Close Up on Brownsville and East New York
They’re really cranking out the copy over at Forgotten NY these days. It’s all we can do to keep up! This week’s Brooklyn coverage includes a trip to Brownsville and East New York. Kevin notes that last weekend was only his third visit to the area, which is three more times than we’ve ever been….
They’re really cranking out the copy over at Forgotten NY these days. It’s all we can do to keep up! This week’s Brooklyn coverage includes a trip to Brownsville and East New York. Kevin notes that last weekend was only his third visit to the area, which is three more times than we’ve ever been. Despite having fallen on particularly hard times in 1970s, the area east of Bed Stuy has much of interest to those interested in architectural and social history. In addition to having been home to Joseph Papp, Danny Kaye and Mike Tyson, the area even influenced the name of Ted Nugent’s bands, the Amboy Dukes. The grand Loew’s Pitkin Theatre still remains on Legion Street and Saratoga Avenue while the 70-acre East Brooklyn Industrial Park occupies 70 acres between Atlantic and Sutter. On the brownstone front, Forgotten NY highlights some modest but attractive structures like the ones shown above on New Jersey Avenue. Does anyone know if there are any particularly impressive houses or mansions left in the area?
First Train to Brownsville [Forgotten NY] GMAP
Book all about Brownsville:
http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/14418.ctl
also found this:
IRVING BERLIN’S SISTER JUMPS TO HER DEATH – On August 9, 1935, Irving Berlin’s youngest sister, Sarah Henkin, was living in a little apartment at 591 Williams Avenue in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. Unemployed, Irving helped her out with an allowance of $100 a month, on which she and her husband Abraham managed to live on. Sarah had been in poor health for several years, suffering from asthma and an emotional disorder.
On Friday, August 8, she and her husband climbed to the roof of their five-story building in search of a cool breeze. At about 1:30 in the afternoon, Sarah asked Abraham to go downstairs and get her a chair. As he entered their apartment, he heard screaming coming from the sidewalk below the front window. When he looked outside, he saw Sarah lying on the pavement. She had leaped to her death from the roof. Irving flew in from Hollywood to attend her burial in the Berlin (Baline) plot at Brooklyn’s Washington Cemetery.
Brownsville has a rich history, and this piece certainly shows it. It’s very interesting to cycle around Brownsville and Ocean Hill and see all of the old synagogues (many of which are now churches).