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January 6, 2005
Of Fig Trees & Wild Dogs
It is difficult to imagine what the officers’ quarters section of the Brooklyn Navy Yard looked like, even going back as little as thirty years ago. When I first began reading about the area, stately houses and manicured grounds seemed only a tiny glimmer from within the romance of the 19th century. However, the more the memories of former Navy Yard families flow, the more recent these images become…and the more contrast of time and place is revealed.
The first building on the left was originally a stable. If you look closely at its remains (there was a fire there a few years ago, however the front roof is still visible), you can see the archways. Over time, the stable was converted into an ice skating rink. The surrounding grounds were home to basketball hoops and, on the left of the building and adjacent to the wall, a large vegetable garden.
Moving east, there were parade grounds and tennis courts. Dotting the grounds around the houses: fruit trees—figs and pears. One can only imagine the contrast of the life within this small corner of the Navy Yard in the 1970’s, versus the abandoned shipyard buildings, wild dogs, and the outlying areas of Brooklyn, just on the other side of the wall.
There are so many questions to be asked, so many memories to be unfurled. It takes one’s breath away to read such lively descriptions—elaborate houses with dumbwaiters and maids quarters, skating rinks and fruit bearing trees—and then to observe the current reality of the area.
It makes me wonder what children on the other side of the fence thought about the houses when they were inhabited. What do children of today think was once there? What have they noticed? What have they imagined? Can they believe that it was only thirty years ago?
And lastly,
Our work on the Officers' Houses at the Brooklyn Navy Yard will be moving to its own home soon. Lex and I have begun to amass a huge amount of information and memories from families who once lived behind the iron gates. Given the content and the fact that this is turning into a real project, we feel that the Brooklyn Navy Yard category deserves a discrete address. This will give us the opportunity to post information more coherently, without the interruption of Irving and Olive, no matter how cute they might be.
Posted by callalillie at January 6, 2005 8:51 AM | Brooklyn Navy Yard
, History
the other version i saw of this with notes was also very cool.
Posted by: tien at January 6, 2005 9:07 AM
Yes, I was playing with the flickr notes. Unfortunately, I have too many notes to fit on the page! When I shape it a little more, I'm going to pop the annotation photo into the Navy Yard site.
Posted by: corie at January 6, 2005 9:15 AM
That's a really neat photo--will have to see the flickr version. Where was it taken from?
Posted by: yp at January 6, 2005 10:12 AM
I got it from terraserver. If you are a subscriber you can get aerials from about 1 meter. Interesting perspective, no? I had no idea that the area was so big, even after going inside the yard.
Posted by: corie at January 6, 2005 10:14 AM
Oh, very neat. I once saw Central Park from the rooftop of the New York Historical Society, where I used to work, and it was incredible -- so green and huge! (Sidenote: it'd be incredible to get an aerial of the park once the Christo project is up).
Posted by: yp at January 6, 2005 10:19 AM
I read your site often; this is my first comment. I think this is a great project - I used to live a block away from the Navy Yard and found the glimpses into another era fascinating.
I was wondering, though, if the new site will in fact be at a "discreet address" or perhaps at a "discrete address" - I'm just wondering if you won't be sharing it :) I hope you will.
Posted by: citycrab at January 6, 2005 10:33 AM
Ooops! Darn homonyms! DISCRETE, as in its own address :) It will most likely be www.officersrow.org.
yp-- you could probably get a semi-aerial view of the park from the Met's roof.
Posted by: corie at January 6, 2005 10:41 AM
I spent a summer with a theatre company I was in once on the abandoned Army base up along the neck of Sandy Hook, New Jersey. There was (and still is, I believe) a functioning Coast Guard base up the road from us, but the Army had pulled out and the properties were falling apart.
Much of the base was beyond repair, but a row of officers' houses along the bay was being preserved. The state had done basic revamping, and each summer they gave out the houses to arts and other not-for-profit groups to keep them lived in. We also had use of the moldering old base movie theatre, where we mounted productions of Marat/Sade and The Doctor in Spite of Himself.
It's a strange experience, living hand-to-mouth in what used to be upper crust residence and what (through state or military contractors) has been "restored" to subsistence housing (whitewash, anyone?). Well over half the base, including the majestic dining hall with its pillared balcony and vaulted main room, was gone to seed. Your posts remind me of that summer.
Posted by: Linus at January 6, 2005 11:57 AM
Your Navy Yard site will be prominently linked from
www.forgotten-ny.com
Posted by: Kevin Walsh at January 6, 2005 12:23 PM
Hi Corie, You are doing an amazing job with this. We're still working on a trip out to Brooklyn to meet up with you and explore Officer's Row. I'm still working on winning the lottery so I can restore those beautiful old houses! Best, Mick
Posted by: Mick Wagner at January 6, 2005 12:28 PM
