It’s not often that I write about something in Forgotten New York that completely stumps me, but I’ll show what I’ve found here in case some Crowns Heightsers can fill me in on what’s going on here. On Sunday afternoon I was perusing Google Maps and Google Street View, continuing a pastime I have had looking at maps for over 60 years now, when a couple of items in Crown Heights caught my attention.
Using Google Maps’s satellite view, you can see a pair of twisting, S-shaped alleys between Carroll and Crown Streets and Crown and Montgomery Streets, between Bedford and Rogers Avenues, in the vicinity of the Medgar Evers College complex. They are named Carl’s Alley and Reynolds Alley and seem to be lined with small, squarish buildings that are likely garages. I wouldn’t be able to explore the alleys because, as seen on the title photo taken of Reynolds Alley at Crown Street, this and each opening is protected by a roll-up metal gate.
This is what Carl’s Alley looks like meeting Carroll Street east of Bedford.
The alleys weren’t always locked up behind gates; this is what Reynolds Alley at Crown Street looked like in 1940.
My secondary go-to map source, Open Street Map, shows the alleys and the small buildings, but doesn’t bother to add names. Needless to say the Department of Transportation doesn’t green-sign them.
Like I said, for now, I’m stumped. Maybe a FNY reader knows what’s going on here.
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12/15/24