I was participating in a NYC trivia quiz sponsored by NYC historians The Bowery Boys (Greg Young and Tom Meyers, whose website, podcasts and book, Adventures In Old New York, are highly recommended). One of the questions was, which among these is not a real Brooklyn street? Among the choices were Cranberry Street, Dank Court, Sheepshead Bay Road, Force Tube Avenue, Hallelujah Way, Vitamin Boulevard.
I knew the first four streets right off the bat so it was between the last two. Figuring that “boulevards” were mostly in Queens and there were a lot of churches in Brooklyn, we guessed Hallelujah Way. We were right and ultimately, our team on the game.
OK, so where is Hallelujah Way? It’s a subname of Schaefer Street between Evergreen and Central Avenues in Bushwick. The corner of Schaefer and Central, and several buildings on Schaefer and Covert, are given over to buildings belonging to the Pilgrim Church in Bushwick, part of an assembly of Pilgrim Baptist Churches in Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx that were organized in the 1990s by Bishop Roy Brown, Senior. The church buildings on both Schaefer and Covert are highlighted by handsome sidewalk lampposts boasting a bright red paint job.
As a rule, online information about church buildings and their architecture is sketchy (you’re supposed to care about what goes on inside, rather than care about the architectural styles, is the thinking) so that’s about all I know. I do not know when the moniker Hallelujah Way was first applied, but neighboring Covert Street is also subnamed “Joy Way.”
Check out the ForgottenBook, take a look at the gift shop, and as always, “comment…as you see fit.”
3/15/18