FORT GREENE GHOST

by Kevin Walsh

The true miracle is that this, the last of Brooklyn’s ‘humpback’ street signs, is still in place. Out of thousands this is the last one. In fact I haven’t been by here in a few months — I hope it’s still there. Really, the Brooklyn Museum or a local outfit should claim it before the Dapartment of Transportation finds it and throws it out.

And that’s not all. Look closely at the hump–you’ll see a street that’s no longer there.

The two braces at the bottom likely held a white arrow-shaped one -way sign that was marked “Police Department.”

I wish I remembered everything I heard in school in addition to this stuff. I’d be a lot richer.

 

14 comments

tom February 2, 2012 - 5:26 pm

Oh the good ol days! what about those vending machines on the subway- The MTA still owes me a penny I lost in a machine on 14th st station!

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William Mangahas February 2, 2012 - 8:01 pm

Nice catch.

What happened to Hudson Ave ?

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KevinJWalsh February 3, 2012 - 12:07 am

Swallowed by projects

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James Scully February 3, 2012 - 10:47 am

This is amazing. I lived in Ft. Greene during college (Pratt Grad). I remember stumbling upon this sign one day.

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John Brandt February 3, 2012 - 2:27 pm

Right in the middle of LIU: Google Maps. See the continuation of Hudson Av. south of DeKalb and “Hudson Walk” in the “projects” north of Myrtle. Anyone remember the old jail that used to be up the block behind Brooklyn Hospital? Very creepy.

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Joe Fliel February 3, 2012 - 8:11 pm

Threatening to send a criminal to Raymond Street Jail was a way of loosening their lips and making them talk. The jail in Long Island City was the preferred place of temporary incarceration.

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Larry Mac February 4, 2012 - 7:15 am

My Uncle Raymond was born in 1924 and so named because Granpa was doing 30 days drunk and disorderly at the Raymond Street lockup at that time.

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karen February 12, 2012 - 5:01 pm

Thank you for linking the website. I have now lost a few more hours checking out old NY prisons and lost buidlings. I love it!

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Joe Hedio February 4, 2012 - 1:20 pm

Look what I found from the blog It’s All In The Streets You Crossed, an ad from a 1969 Village Voice selling old NYC street signs:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fnNhEcQgzd0/TybuFBuJ7QI/AAAAAAAAUR8/qFdsuaTh16s/s1600/62669signs.jpg

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ron s February 5, 2012 - 3:45 pm

These signs are going for several hundred each on ebay.

RS

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willoughbystreet February 6, 2012 - 7:07 pm

Man do I love that sign… I see it every day and every time I look at it I hope that it stays there forever

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Brooklyn’s Last Humpback Street Sign - The Broker Buddy February 10, 2012 - 12:10 pm

[…] but it’s too good not to post. Forgotten NY, that tenacious chronicle of old time Gotham, ran this photo of the “the last of Brooklyn’s ‘humpback’ street signs.” You can see that the […]

Reply
Greenpointguy February 11, 2012 - 10:37 am

It’s visible on Google Maps street view!

Reply

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