Thursday, March 8, 2012

Pink Under the Bridges


I haven't participated in Beverly's Pink Saturday for a few weeks, so I looked through my photo files for a few New York City "pinks" I haven't shown as yet. This scene from a day I spent walking through the new Brooklyn Bridge Park (see that post here) jumped out at me, because directly under the Brooklyn Bridge stand the post Civil War era Tobacco Warehouses whose bricks have aged with time to have a pretty pink hue.



Information for the Brooklyn Bridge Park web site: "The Tobacco Warehouse, originally built by the Lorillard family, sits on the upland of Empire-Fulton Ferry Park, just north of the Brooklyn Bridge, and just south of the Empire Stores. Together, these landmark 19th century warehouses are vivid reminders of the shipping activity that once defined the downtown Brooklyn waterfront."


"Constructed in the 1870s as a tobacco customs inspection center, and saved from demolition in 1998, the roofless rooms of the Tobacco Warehouse provide one of the most compelling public spaces in Brooklyn Bridge Park."



A close up of one of the beautiful patina on the metal shutters over some of the windows.  The open roofed warehouse building is sometimes rented out for private affairs in the summer......


...and sometimes even the streets of the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn become venues for parties!



Another pink hued building in the area is the Eagle Warehouse. Completed in 1894, it had a number of uses before being converted into apartments in 1980. The site on which the Eagle Warehouse is located formerly belonged to the Brooklyn Eagle, a well-known local newspaper. From 1846 to 1848, the paper's editor was Walt Whitman. In the late 19th century the Brooklyn Eagle moved its offices to a different location. The site was subsequently purchased by the Eagle Warehouse & Storage Company, whose name was probably derived from that of the Brooklyn Eagle. Prominent Brooklyn architect Frank Freeman was commissioned to build a new fireproof warehouse on the site.


The Eagle Warehouse & Storage Company used the warehouse primarily to store furniture and silverware, the latter kept in giant fireproof vaults in the basement. The building was subsequently used for a variety of purposes. In 1977, it was designated a landmark structure by New York's Landmarks Preservation Commission.


The acronym DUMBO comes from the words "Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass." and, as you can see in the photo above, this area is full of other vintage faded red brick buildings that are now renovated into expensive apartments and condominiums.


One of the pretty archways under the Manhattan Bridge in the DUMBO neighborhood.



If you look closely you can see that the letters in this sign that was  in front of a bakery in the neighborhood are all rimmed in pink.  I think this is a good philosophy any day of the year, but it is especially nice in honor of Pink Saturday, don't you agree?



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The Barclays Center--Basketball is Coming To Brooklyn!




I was excited to see the progress of the new Barclays Center basketball arena today, that is under construction in Brooklyn, New York. The arena is intended to serve as the new home for the National Basketball Association's New Jersey Nets, currently based at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The team will be renamed the Brooklyn Nets starting with the arena's expected opening season of 2012–13.This move would mark the return of major league sports to Brooklyn, which has been absent since the departure of the beloved Dodgers baseball team that moved to Los Angeles in 1957.


Located at the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues, the Barclays Center is in close proximity to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, the central branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, and the Brooklyn Museum. It is within easy walking distance from several neighborhoods, such as Park Slope and Fort Greene


The Barclays Center is also located on top of one of the largest public transit hubs in New York, with many subway and bus lines and the Long Island Railroad in close proximity.



I am excited to know that I'll soon be able to see not only basketball games, so close to home, but I'll also have the
opportunity to see other world class entertainers such as Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli's upcoming December performance.   With approximately 18,000 seats for basketball and up to 19,000 seats for concerts, 100 luxury suites, four bars/lounges, three clubs, and a restaurant, the Barclays Center will certainly be a wonderful asset for Brooklyn entertainment!



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