TWO

East New York is a small neighborhood near the lower east side of Brooklyn. Today some consider it coupled with the Cypress Hills area but it was town all of its own. Growth began in 1835 and was seen as a dream to be the best. In time immigration of nearby neighbor hoods elevated its percentage of minorities and presently it is demographically a Hispanic town. Whites populate at a distant third while African Americans come close but overall it is Hispanic driven. So far it looks like a report on demographics but this leads me to my main point, business. How does race evaluate how a community thrives? Does it at all?
For the most part of my blogs I have been trying to capture the balance or lack balance in commercially owned stores and small business. Throughout the neighborhood most if not all are “mom and pop” owned ninety-nine cent stores, corner groceries, food markets and clothing stores. For as long as I lived these shops have provided support for the idea that a small community can drive in consumers with few big chains. Recently it comes to thought, have we reached the tipping point? When does attention that money is being made here become too much? Opportunity for more wealth in a minority populated town spikes! More and more stores are being closed down and replaced by fast food but at a slow pace.

Where we're going there are no roads

This right here is a photograph of my school, Franklin K. Lane built in 1937. I had great memories in here and learned some stuff I am sure I have forgotten by now. It’s a very beautiful school building when observed in detail. The edifice stands five stories and has a tower for which I have no clue as to why it’s there. The columns in the front give it significance and with time will only make it look better. The young football field is a good addition, but that artificial turf is a pain. It gets everywhere and more than sand, trust me. Lane is not without its’ rumors and strangeness. We have one of the largest libraries, weight rooms, gorgeous auditorium, and an amazing swimming pool, but all overshadowed by the news, polls, and the graves!
Half of the school is surrounded by fields of tombstone and mausoleums. It could be the nicest day out but that darn cemetery would make you refocus on your class work and not what father time has planned for you. The school is also planted dead center (pun intended thank you very much) on the invisible Brooklyn-Queens border. So theoretically, after Spanish class I would have to walk to chemistry in Brooklyn. The address of the school is a flipped number that most consider bad luck. There were some deaths and adding that to the violence wouldn’t make it too welcoming. The recent addition to the SURR list was no help either. Newspapers stamped our school on the front page. We were considered one of the city’s top failing schools; even though there were worse, I’m sure. First to arrive were the truancy officers and their iron fists. Then the swarm of reporters wanting a story came. Half of the school had some sense of pride and ignored, the rest simply added insult to injury and dogged on their own school, smells like teen spirit. In the end it was the students that could only change the school. The papers may print what they like but I met some incredible kids, intelligent students with potential. I’ve made memories I could never forget and that will never die out.

Historical Component I

Siwolop, Sana. "Commercial Real Estate; A Mall Planned for East New York Is 88% Leased." NY Times archives. 16 May 2001. The New York Times. 10 Sep 2007<http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9803E1D7153AF935A25756C0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1

This article printed almost a year before gate way center mall was complete describes the East New York’s development into a better more commercial town. The near two-hundred million dollar project was under development for ten years and today is one of Brooklyn’s greatest retail centers. It houses several big name stores but more importantly the opportunity to sell to a wide range of ethnic background. East New York is a diverse community with limitless potential.

Piels Brewery

The windows are cemented shut, doors locked, and no one is around or inside. Metal gates seal off entry, the silence of rooms and machinery are in a dead slumber. The swaying of a nearby single tree beckons you to stop and leave. It chills you. Before this begins to start as a haunted house story let me announce that it is not. This ghost building is in fact an administration for two brothers from Germany situated in the industrial park of my neighborhood. This two story complex was built during the 1950’s by the Piels Brewery Company, founded in 1883. The German brothers needed a base to supply their very successful lager beer. After fighting the good fight they would soon be assimilated by the larger predators that we all see in advertisements today.

Now abandoned in East New York’s Industrial Park the Piels brother’s administration building grows grey and dull after a cease of production in 1973. There is sign with a number that is barely decipherable. Suggesting that there is space available, the area itself is unattractive, unapproachable. Worn from the lack of maintenance the paint falls to the ground like autumn leaves. No surprise here either, some sections of wall are missing! Nature already taking its toll sluggishly growing weeds and patches of grass where ever it may find suitable. The rain over the decades decays what little red color is left.

It still stands as symbol of the little guys that could, a small lager beer company that at first formed in Germany expanded in one of the most important places in the world. This having been the first time I’ve ever seen or heard of such a company surprises me. Whether it is from half a century ago or just yesterday new history is presented. For as long as I lived here there are still new areas for me to explore and learn about. Yet after all this thinking and researching and the overall enduring bicycle ride that leaves me parched I raise the most important question of the day. Like a question that strikes gold........is there any beer inside?

ENY live-links

Here are the live links, sorry for the error
http://tapeshare.com/
http://brooklynpix.com/

ENY

The Crescent station in my neighborhood in particular is not regarded as simply a “stop”, it is green with life and full of GO. Filled with productivity, and movement! Not just from the cars and buses on the intersection but more importantly the consumers who shop. The people here are of all backgrounds and with dreams, and a want to get their lives and families on a sturdy foundation.
I decided to take the photograph from a more elevated source of the famous L-curve, a twisting area of the above J line. As you can see it isn’t rural and there are only three and a half trees. The intersection of Crescent and Fulton are bombarded with stores, two of every kind, family owned small businesses that make a big difference in the community. There are banks, several clothing stores, mini markets and fish markets, and competitive pizzerias of which the Mexicans outperform the Italians. The pharmacy is also a corner drug store that has been there for more than eighty-two years, yeah. Along the route you will also find more interactive and tech-based business like the arcade and web café that makes the internet available to the public. There are some commercial stores but the family owned stores heavily outweigh the Big Man and add to the pressure in variety and style. It doesn’t end where the stop sign stands neither; across the Atlantic and into Liberty Avenue you can literally hear the cash registers ring. For most that live here, we would all agree this part of town is developing and vital, including the liquor store. Areas like these define what New York City is and strengthen the first step in the land of opportunity.
The picture does not capture the feel of my home though. You have to truly be there to learn how friendships were made and stories told. You had to have lived in East New York during the blackouts, the robberies, carnivals, and block parties to understand it all, and if you do want to know more here are a couple of sites dedicated to archiving my neighborhood. Check out http://tapeshare.com/ for present-past comparisons of my area. For old photos all around Brooklyn visit http://brooklynpix.com/

Forgotten N.Y. ?

At first glance, this site titled Forgotten NY is a log of the more hidden history of the city of New York. Not just monuments or abandoned buildings but a record of everyday things like signs, lamps, and ads that once brand new, beg for some kind of attention today. Overlooked by almost everyone daily, forgotten-ny.com captures what our present day can’t erase. Dedicated to preserving the past the web page amasses photographs and encourages visitors to take a closer more historical view of the city that never sleeps.

Now, the first thing that grabbed my attention was the trolley car. Perhaps it was my childhood recollection to mister roger and his model trolley that had a mind of its own or the thought that the subway cars I take to class had had to have a predecessor. After clicking the link what I find is a photograph, sepia toned with an ancestor to the bus roaming the brick layered street. Squealing on dual rails and guided by cables throughout the town, New York City residents had to dodge these machines if it were a part of life. With stations all around the metropolitan area New Yorkers were provided with the first of public transportation. The “tram cars” as they were also known, were an alternative to the horse and carriage and later the automobile.

Obsolete in the city and since replaced by advancements in technology, tram cars for New Yorkers are extinct. Overpowered by buses, subways and elevated trains, they are a thing of the past, forgotten leaving only unique footprints. If Manhattan is the heart of the city, streets and subway lines are the veins of the city than the trolley rails are the varicose veins. Useless, old and if not covered well can re-expose themselves and look horrible on the surface. For Japan and San Francisco it is a different story, trolleys are still in use, but the next time you walk through any of the boroughs avoid the skyscrapers for one second. Take a break from shopping and seriously look down when you cross the street.

Forgotten-NY.com is truly about remembering. Remembering and learning where the city comes from, where it stands, and what once was.