Thursday Links

My father still calls everything south of Atlantic Ave “South Brooklyn”. Interestingly, however, the present-day Red Hook was not called that by many of the old-timers who lived there. It was commonly called “Erie Basin” and a nickname for that area was “The Point” (or, as it was usually said “The Pernt”). I don’t know to what “The Point” refers. When my father goes down to his VFW post on Van Brunt St. (where alot of the old-timers hang out, because it has a public bar), he still says “I’m going to the Pernt”.

Finally, since South Brooklyn was such a large area at that time, there were two ways that people generally distinguished where they lived: a) people referred to themselves as “pointers” or “creekers”, the former living more towards present-day Red Hook, the latter living closer to the Gowanus Canal. Also, many people referred to their neighborhood by their parish, as the area was overwhelmingly Catholic at that time.

BTW, it was not a 49% stake in the company, it was a 49% stake in some of their retail properties (including Atlantic Center and the retail parts of Atlantic Terminal)

They are keeping a full stake in their residential and office properties.

Names like Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill [and, of course, my own Prospect Lefferts Gardens] WERE invented, but by residents hoping to preserve their neighborhoods, NOT real estate brokers for commercial purposes.

The AY Report missed the real FCR news, that they sold a 49% stake in the company:

http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/forest-city-ratner-charles-ratner-sells-49-percent-stake-in-15-nyc-properties-including-atlantic-center-harlem-center-and-42nd-street-entertainment-complex