110 Livingston News & Blog

In keeping with the Brooklyn history posts, we thought this was interesting: in 1897 (110 years ago, natch), a serious proposal was floated to drop the name Brooklyn and rename our fair locale “New York East” to help the image of the business community. Doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it?  The proposal would also have named the Bronx “New York North,” Staten Island “New York South,” and Manhattan, plain old New York. Brooklyn and Queens would actually have been grouped together as “New York East.”

This was back when Brooklyn was a separate city of its own, and was just on the eve of the consolidation of New York into five boroughs–at which point Brooklyn officially became part of the greater City of New York (still known to some as the Great Mistake because Brooklyn lost some of its independent identity). The actual name Brooklyn derives from the Dutch town Breukelen. The first settlers in Brooklyn in the 1620s were Dutch and the village was officially authorized by the Dutch West India Company in 1646.

It seems the business community agitated to drop “Brooklyn” for “New York East” to garner some additional prestige from being known as “New York”–and some thought the name scheme would improve postal delivery. A May 14, 1897 Brooklyn Eagle article titled “Shall it Be Brooklyn or New York East?” has a great quote from a world-travelling gentleman at the time:

During trips I have made to Europe I found that in the large cities greater respect and more courtesy and attention was shown me when I registered from New York than when I wrote down the name of Brooklyn. During any future trip I may make I will register from New York. There is a good deal of sentiment attached to the matter, however, and I am simply saying what my individual experience has been.

Despite this old-time Brooklyn disrespect, the renaming attempt thankfully failed–most people quoted in the article opposed the loss of identity that would result. In retrospect, being part of New York City has probably benefited Brooklyn despite some loss of a separate identity. It would have been a real mistake though, if we’d lost the name itself.

• Brooklyn Daily Eagle Online Archive (Brooklyn Public Library)
• History of Brooklyn (Wikipedia)

• Worth a field trip: Red Hook is the New Gardening District (GL)
• DUMBO mixer & town hall meeting tonight (Dumbo NYC)
• Something big coming to Kent Ave. in W’burg? (GL) — two things, actually (Curbed)
• Red Hook Waterfront plans scaled back (NYSun)
• Urban living now the wordwide norm, but NYC is nothing special (Gawker)

Photo: Abandoned Trolley in Red Hook

What’s that funny little alley across the way from 110 Livingston? The street is Red Hook Lane, a remnant of one of the oldest Brooklyn pathways dating to pre-colonial times. It also technically no longer exists–the city recently removed the alley from the official city streetmap, so that the land can be developed. What you see now is ghost of Brooklyn past, which won’t last much longer.

Originally Red Hook Lane ran from the parish of Brookland all the way down to Red Hook, hence both its name and direction. It was actually a Native American trail before colonists arrived. This map from 1766 shows the original Fulton Street running through Brookland Parish, with Red Hook Lane branching off diagonally toward the lower left:

During the Revolution, George Washington observed the Battle of Brooklyn taking place near the Gowanus from Red Hook Lane. The road survived the initial grid layout in Downtown Brooklyn, as shown by this 1827 map. However, various later urban planning initiatives have almost entirely eliminated the road, and only a few remnants remain.

Apart from the segment we see between Fulton and Livingston, the irregular angle of Red Hook Lane still can be seen in at least two local buildings which once fronted on it–their angled walls which don’t match the street grid show that they once sat on Red Hook Lane.

Forgotten New York has this photo of one building on Atlantic Ave. between Court and Boerum which has an angled wall once facing Red Hook Lane (an alert commenter points out that this is the Brazen Head bar on Atlantic). We also recently discovered another building, at the back of St. Vincent’s on Boerum Place — whose sharply angled wall clearly once fronted the street (viewed here from State Street looking toward Atlantic Ave.):

See another angle. These irregular shaped buildings may soon be the only trace left of Red Hook Lane–the city recently “de-mapped” the segment between Fulton and Livingston, to allow that block to be redeveloped. This means the road officially no longer exists, and may physically disappear as soon as a development moves forward. Pay it a visit to experience an original Brooklyn pathway, before it’s gone.

• Further reading: Forgotten-NY on Red Hook Lane
• Brooklyn By Name: How the Neighborhoods, Streets, Parks, Bridges and More Got Their Names (Amazon.com)

• Meet the Really Big House on Atlantic Avenue (GL), see also the NYTimes coverage
• Governors Island Taking Summer 2007 Volunteers (GIPEC)
• Biking commuters map, by zip code (Gothamist)
• Cadman Turf Opens (BHB)
• More details on 200 Livingston: 2nd floor greenhouse, screening room, parking (BDE)
• Schermerhorn House as “new architectural paradigm” (Curbed)
• J Condo deemed habitable, at least temporarily (Dumbo NYC)

Recently we got curious about the origins of our street and building’s name, and as with many things the magic of the internet shed some interesting light.

Turns out, the Livingston family lived in Brooklyn in the 1700s, and ran the original Brooklyn brewery—a large, successful distillery overlooking the harbor. The distillery was one part of the the Philip Livingston estate, which ran roughly from 110 Livingston all the way down to the water, between Joralemon and State.

A detailed map drawn in 1766 actually shows the Livingston estate and distillery clearly labeled, and (for all you lawyers out there) suggests that Philip Livingston was a member of the bar:

The road shown above leading down to the distillery is today Joralemon Street, and the southern one leading to the harbor probably corresponds to present-day Atlantic Avenue. The diagonal street in the lower right hand corner is Red Hook Lane (still surviving in part between Fulton and Livingston Streets). Given this, 110 Livingston would be located in the lower right hand corner, roughly where Red Hook Lane meets the edge of the map.

The Livingstons did more than just brew–Philip Livingston was one of the four New York signatories to the Declaration of Independence, and helped found King’s College (now Columbia) in 1754. Robert R. Livingston attended King’s College, helped write the Declaration, and administered the oath of office to George Washington. Robert went on to secure the famous 1807 ferry monopoly with Robert Fulton which also put Fulton’s name on the Brooklyn map.

This accomplished family had its mansion on a rocky outcrop above its distillery, just across Joralemon Street (above center), according to a key for the above map. The key (written in the 1800s) goes on gives us a very picturesque description of the area at that time:

The Heights then presented the appearance of a rough and bold promontory; no docks, wharves or store-houses lined the shore: but a sandy beach, from which arose a promontory of rocky cliffs, as unlike the present aspect of the locality, as can well be imagined. The cliffs were covered with a fine growth of cedar trees, which gave to the place a remarkably picturesque appearance, when seen from the New York side.

Even then Brooklyn Heights was tony. See below for the disputed demise of the Livingston distillery. (more…)

Park Slope wine shop Red White & Bubbly is unveiling a Brooklyn branded wine called Feliz this weekend. We’re both intrigued and skeptical. The shop uses a very different notion of terroir by creating a blend from California grapes based on the tastes of their Brooklyn customers over the years, so the wines represent a Brooklyn sensibility. The Feliz red is a blend of Zinfandel, Barbera and Syrah, and the Feliz white consists of Verdelho, Savignon Blanc and Colombard.

We want to know–what should a Brooklyn wine taste like? Has anyone scored a pre-taste of this stuff, and if so can give us a sense if it truly says “Brooklyn”?

• Red White & Bubbly
• Brooklynites, prepare your corkscrews (Brooklyn Paper)