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“Tug Talk: Mariners’ Names for Red Hook” by The Red Hook WaterStories Team

Tug captains use landmarks (points on land visible from the water) to tell other mariners and the Coast Guard VTS (Vessel Traffic Service – the harbor equivalent of air traffic controllers) where they are.  This is not always as straightforward as it sounds, but it is proof that maritime history lives on. A typical radio […]

Shaft Alley Saloon by The Red Hook WaterStories Team

“We have mostly men here – very few women.  No unattached women permitted at the bar. That’s a simple way of preventing trouble.” One of the best known watering holes in Red Hook was the Shaft Alley saloon. Fortune magazine, in a 1937 essay about the New York Waterfront, said” You won’t find enlisted men over on […]

Spotlight on Brooklyn Historical Society’s Waterfront Exhibit.

The Brooklyn Historical Society’s second location in Dumbo (55 Water Street) recently opened it’s doors again after closing to install their latest long-term exhibit, Waterfront. It’s been open for about a month now and if you haven’t gone over to check it out you should! It’s lovely! It’s described best in this excerpt from their […]

Brooklyn Spar Company By The Red Hook WaterStories Team

In 1921, the Brooklyn Spar Company advertised in The Marine Journal that it sold wooden masts and posts for derricks and flag poles, which the company made at its waterfront facility at the foot of Columbia Street. In O.R. Pilat’s 1929 article, John J. Murphy, a 40-year veteran of the Brooklyn spar business, said that during World War […]

Tug Talk: Mariners’ Names for Red Hook

By The Red Hook WaterStories team Tug captains use landmarks (points on land visible from the water) to tell other mariners and the Coast Guard VTS (Vessel Traffic Service – the harbor equivalent of air traffic controllers) where they are.  This is not always as straightforward as it sounds, but it is proof that maritime […]

Another Chance – The Paul Robeson Theatre by Darlene Miller

I was so happy to learn recently that the Paul Robeson Theatre will hopefully be getting another chance to shine!  The 153 year old church-turned-theater nestled in the rich community of Fort Greene, Brooklyn has been approved by the Landmark Preservation Commission to be restored. I have been asking myself why hasn’t anyone (or group) […]

Overspreading on transit seats ca. 1850. Contentions on the Hamilton Avenue Ferry

By The Red Hook WaterStories team All was not peaceful on the new Hamilton Avenue Ferry.  People, particularly in the evening, were sprawling out across the benches, and extra deckhands were hired to keep the order. One of the directors suggested adding dividing armrests, but the Chief Engineer feared they would provoke ridicule. Overspreading to […]

Crown Heights Losing Some of its Spice by Arthur Mallett

Developer Bruce Eichner’s Continuum Company and Joel Bergstein’s Lincoln Equities have partnered up for a deal to purchase a series of buildings from spice importers J. Golombeck Inc. and build a massive four-building residential complex The Real Deal reports. Abutting Prospect Park’s east side, the tract at the corner of Franklin Ave and Montgomery Street is comprised of […]

Red Hook History: Bars and Restaurants in the 1880s by Maryam Daghmoumi

The idea behind this Red Hook history blog is to get a snap shot view of the restaurants and bars in Red Hook, Brooklyn in the late 1800s according to the research done by Maggie Blanck. First I feel compelled to mention that there were 10 restaurants listed in the 1883 directory and 16 listed […]

Forgotten NY Tour of Sunset Park Sunday.

Sunset Park is a neighborhood in Brooklyn that has quite a buzz behind it right now.  It’s still relatively affordable and many have claimed that it’s going to be the next Williamsburg.  It’s definitely been marked as one of the up-and-coming hoods of this already very hip borough. It also has a very rich history. […]