “special exhibition of rare and unusual prints showing Brooklyn Heights and the area over a period of 150 years.” The exhibit will run from February 27 – March 14 and you can preview a few of the prints here!

Stay tuned for more details about our next monthly photo walk — we should have those by Friday!

And just for fun, Time Out New York has a huge section this week on Brooklyn vs. Manhattan, including a quiz you can take to see where you belong. As if.

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 that run through much of the neighborhood (pictured above), which really aren’t trolley tracks at all. They’re actually part of the Jay Street Connecting Railroad, one of the shortest historical railways in the entire world at approximately half a mile. According to the New York Press, the JSCR was pivotal in the development of the neighborhood, from its construction in 1904 to its abandonment in 1959:

In its life and death, the short line’s history illuminates change: in industrial technology, in the regional economy, in the neighborhood it served (named Vinegar Hill by an 1820s developer, after the site of a fierce battle during the Irish rebellion of 1798). For example, Empire-Fulton Ferry Park only exists today because the railroad preserved the open space for team tracks: an open-air freight terminal where the crews of horse-drawn teams and wagons (and later trucks) could unload cargoes from freight cars directly into their vehicles. Unlike most railroads, the JSC had no direct connection with another railroad. On the map, it seems as solitary as a Lionel train set on a kitchen table. In fact, it connected to the nation’s other railroads by carfloat: long, flat-decked barges with railroad tracks on them for transporting freight cars about the harbor. This was not unusual: at one time, New York’s railroads used tugboats and barges to move over 5,300 freight cars every day about the harbor, providing direct service to pier heads in all five boroughs.

For a comprehensive history, check out the full article on their website or this great virtual tour on OldNYC.com. Or, of course, get yourself down to the waterfront and check it out!

Gowanus itself was at its most peaceful. When the wind gusts weren’t blowing, it was so quiet you could hear the sound of the snow hitting the canal.

DUMBO and the bridges were the next destination. Riding through Cadman Park is always nice. There is never any traffic because of the Supreme Court and the park itself is beautiful. In the snow, all of this area’s great qualities are magnified and the park felt more like a forest out of a fairytale than a park in New York City.

Riding on the Brooklyn Bridge near midnight in the snow is an incredible Brooklyn experience. You are completely alone on the bridge and you feel like the entire structure is yours. It’s not terribly cold either.

Here are a few more photos from the night, and if you still want more, check out my Flickr page:

One of my New Year’s resolutions for 2010 is to become a bolder photographer, especially when it comes to street portraiture. It’s not always easy to capture the unwitting (and sometimes unwilling!) on film, but fortunately there are zoom lenses until I get up enough nerve. Thanks to my fellow Love of Brooklynite Kruger for letting me borrow this crisp, vintage 135mm lens — it’s the perfect solution to shyness on the street!