The Hole: Cowboys and Bodies in Brooklyn/Queens
The Hole, a section of Lindenwood along the Brooklyn-Queens border, could be an extremely unflattering name, except that the area truly is a hole: the land is 30 feet below grade, meaning the area is marshy in places and homes are built only a few feet above the water table, so they must use cesspools…
The Hole, a section of Lindenwood along the Brooklyn-Queens border, could be an extremely unflattering name, except that the area truly is a hole: the land is 30 feet below grade, meaning the area is marshy in places and homes are built only a few feet above the water table, so they must use cesspools instead of the municipal sewer system. Nathan Kensinger compiled a photo essay of this neighborhood, which is famous for bodies and for horses: bodies because it was an old mob dumping ground, and horses because they used to roam the fields of The Hole. Some horses still reside there, as does The Federation of Black Cowboys. Kensinger’s essay captures a piece of New York that is both ancient and timeless, and it reminds us how diverse the land is within the boundaries of New York City. It’s a city with an island of pick-up trucks and lobster shacks, massive skyscrapers and financial juggernauts, beaches, forests—and The Hole, a neighborhood that harks back to the Wild West.
The Hole [Nathan Kensinger]
Meet ‘The Hole,’ [Curbed]
An Urban Frontier [NY Times]
Actually BHO, “Sonny Red” was found near here not long after he was killed in the 1980s. The cops then found two other guys he was killed with in the same area in 2004.
http://bit.ly/7toCz
It is/was believed that the real life Sonny Red from Donnie Brasco was buried there. The Feds dug in vein a few years ago.
***Bid half off peak comps***
Too bad it shut down.
I’m not a “horseman,” Mopar but I’ve ridden horses many times in many places – West Virginia, Mexico, Belize. Ironically, I’ve never ridden a horse in Brooklyn. I was about 9-10 when the stable across from my house was closed down. Never got a chance to ride there.
Wow. Is this the HQ of the 4H Club of New York? Who stables their horses there? This is great.
There’s also an exquisite strip joint called “Pumps” across from a gas station (the inspiration for the name, apparently) in the no-man’s land between East Williamsburg and the Bushwick industrial loft area where Grand Ave. goes over the drawbridge. I’m dying to know if any hipsters ever wander down there.
DIrty Hipster, any intelligence?
drove past there a few months ago- the corrals were there and a horse or two with a big sign for the Black Cowboys.
Ha ha Nomi I saw that kitchen and thought “oooh, that looks nice”!
East New York, what a great story. And do you ride!?