Though I have lived in New York City for 12 years, it took me a while to realize that this city is not exclusively a dominant fortress of pavement and hi-rise buildings.  I knew as most others do about Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Staten Island – the biggies – and rightfully so.  But there are little swathes of land that a lot of people speed by on the way to JFK that have a long and often lovely history that get lost. Plumb Island, now known as Plumb Beach, is one such place.

This past summer, I took a staycation in Brooklyn that included a bike ride to the beaches of Fort Tilden every other day.  The ride was approximately 11 miles each way and took anywhere from one to one-and-a-half hours depending on my blood sugar level, caffeine consumption, and extent of beach gear attached to my bicycle.  Inevitably, I would stop at Plumb Beach and therefore became relatively familiar with it.  I say inevitably, but I had to stop because the bike path was already collapsing a bit into the sand.  So, I walked a bit, then refilled my water bottle, and perhaps ate half a sandwich and shared the other half with the strange population of cats who lived in the grassy area near the picnic tables.  This is the Plumb Beach I know.  But its history includes not only being a site for mortar fortification, a beach resort, an army base, but  also a colony of bungalows inhabited by squatters whose only access to the mainland of Sheepshead Bay was by ferry.  There were no utilities available in this beach colony until 1939 when the Belt Parkway was installed.

Plumb Beach became a lovely spot for many people over the years.  Unfortunately, on my last ride from the Rockaways toward central Brooklyn, I couldn’t find anything that reminded me of the Plumb Beach I stopped for respite, refueling,  parasail watching, or in the historic photographs.  The parking lot, wading area, everything is covered in sand.

I’m sure we’ll find a number of paths missing and we’ll have to create new memories of new places or places that look different.  However, I do hope to see Plumb Beach again on a bike rather than speeding by toward the airport.

As the recovery from Sandy progresses, Brooklyn will recover and reinvent itself once again and Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) is committed to documenting this process. We are now inviting YOU to join us! The beginnings can be viewed online, at our Storify page and by reading the letter outlining the experience from the Director of Library & Archives on our blog. Your participation is greatly encouraged to point us to the important stories, memorable photographs, and wonderful people and organizations that have made a difference. Please post comments on our blog, through our Facebook page, tweet @brooklyhistory, or email library@brooklynhistory.org.

Also, if you are interested in seeing more photographs from BHS’s collection? We invite you to visit our online image gallery for a  selection of our images.  Or to -search our entire collection , visit BHS Othmer Library Wed-Fri 1:00-5:00 p.m.

 

 

While Hurricane Sandy’s gale forces downed trees and wreaked havoc on power and internet lines, the neighborhood did not see the extensive water damage that Red Hook, DUMBO, and the Rockaways did.

Sunset Park locals and even one Upper West Sider, ventured to Sunset Park to offer assistance.  St. Jacobi Church became a supply hub for Hurricane Sandy Victims.  Cars with at least a little gas lined up along 4^th Avenue between 54^th and 55^th Streets and awaited a full trunk of supplies before driving out to The Rockaways, Coney Island, or Staten Island with food, clothing, and/or cleaning supplies for those in need.

Although we don’t have old photographs of St. Jacobi Church or its block, we do have many photographs of Sunset Park showing the remarkable change that’s occurred in the last century.  St. Jacobi Church is a multi-cultural Evangelical Lutheran church welcoming the many ethnic groups that have transformed the neighborhood.  The murky photographs below are from the end of the 19^th centuryjust before the major residential development that would transform Sunset Park from farmland into the gridded blocks of row houses and brownstones that still exist in parts today.  Sunset Park, once the home of a thrivingScandinavian community, is today boasts some of the most diverse demographics in the borough.  Brooklyn’s Chinatown is located here, on 8^th Avenue between 42^nd and 68^th streets, and continues to grow.

Thank you Sunset Park for helping those in need in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy by offering your neighborhood as a hub for Occupy Sandy.

Everyone at Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) is keenly aware of the wide impact that Sandy has had on Brooklyn and surrounding areas and we hope that services are reaching you and life is getting back to normal.

BHS is working on collecting information about Sandy and the effects of the storm on our borough to add to BHS’ collections. Over the next several weeks, PHOTO OF THE WEEK will document Sandy and its impact on Brooklyn. We encourage you to check out our Storify website, documenting our progress so far. Click here: Hurricane Sandy: Brooklyn Stories.

Interested in seeing more photographs from BHS’s collection? Visit our online image gallery which includes a selection of our images.  To search our entire collection of images, visit BHS Othmer Library Wed-Fri 1:00-5:00 p.m.

Well, Red Hook was slammed by Hurricane Sandy.  There are several photographs on our Storify page documenting the high water line that submerged many businesses and homes along the waterfront.

 

As with Coney Island, the Rockaways, and Staten Island, Red Hook has become a hub where donations from cleaning supplies to food to books and toys are being collected and distributed to the surrounding families and businesses in the flooded streets of the neighborhood and being sent to other parts of the city affected by the storm.

 Red Hook has played a central role in Brooklyn’s waterfront economy since the early nineteenth century.  It has also been a thriving working-class neighborhood for much of that time.  By the 1960s and 1970s, containerized shipping moved most commerce away from Red Hook to New Jersey, and the neighborhood’s industrial buildings crumbled with disrepair.  But in the following decades, the architecture and history of this post-industrial neighborhood captured the imaginations of artists, small business owners, and other creative and innovative people, who joined a diverse group of longtime Red Hook residents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It seems inevitable that Red Hook’s community will return with the same combination of industry and inventiveness it has nurtured for many years.  To see more old photographs of Red Hook, visit our online gallery, or add more post-Sandy photographs to our Hurricane Sandy: Brooklyn Stories page.  To continue with Sandy relief efforts, look to twitter and Red Hook Initiative.

Everyone at Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) is keenly aware of the wide impact that Sandy has had on Brooklyn and surrounding areas and we hope that services are reaching you and life is getting back to normal.

BHS is working on collecting information about Sandy and the effects of the storm on our borough to add to BHS’ collections. Over the next several weeks, PHOTO OF THE WEEK will document Sandy and its impact on Brooklyn. We encourage you to check out our Storify website, documenting our progress so far. Click here: Hurricane Sandy: Brooklyn Stories.

Interested in seeing more photographs from BHS’s collection? Visit our online image gallery which includes a selection of our images.  To search our entire collection of images, visit BHS Othmer Library Wed-Fri 1:00-5:00 p.m.