Robert F. Kennedy at the Brooklyn Navy Yard , 1964, v1988.37.25; The Anthony M. Costanzo Brooklyn Navy Yard collection, ARC.023; Brooklyn Historical Society.

In  October of 1964 Robert F. Kennedy visited  Brooklyn Navy Yard. Earlier that year Kennedy had resigned from his position as U.S. Attorney General to pursue a seat in the Senate. During this time, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara proposed to cut $1 billion from the Navy yards system nationwide, stating before the Appropriations Committee that he was convinced the system had excess capacity. The Navy Yard in Brooklyn was under threat of layoffs and possible closure at the time. MacNamara’s proposal sparked a public outcry in Brooklyn, and workers mobilized demonstrations to protest. This image is at one of the rallies at Brooklyn Navy Yard, as Robert F. Kennedy prepared to address the crowd.

A large rally was also held at Madison Square Garden on October 4, 1964. Some 15,000 Navy Yard workers and their families attended.  Robert F. Kennedy, and Senator Kenneth Keating both  appeared at the rally at Madison Square Garden, despite  the fact that they were both running for the same NY senate seat that year. Both were committed to keeping the Navy Yard open, a place that employed 9,771 workers in 1964 and generated an estimated $1.25 billion in business [Weimer, Robert (1964) They Made Our Mightiest Ships Fit For Battle. Newsday .]  Kennedy defeated Keating in the senate election of 1964.

Despite Kennedy’s best efforts, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara closed Brooklyn Navy Yard along with over 90 other military bases and installations in 1966. At the time of its closing, the Brooklyn Navy Yard employed more than 9,000 workers.  It was the oldest continually active industrial plant in New York State, having operated since its 1801 opening.  In 1967, Brooklyn Navy Yard was acquired by the City of New York and converted for private commercial use.

Anthony Costanzo was employed by the Navy as a Public Information Officer for the U.S. Department of the Navy at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in its declining years of the 1960s. He held this position until the decommissioning of the Navy Yard in 1966. The Anthony M. Costanzo Brooklyn Navy Yard collection was donated to the Brooklyn Historical Society in 1987.

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.

“The Beeches” 2nd Avenue and 72nd Street, Bay Ridge, ca. 1910, v1981.15.66; Ralph Irving Lloyd lantern slides, v1981.015; Brooklyn Historical Society.

This week’s photo brings us once again to the work of Ralph Irving Lloyd. Lloyd’s lantern slides of Brooklyn give us a real sense of how  much the borough has changed in the last one hundred years. With a quick search using Google Maps Street View one can see that the Bay Ridge neighborhood of the photograph is no longer the palatial hideaway it once was. Today, Bay Ridge is a bustling urban community with just as many cars now as there were trees back then.  The home to Brooklynites of many different ethnicities, it is also a much more diverse neighborhood than it was when Lloyd captured this image.   If you are interested in a more comprehensive history of Bay Ridge or any other neighborhood in Brooklyn visit our online store and browse through our Neighborhood History Guides.

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.

Exterior views - construction view 13, 1928, 2006.001.1.013; Williamsburgh Savings Bank Building photographs and architectural drawings, ARC.116. Brooklyn Historical Society. Donated by HSBC Bank USA, N.A.

In September 1928, only the finishing touches remained in the construction of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Building at One Hanson Place. Taken from the south, this photograph shows the new tower rising above street traffic below, including the BMT Fifth Avenue Elevated Railway station at Atlantic Avenue. The following January, soon after its iconic clock tower was completed, the bank’s headquarters and branch lobby opened to the public. The tower would remain the tallest structure in Brooklyn until 2009, when it was overtaken by a condominium.

Brooklyn Historical Society’s collection contains the building’s construction from start to finish, vault use, bank workers and patrons, and holiday decorations throughout the Bank’s history.  Visit the onlineimagegallery to see the entire collection.  BHS also has the architectural drawings, which may be viewed by appointment at the library during research hours.

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.

This photograph has scandal written all over it.  Where are the seat belts? Why is there whisky on the hood of the car?  Where is the windshield??!!  And, why are there so many people piled in to one vehicle for goodness sake?  Okay, clearly this is not a real car.  As many of you may have dressed up in “Wild West” cowboy hats, chaps, and a fake pistol, and had your family photograph printed out in vintage sepia, so did Robert Burton and Alice and Nedd and Freda, and those other people in the shot).  Likely this image was taken at Coney Island and these Brooklynites are having “a hell of a good time” according to the inscription on the back of this photograph.

This is part of a collection of materials about the Burton family.  Robert Burton, who is in the center of the front seat was the son of Percival Burton and Josie Newcombe who lived in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood ofBrooklyn.  Robert’s grandparents William W. Burton and Virginia Baptista were immigrants to theUS fromEngland andPortugal.  The collection is a great example of an everyday family who documented their lives in Brooklyn through photographs.

So, in case you haven’t noticed: it’s September and the leaves are likely to start changing soon.  Plan an outing with some friends – on a bike, in a car, by train – but maybe leave the whiskey at home for later.  Happy Autumn!

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.