East Williamsburg

EARLY in October 2021 I decided to walk around a tight little enclave of streets located between Bushwick and Varick Avenues on the east and west and Johnson and Flushing…

Something about North Brooklyn attracts me during the Christmas season. I have done surveys of both Manhattan and Graham Avenues in December. Today, I chose Humboldt Street, as I have a…

I’ve known about this chiseled pair of signs, saying Boulevard and Meserole Street, at the corner of Bushwick Avenue and Meserole Street (near the Montrose avenue L train station); there is…

I am starting a new occasional series in Forgotten NY imaginatively called “Interesting Subway Stations” in which I take a station and profile both the station and the immediate surrounding…

Remember the stories you read about the 49er goldpanners sifting gold nuggets out of rubble? I suspect not as much gold was found that way as the stories would have…

By GARY FONVILLE Forgotten NY correspondent Your webmaster Kevin Walsh missed this sign for the former Orloff Shoes at 753 Grand Street in East Williamsburgh, Brooklyn in a recent Grand…

A few weeks ago I walked Meserole Street west, then Montrose Avenue (which is a block south of Meserole) east, then Bushwick Avenue as far south as the Aberdeen Street…

This store on Grand Street east of Bushwick Avenue has been closed for some years now, but its burgundy and beige storefront sign is still persevering; I estimate it’s no…

I have often wondered about the original purpose of this large, brick fortress-like building at the NE corner of Grand Street and Morgan Avenue in East Williamsburg, just west of…

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 Metropolitan Avenue is one of the lengthiest routes between Brooklyn and Queens. It was first built in 1815, give or take a year,…

CONTINUED FROM PART 1 I have an affinity for subways, trains and railroads… not at the “foamer” level,  but I have enough knowledge to recognize model numbers on most NYC,…

Fletcher’s Castoria, the kids’ upset stomach remedy, was sold for much of the 20th Century and was heavily advertised with painted ads on what seemed to be every available brick…