Brooklyn

After Greenpoint’s grid street system was laid out by developer/entrepreneur Neziah Bliss in the mid-1800s, east-west cross streets were named simply, A through Q Streets from north to south. Greenpoint Avenue was…

By GARY FONVILLE Forgotten New York correspondent At the President Street station, on the IRT Nostrand Avenue line, this may be the oldest remaining sign of any kind in that…

I had gotten on a C train at Franklin Avenue and I was heading east when I wanted to head west (I rarely make that mistake but transferring from the…

This week I was looking at some photos of the Brooklyn waterfront that I took in 2011 along Furman Street. At that time, Brooklyn Bridge Park had been built out…

This stolid, 3-story brick building, which takes up the entire block between 2nd and 3rd Avenue and 58th and 59th Street in Sunset Park, now occupied by a variety of…

Circo’s Bakery, at 312 Knickerbocker Avenue at Hart Street, has been a Bushwick fixture since 1945, according to the store’s website. Original founder Circo sold the shop to two longtime…

I was staggering around in the 96-degree blast furnace heat in the sunshine of Park Slope, scouting the route for an upcoming Forgotten NY tour, when after about three hours…

Gary Fonville sent me a magnificent building clad in shiny terra cotta on Nostrand Avenue and Sterling Place, claiming it to be yet another lost Child’s restaurant as featured in…

The Childs restaurant chain was the creation of Samuel and William Childs. They revolutionized the American restaurant chain by creating a uniform look to each of their branches in order…

Ancient painted words on Freeman Street near West say “Pierce Steam” something. I’d say it was likely Pierce Steam Heating, founded by John B. Pierce and Joseph Bond in 1881.…

Proving that the art of the painted wall ad isn’t dead is this recently inscribed ad on 86th Street and Stillwell Avenue. Unless it’s repainted, succeeding generations will be poring…

Prospect Park has a number of surprises that were in place long before the Park was created in the 1870s. One of these is Litchfield Villa, just inside the entrance…