Small Neighborhoods in Brooklyn
There is a small neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York with an odd name - Vinegar Hill, a lot of immigrant families live in Windsor Terrace, the neighborhood that is named after a ferry line is Fulton Ferry, then there is RAMBO. City Line and a former neighborhood once known as Pigtown.
Vinegar Hill is a relatively small neighborhood consisting of about 4 or 5 blocks. It is located to the east of the Manhattan Bridge. This neighborhood still has brownstone buildings and unpaved Belgian block streets. Its main street is Hudson Avenue which has some grocery stores and bodegas as well as unused storefronts. Residents must travel to neighboring areas for shopping.
The land on which this neighborhood now stands was purchased in 1800 by John Jackson. He wanted to get Irish immigrants to come to the area so he named it Vinegar Hill which was the site of a battle during the Irish Rebellion in 1798. Vinegar Hill is a Gaelic term which in translation means "hill of the wood of the berries".
Most of the buildings in Vinegar Hill were built between the late 1820s and the 1850s. Due to the expansion of surrounding neighborhoods one can find in the area a few remaining brownstone buildings on Front Street between Bridge and Gold Streets and on Gold Street itself luxury condos were built. In the area is also the huge Con Ed electricity plant.
Windsor Terrace is mostly a residential neighborhood which residents are Irish, German-American, Polish-American, and Italian-American. They live in brick row houses and wood frame homes. Subway service came to the area in 1933. As the years have gone by, there are now also people of Latino, Greek and Hispanic descent who have come to live in Windsor Terrace as well as a small minority of Syrians, Maronite Lebanese and Jewish-Americans.
Running through Windsor Terrace is the Prospect Expressway which has divided the neighborhood into two parts. Windsor Terrace has been home to several famous writers such as Pete Hamill and his brother Denis Hamill, Paul Auster and Isaac Asimov. It was while living in this neighborhood that Isaac Asimov supposedly wrote his famous short story Nightfall.
Fulton Ferry was named after the ferry line which crossed the East River connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn. Its main street is Fulton Street. The ferry came into being when Robert Fulton began his steam Fulton Ferry Company in 1814. The end of the ferry era came when the Brooklyn Bridge was opened in 1883. Today at the location of the ferry one can find Bargemusic which is a concert venue that is moored there.
The area with the strangest name of all these small neighborhoods is RAMBO which means "Right After the Manhattan Bridge Overpass". It is a small area which is bordered on the north and east by the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE). After the construction of the expressway RAMBO became a rather isolated neighborhood. According to city planning and historically it is known as "Bridge Plaza" and was part of Vinegar Hill until the 1950s when along came the BQE.
The neighborhood City Line is so called because it is located near the border between Brooklyn and Queens County. At first City Line was home to Italians, Germans and Irish immigrants. Now the neighborhood residents are immigrants from Bangladesh, the Dominican Republic, Guyana and Puerto Rico. The A and C trains serve City Line and its main street is Liberty Avenue.
City Line has two housing developments. The Cypress Hills Houses completed in 1955 have 15 seven-story buildings located between Linden Boulevard, Sutter Avenue, Euclid Avenue and Fountain Avenue. The East New York City Line housing development has 33 three-story buildings and was completed in 1976.
This neighborhood existed as part of Brooklyn until about the end of the 19th century and was called Pigtown because the major pig farms that supplied Brooklyn were located here. This area which was once called Pigtown was the site of Ebbets Field, home to the former Brooklyn Dodgers. The neighborhoods that have taken over the area now include Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Wingate and East Flatbush.
The land on which this neighborhood now stands was purchased in 1800 by John Jackson. He wanted to get Irish immigrants to come to the area so he named it Vinegar Hill which was the site of a battle during the Irish Rebellion in 1798. Vinegar Hill is a Gaelic term which in translation means "hill of the wood of the berries".
Most of the buildings in Vinegar Hill were built between the late 1820s and the 1850s. Due to the expansion of surrounding neighborhoods one can find in the area a few remaining brownstone buildings on Front Street between Bridge and Gold Streets and on Gold Street itself luxury condos were built. In the area is also the huge Con Ed electricity plant.
Windsor Terrace is mostly a residential neighborhood which residents are Irish, German-American, Polish-American, and Italian-American. They live in brick row houses and wood frame homes. Subway service came to the area in 1933. As the years have gone by, there are now also people of Latino, Greek and Hispanic descent who have come to live in Windsor Terrace as well as a small minority of Syrians, Maronite Lebanese and Jewish-Americans.
Running through Windsor Terrace is the Prospect Expressway which has divided the neighborhood into two parts. Windsor Terrace has been home to several famous writers such as Pete Hamill and his brother Denis Hamill, Paul Auster and Isaac Asimov. It was while living in this neighborhood that Isaac Asimov supposedly wrote his famous short story Nightfall.
Fulton Ferry was named after the ferry line which crossed the East River connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn. Its main street is Fulton Street. The ferry came into being when Robert Fulton began his steam Fulton Ferry Company in 1814. The end of the ferry era came when the Brooklyn Bridge was opened in 1883. Today at the location of the ferry one can find Bargemusic which is a concert venue that is moored there.
The area with the strangest name of all these small neighborhoods is RAMBO which means "Right After the Manhattan Bridge Overpass". It is a small area which is bordered on the north and east by the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE). After the construction of the expressway RAMBO became a rather isolated neighborhood. According to city planning and historically it is known as "Bridge Plaza" and was part of Vinegar Hill until the 1950s when along came the BQE.
The neighborhood City Line is so called because it is located near the border between Brooklyn and Queens County. At first City Line was home to Italians, Germans and Irish immigrants. Now the neighborhood residents are immigrants from Bangladesh, the Dominican Republic, Guyana and Puerto Rico. The A and C trains serve City Line and its main street is Liberty Avenue.
City Line has two housing developments. The Cypress Hills Houses completed in 1955 have 15 seven-story buildings located between Linden Boulevard, Sutter Avenue, Euclid Avenue and Fountain Avenue. The East New York City Line housing development has 33 three-story buildings and was completed in 1976.
This neighborhood existed as part of Brooklyn until about the end of the 19th century and was called Pigtown because the major pig farms that supplied Brooklyn were located here. This area which was once called Pigtown was the site of Ebbets Field, home to the former Brooklyn Dodgers. The neighborhoods that have taken over the area now include Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Wingate and East Flatbush.
Post Comment