OAK Street is just one of Greenpoint’s “alphabetical” streets, that begin with Ash and end with Quay; the L street’s place is taken by Greenpoint Avenue and the P by Calyer Street. I have had a number of friends in Greenpoint and even attempted to live there myself in 1982 before I gave up on the apartment with a minimum of electric sockets and a bath tub in the kitchen.
Where I really wanted to live was an apartment in #133 and #135 Oak Street, two of the three buildings on Oak Street that have Landmarks protection. I’ll quote from the LPC report here:
Greenpoint Historic District
Nos. 133-135 form a pair of handsome transitional Romanesque Revival/neo-Renaissance style two-family houses. Designed in 1901 by Brooklyn architect Philemon Tillion, they were built for Robert H. Balmore who lived at 131 Oak Street. The two brick houses are mirror images of one another. Each is set behind a shallow garden with an elegant iron railing. Paired central entrances are reached by low stoops with iron railings. Each entrance has a stone lintel resting on small brackets. Single round-arched windows with corbeled brick lintels are set at the second floor above the doors. Flanking the entrances are full-height, three-sided bays articulated by rectangular windows with simple stone lintels and sills. A handsome galvanized-iron cornice caps each house.
My friend Gary J. lived on the 2nd floor of #133 and enjoyed this view out that bay windows, a rare L-shaped intersection where Guernsey became Oak. In the rear, a window had a view of the Empire State Building if you moved your neck a certain way. Gary was here only for a brief period and moved back to his family’s house in Flushing for a few years, before moving to Atlanta and then Minneapolis where I lost track of him. But I won’t forget the severe case of house envy I had in 1982-1983. I remember Christmas parties and arguments over politics with a severely stuffed nose. Recherche du temps perdu, and chicken by Frank Perdue.
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7/18/23
9 comments
One of my favorite streets in Brooklyn. Love the “Haunted House” at the end of Guernsey – as well as the set back houses with the big front lawns on the other side. A hidden gem.
I always understood the Greenpoint “L Street” (Greenpoint Ave. had been LINCOLN but can’t find a map old enough to prove it.
You won’t find it on a map because it was never named “Lincoln Avenue”. According to Eugene L. Armbruster in his book, “The Eastern District of Brooklyn, with Illustrations and Maps (1912)”, “Greenpoint Avenue, formerly L Street, then Greenpoint Avenue, then National Avenue, is now Greenpoint Avenue again.”
Lived in Greenpoint as a young man, the bathroom is in the short hallway leading into the kitchen from the outside stairs landing, it also had an air shaft window.
Just out of curiosity, is Quay Street pronounced “Key” Street, or “Kway” Street? Considering that many streets have, shall we say, unusual pronunciations in the NY idiom.
Properly, ‘key’ but I don’t know what Greenpointers do.
I worked in the 94 Precinct, We called it “Kway” Street.
We lived on the top floor of 133 actually. Top right facing the building.
I lIVED AT BOTH 127 AND 129 OAK STREET FROM AROUND 1962 to 1980 I actually did a wallpaper job for my mom’s friend who owned 133 at the time. It was and still is a beautiful street.