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| Brooklyn Heights - America's First Suburb |
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 Brooklyn Heights boasts the greatest views of lower Manhattan and brownstone mansions that rival anything on Fifth Avenue. Considered to be the first suburb in America, the Brooklyn Heights of today
is much more than a suburb. It has become one of the most desirable neighborhoods for Manhattanites ready to raise a family. It is a Manhattan neighborhood, located on the better side of the river.
With a five minute commute to the Stock Exchange via subway, many of today's residents are Wall Street workers looking for more space and neighborhoods with old New York character, something in abundance in the Heights.
The Brooklyn Heights Promenade will take your breath away. The unique park built atop the double decker Brooklyn-Queens Expressway draws tourist worldwide for its spectacular views of the East River bridges and the skyscrapers of
Manhattan. As you walk the length, small memorials for the World Trade Center still adorn its space. Many residents watched the tragedy unfold less than two miles away.
As usual, Brooklyn rebounded. The tragedy at the World Trade Center brought many new residents. The housing boom brought new life to many brownstones as renovations skyrocketed. New construction has appeared
on nearly every empty lot. And now, with movement increasing in the plans for the massive Brooklyn Bridge Park, the waterfront is set to become a new playground within Brooklyn Heights.
Remsen Street Architecture |
1800's Ship Bell on Willow Street |
College Place off Love Lane - "A Jewel!" |
The 85-acre park gained unanimous approval from the Empire State Development Corporation in January, 2006, with new park construction to begin in 2007. Stretching over a mile on the shore of the East River, the new
park will include today's existing parkland under the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges (click here for QTVR of the park and its view) and
replace Piers 1 to 6 with floating pathways, fishing piers, beaches, playgrounds and restored habitats.
Today's Brooklyn Heights is also a monument to the history of New York and the United States. Europeans first appeared in 1645, forming the settlement of "Breuckelen" near the site of today's Borough Hall.
Breuckelen, meaning marsh land, is thought to come from the areas resemblance to Breuckelen, Holland, where the settlers originated. The bluffs of Brooklyn Heights gained fame as many of Manhattan's early
merchants built mansions to gain the first views of "the city."
It was from one of these mansions in 1776, that George Washington made his fateful decision to retreat from Brooklyn. Using the Cornell Mansion as his headquarters, Washington watched the Battle of Brooklyn unfold into a
horrific defeat for his army. As his men battled the British in Battle Pass (now located within Prospect Park in Park Slope), he is quoted as saying: "Good God, what brave men must I lose this day!"
Under the cover of darkness on August 29th, Washington's army crossed the East River from Fulton Ferry to Manhattan, leaving Brooklyn to the British. The British Empire ended its occupation of New York on November 25, 1783.
November 25 was celebrated as a holiday in New York for more than a century as Evacuation Day.
The 1800's saw unparralled growth in Brooklyn. As New York and Brooklyn blossomed into the heart of the new United States, Brooklyn Heights became the playground for many of New York's wealthiest investors.
In 1807, Robert Fulton captained his steamboat, The Clermont, from the Brooklyn Ferry on its maiden voyage up the Hudson River. In 1814, Fulton gained a franchise to operate ferry service via steamboat from Brooklyn
to Manhattan. As the population boomed, Brooklyn became a city in 1833.
Early on, Brooklyn Heights became an enclave to literary aspirations. In 1855, Walt Whitman printed the first ten pages of his well-known book of poetry,
Leaves of Grass, on a press borrowed from some friends. Following in his footprints, Truman Capote wrote his masterpieces, "In Cold Blood" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's," in a basement apartment on Willow
Street. And today, Norman Mailer still lives and writes at his home along the Promenade.
Montague Street, the heart of Brooklyn Heights, is four blocks long, ending at The Promenade. Named in honor of Lady Mary Wortley Montague, born in 1689 to Evelyn and Mary Pierrepont, she gained notoriety for
bringing the practice of inoculations to prevent smallpox to England after witnessing its use in Turkey while her husband served as ambassador for King George I.
For the tourist or history buff, Brooklyn Heights has an abundance of "not to be missed" landmarks:
St. Ann and the Holy Trinity Church on Montague and Clinton Streets, was designed by Minard Lafever and constructed between 1844 and 1847. Containing
7,000 square feet of stained glass windows designed in the 1840s by William and John Bolton, they are renowned as the FIRST American made stained glass.
Our Lady of Lebanon Church on Henry and Remsen Streets, features placques on its massive Bronze doors from the Normandie, and inside the church, a bronze railing, a cloisonne enamel bas-relief of a Norman knight,
and a bronze statue entitled "La Paix" (Peace).
The Brooklyn Historical Society on Pierrepont and Clinton Streets, is a four-story Queen Anne style building that was completed in 1881 and designed by architect George B. Post. BHS provides a
look into Brooklyn's past with changing exhibits and walking tours of the neighborhood.
Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims on Orange and Hicks Streets, first gathered in 1847, led by Henry Ward Beecher, the famed clergyman and antislavery advocate. From its beginnings,
the Church served as a vital philosophical and geographical link in the Underground Railroad. |
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ALL PHOTOGRAPHS ©MARK D PHILLIPS and are available for sale in the South Brooklyn Store |
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HAPPENING archive of stories ......
Angels and Accordions headlines OpenHouseNY
For the sixth year, Angels and Accordions brought Greenwood Cemetary alive.
With its unique presentation of accordions, singing, striking visuals, and creepy graveyard scenes, Angels and Accordions is a site-specific show, with the audience taken on a mile-long walking tour, punctuated by scenes of angels around different memorials.
Greenwood Cemetary is one of the most beautiful sculpture gardens in the world. With mausoleums structured from pyramids to Greek cathedrals and statues for war dead to cherished child, the stages for angels are designed by Martha Bowers of Dance Theatre Etcetera.
Martha's visions come to life within this unique venue. Angels sing from a vine covered path, bringing "Over the Rainbow" to a chilling feeling of sorrow.
Some of the simplest can be the most striking, such as an angel frozen on the steps of a grand mausoleum or reading names from an alcove in the catacombs. View these images in our online photogallery on SouthBrooklynInternet by clicking here.
As the premier event of Open House NY, Angels and Accordions has been a free event. Will it remain a free event? Probably not. But believe us, it will be worth the admission price.
View a photo gallery from this year's Angels and Accordions on SouthBrooklynInternet
Friends of the Brooklyn Bridge launches mybrooklynbridge.com
In 2008, the Brooklyn Bridge celebrated its 125th anniversary, and this monumental occasion presented the Dumbo Improvement District the opportunity to unveil a new and improved pedestrian experience on the Brooklyn side of the Bridge.
Working with Emphas!s Design and artists Linnaea Tillett & Karin Tehve, the Dumbo Improvement District undertook this great project to provide a sense of direction and place to the one million tourists who cross over the Brooklyn Bridge each year. In the past when pedestrians reached the Brooklyn end of the Bridge, they frequently turned around and returned Manhattan when confronted with uninviting entrances, poor lighting and inadequate signage. Today, pedestrians are greeted with signage welcoming them to Brooklyn and a large map highlighting attractions within walking distance.
“This Way” serves as a grand entrance point to the fine borough of Brooklyn.
©Mark D Phillips, 2008
 The Friends of the Brooklyn Bridge was formed by the Dumbo Improvement District to bring together the resources to maintain improvements made to the world's greatest bridge. The initiatives website, mybrooklynbridge.com, will be a major resource for the bridge. Share your memories of your favorite experience on the Brooklyn Bridge. Watch an 1899 movie by Thomas Edison Studios of a train travelling over the bridge, and read the history of the construction.
Contributions to Friends of the Brooklyn Bridge will be dedicated to the supplemental maintenance of this project. With donations of $150 or more, you will receive a framed image of your choice from our collection, including historical images of the bridge from our partner, the Brooklyn Historical Society, and new images by Mark D Phillips. They make great gifts.
For more details, visit mybrooklynbridge.com
THE JAIL BATTLE
According to the NY Post's Rich Calder:
Foes of City Hall's plan to reopen and expand a Brooklyn jail scored a victory yesterday when the city agreed to temporarily halt work on the $440 million project and cap the number of overnight prisoners there.
Comptroller Bill Thompson, Councilman David Yassky and civic groups cut the court-OK'd deal just days after suing the city for "secretly" and "illegally" repopulating the Brooklyn House of Detention in family-laden Boerum Hill with 31 prisoners.
The agreement runs through Dec. 18, at which time the case is to return to court. Under the deal, the jail may accept up to 50 prisoners.
NY Post - Nov 21, 2008 |
The INTREPID Returns!
The USS Intrepid returned from its two-year restoration in Staten Island Thursday, October 2, to Pier 86 on the West Side. Two hundred fifty former Intrepid crew members took the short voyage, passing by the Statue of Liberty and Ground Zero.
For more photos and larger click here ©Mark D Phillips
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IKEA comes to town. Will anything be the same in Red Hook? -- They came from miles away to line up for the grand opening of Ikea Brooklyn. TV stations did live shots and asked if this was the start of Red hook.
GOING GREEN --- Movers Not Shakers brings environmentally friendly service to an age-old business.
THE WATERFALLS --- Were they good or bad?
Read our Archive of South Brooklyn Stories |
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