Greenpoint

Greenpoint is the northernmost neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. It is bordered on the south by Williamsburg at the Bushwick inlet, on the East by The Brooklyn Queens Expressway and East Williamsburg, on the north by Long Island City, Queens at the Pulaski Bridge, and on the west by the East River.

Related Topics:
Neighborhood - Brooklyn, New York - Williamsburg - Brooklyn Queens Expressway - East Williamsburg - Long Island City - Queens - Pulaski Bridge - East River

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Nestled in the most northern reach of Brooklyn and surrounded by waterways on three borders, this waterfront neighborhood lies only a short distance from both Manhattan and Queens.

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In the nineteenth century, Greenpoint established itself as a center of shipbuilding and waterborne commerce. The homes built for the merchants and the buildings erected for their workers sprang up along streets that lead down to the waterfront. Today, this area is on the National Register of Historic Places as Greenpoint?s Historic District.

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Greenpoint?s waterfront holds the maritime history of the community. The buildings which formerly manufactured the ropes for the shipbuilding industry are still there. The launch site of the Monitor ironclad warship lies on Bushwick Creek. Long a site of shipbulding, the neighborhood?s dockyards harbored the construction of the USS Monitor?the Union?s first ironclad fighting ship which turned the tide of the Civil War. The Monitor, together with seven other ironclads, was built at the Continental Ironworks in Greenpoint. Greenpoint?s shipbuilding, printing, pottery, glassworks and foundries were staffed by generation after generation of hardworking immigrants.

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Greenpoint is largely middle class and multi-generational; it is not uncommon to find three generations of family members living in this community. The neighborhood is sometimes referred to as "Little Poland" due to its large population of Polish immigrants. Recent years have also seen an influx of younger people often associated with nearby Williamsburg. Many more are moving into the area due to its proximity to Manhattan.

Related Topics:
Middle class - Williamsburg - Manhattan

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Parks in the community are McCarren Park (formerly known as Greenpoint Park), Greenpoint's largest greenspace, and the smaller McGolrick Park (formerly known as Winthrop Park), which contains both the landmarked Shelter Pavilion (1910) and a monument (1938) to the U.S.S. Monitor ironclad ship.

Related Topics:
McCarren Park - McGolrick Park - U.S.S. Monitor

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Of architectural interest in Greenpoint are the Astral Apartments (1886) on Franklin Street; the Eberhard-Faber Pencil Factory on Greenpoint Ave and Franklin St.; the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Our Lord (1921) on North Twelfth Street; the Oliver Hazard Perry School (P.S. 34) (1867) on Norman Avenue; the Green Point Savings Bank (1908) and the Saint Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church (1875) on Manhattan Avenue, and the Saint Stanislaus Kostka Roman Catholic Church (1896) on Humboldt Street.

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On May 11th, 2005, New York City passed a mammoth rezoning of the North Side and Greenpoint waterfront from manufacturing and low density residential to high density residential, with a set-aside for the creation of open waterfront park space. The land is being rezoned to permit luxury highrises, high-end retail, a proposed waterfront park, and riverfront promenades. Proponents of the rezoning seek to gentrify and recast an area currently characterised by active warehouses and light industry, some smaller residential buildings, and a handful of mammoth but obsolete manufacturing buildings. The projected increase in the area population is estimated to be 40,000 new residents with an expected correlated increase in property values and real estate tax revenue. Critics of the rezoning have contended that the rezoning will change the existing community's character ("Manhattanization") and force out existing residents, and that the plan lacks adequate provisions for public transportation or public safety infrastructure to accommodate the projected new residents.

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Notable individuals born and/or raised in Greenpoint include actress Mae West and pop singer Pat Benatar.

Related Topics:
Mae West - Pat Benatar

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