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We visited the Brooklyn Museum last weekend and were struck by a number of photographs on display by George Bradford Brainerd (1847-1887). The image above, which is part of the museum’s permanent collection, shows what a section of 4th Avenue looked like in the mid-to-late 19th century (exact date unknown). Several generations before anyone dreamed of calling the thoroughfare “the next Park Avenue”, it apparently had roadside shanties and a lot of trees. It’s also worth noting that Brainerd photos (like the one on the jump) appear in an exhibit called “Goodbye Coney Island” that documents Coney’s changes over the last 125 years. The exhibit, which is in the incredibly cool visible storage section of the museum, runs through April 6th.
All images courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum.

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  1. Park Avenue (the actual one) was by and large developed under the old 1916 zoning. As I recall, that imposed a height limit on the buildings along the avenue, resulting in the fairly uniform cornice heights in the residential areas.

    Seems as though high density on both sides of Fourth Avenue (as Polemecist suggests) would be more appropriate that the current condition.

    A nice mall down the center of the avenue would be nice too.

  2. Uh, 1:08 – I think whenever we mention “the next Park Avenue” you should assume that its being written with a snicker (coincidental historical parallels aside). That’s how I assume Brownstoner writes it.

  3. For those opposed to the new development, I say we knock it all down and go back to these dirt streets. Imagine the green space you can have, front and back. Your houses included, of course.

  4. Ohh – I am happy to know about this exhibition. My great grandmother was the first woman and the first Irish person to work for the Lipton Tea Co. in New York City. She was young and very pretty. One day Sir Thomas Lipton came in and thought so much of her that he invited her to lunch on his private yacht. She answered, “No thanks Mister, I am going to Coney Island with my boyfriend”. I could be on an estate somewhere if it weren’t for Coney Island. (right! snicker)