Brooklyn's shoreline has changed a fair bit over the centuries but there are still spots in the borough that spark the imagination and inspire visions of the past.
Wandering Through Brooklyn’s Natural Past in Marine Park
Marine Park
Picnic in Old House Style at the Lott House Open Garden Day
Enjoy a day lounging on the grass and admiring an 18th century view with a picnic at Marine Park's oldest house.
Sneak a Peek Inside the Atmospheric Interiors of the Lott House During Archtober
The eighth annual Archtober festival is bringing a slew of architecture related events to the city and in Brooklyn this means it's a rare chance to get a look inside the amazing interiors of the historic Hendrick I. Lott House.
Get a Rare Glimpse Inside Some Time-Capsule Interiors With a Tour of the Lott House
A lucky few will have the opportunity to tour the evocatively peeling layers of the historic Lott House in Marine Park this month.
Delve Into the Time-Capsule Interiors of One of Brooklyn’s Oldest Houses (Photos)
Tucked among the 20th century houses of Marine Park is an amazing architectural time capsule that brings the lucky visitor forward from the farming days of the 18th century to the rapidly urbanizing landscape of the early 20th century.
City to Spray for Zika-Carrying Mosquitoes in Brooklyn This Week
The city is continuing its effort to prevent the potential spread of the Zika virus this week by spraying for mosquito eggs and dropping larvicide pellets in the non-residential Brooklyn areas of Fresh Creek Basin — the sliver of water which separated Canarsie and East New York — and Marine Park.
Did You Know Brooklyn Is Home to Two Uninhabited Islands?
In 2016, in a city as densely populated as New York, the existence of an uninhabited island is even more surprising than a Park Slope brownstone selling for under $1 million. Yet, Brooklyn has two of them.
Lush Landscaping and Watery Perimeters: How Marine Park Got Its Name
Brownstoner takes on Brooklyn history in Nabe Names, a series of briefs on the origins and surprising stories of neighborhood nomenclature.
Record-breaking aviator Roscoe Turner’s racer at Floyd Bennett Field on September 1, 1934. Photo via Airfields-Freeman
The increasingly-hard-to-find dropped R’s and blunt deliveries of the Brooklyn accent live on in the borough’s water-bound, blue-collar southern enclave of Marine Park.
Building of the Day: 1940 East 36th Street
Brooklyn, one building at a time.
Name: Hendrick I. Lott House
Address: 1940 East 36th Street
Cross Streets: Fillmore Avenue and Avenue S
Neighborhood: Marine Park
Year Built: Oldest part 1719, main house 1800
Architectural Style: Dutch Colonial
Architect/Builder: Henrick I. Lott, building upon earlier Johannes Lott house
Landmarked: Yes, individual landmark (1989) and National Register of Historic Places.
The story: We don’t often stray far beyond brownstone Brooklyn and Victorian Flatbush, but it’s time some attention was paid to some of the oldest houses in the borough. There aren’t many left. The Dutch settlers who came here in the early and mid-1600s gave us the towns that would make up Kings County, and their names, many of which are quite familiar to us as street and neighborhood names. Lefferts, Remsen, Lott, Schermerhorn, Vanderbilt, Wyckoff, Van Nostrand, Suydam, Van Siclen, Schenck, Van Brunt, and many more.
Their names remain, but their homes, by and large, are long gone. We here in New York City are always growing so fast, we think nothing of plowing under the past, and replacing it as soon as possible with the new, only to see that disappear in time. This is not a 21st century conceit; it’s been going on for centuries. Consequently, most of the early homes of the 17th and 18th centuries are gone. Those precious few that remain have survived mostly because the families that built them have held on to them, literally, for centuries. The location helps, too. The further away from the hustle and bustle of downtown, the better, when it comes to a house beating the odds of survival. The Lott house is one of those lucky few that is still with us.
Closing Bell: Camping in Brooklyn
A NY Daily News reporter received an unusual assignment-—go camping in Brooklyn. The location? Floyd Bennett Field in Marine Park, the only public campground in New York City. The campground is located off the shores of Jamaica Bay within earshot of JFK Airport. Amenities include a cooking ring, picnic table, communal woodpile, and pit toilets. Campers should bring their own food, water, shelter, and toilet paper. Unfortunately, in an average year, fewer than 1,000 people experience this “Brooklyn gem.” With money being tight, maybe this would be the best and cheapest alternative to that summer vacation.
Photo by Adams for NYDN.
