Brooklyn's Park Slope


Book Description




The New Brooklyn


Book Description

Featured in The New York Times Book Review Only a few decades ago, the Brooklyn stereotype well known to Americans was typified by television programs such as “The Honeymooners” and “Welcome Back, Kotter”—comedies about working-class sensibilities, deprivation, and struggles. Today, the borough across the East River from Manhattan is home to trendsetters, celebrities, and enough “1 percenters” to draw the Occupy Wall Street protests across the Brooklyn Bridge. “Tres Brooklyn,” has become a compliment among gourmands in Parisian restaurants. In The New Brooklyn, Kay Hymowitz chronicles the dramatic transformation of the once crumbling borough. Devoting separate chapters to Park Slope, Williamsburg, Bed Stuy and the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Hymowitz identifies the government policies and young, educated white and black middle class enclaves responsible for creating thousands of new businesses, safe and lively streets, and one of the most desirable urban environments in the world. Exploring Brownsville, the growing Chinatown of Sunset Park, and Caribbean Canarsie, Hymowitz also wrestles with the question of whether the borough’s new wealth can lift up long disadvantaged minorities, and the current generation of immigrants, many of whom will need more skills than their predecessors to thrive in a postindustrial economy. The New Brooklyn’s portraits of dramatic urban transformation, and its sometimes controversial effects, offers prescriptions relevant to “phoenix” cities coming back to life across the United States and beyond its borders.




The Invention of Brownstone Brooklyn


Book Description

Considered one of the city's most notorious industrial slums in the 1940s and 1950s, Brownstone Brooklyn by the 1980s had become a post-industrial landscape of hip bars, yoga studios, and beautifully renovated, wildly expensive townhouses. In The Invention of Brownstone Brooklyn, Suleiman Osman offers a groundbreaking history of this unexpected transformation. Challenging the conventional wisdom that New York City's renaissance started in the 1990s, Osman locates the origins of gentrification in Brooklyn in the cultural upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s. Gentrification began as a grassroots movement led by young and idealistic white college graduates searching for "authenticity" and life outside the burgeoning suburbs. Where postwar city leaders championed slum clearance and modern architecture, "brownstoners" (as they called themselves) fought for a new romantic urban ideal that celebrated historic buildings, industrial lofts and traditional ethnic neighborhoods as a refuge from an increasingly technocratic society. Osman examines the emergence of a "slow-growth" progressive coalition as brownstoners joined with poorer residents to battle city planners and local machine politicians. But as brownstoners migrated into poorer areas, race and class tensions emerged, and by the 1980s, as newspapers parodied yuppies and anti-gentrification activists marched through increasingly expensive neighborhoods, brownstoners debated whether their search for authenticity had been a success or failure.




Brooklyn by Name


Book Description

From Bedford-Stuyvesant to Williamsburg, Brooklyn's historic names are emblems of American culture and history. These pages take readers on a stroll through the streets and places of this thriving metropolis to reveal the borough's textured past. Over 500 of Brooklyn's most prominent place names are organized alphabetically by region. Photos & maps.




Brooklyn Before


Book Description

Before Brooklyn rose to international fame there existed a vibrant borough of neighborhoods rich with connections and traditions. During the 1970s and 1980s, photographer Larry Racioppo, a South Brooklynite with roots three generations deep, recorded Brooklyn on the cusp of being the trendy borough we know today. In Brooklyn Before, Racioppo lets us see the vitality of his native Brooklyn, stretching from historic Park Slope to the beginnings of Windsor Terrace and Sunset Park. His black and white photographs pull us deep into the community, stretching our memories back more than forty years and teasing out the long-lost recollections of life on the streets and in apartment homes. Racioppo has the fascinating ability to tell a story in one photograph and, because of his native bona fides, he depicts an intriguing set of true Brooklyn stories from the inside, in ways that an outsider simply cannot. On the pages of, Brooklyn Before the intimacy and roughness of life in a working-class community of Irish American, Italian American, and Puerto Rican families is shown with honesty and insight. Racioppo's 128 photographs are paired with essays from journalist Tom Robbins and art critic and curator Julia Van Haaften. Taken together, the images and words of Brooklyn Before return us to pre-gentrification Brooklyn and immerse us in a community defined by work, family, and ethnic ties.




The Parkslopian


Book Description

Did you grow up in Park Slope, Brooklyn? Do you yearn for the old days, and wish you could have a more permanent scrapbook of the toys and games and mom and pop stores from your childhood? The genesis for The Parkslopian came out of a desire to broaden the scope of the memoir genre to allow the reader to place him or herself into the story, or to use it as a tool to share his or her childhood with loved ones. The memoir genre is criticized for being narcissistic-who cares about the memories of one non-famous person? Therefore, the series of Brooklyn neighborhood coffee table books that includes The Parkslopian was developed in order to crowdsource and compile recollections of times long past using modern social media. Rather than limiting the story of Brooklyn in the 1950s through the 1980s to one person's flawed memory, The Parkslopian is a compilation of stories about the treasured and iconic things that shaped the childhoods (and parenthoods) of those who lived in Brooklyn during the most fascinating era of the twentieth century. This coffee table book is divided into entertaining and bite-sized pieces, and does not need to be read cover to cover. It allows you to share your memories of Park Slope with your friends who grew up elsewhere, and compare the iconic things that were shared throughout the nation while contrasting the special elements that made the Park Slope heritage unique. It is a smorgasbord of reminiscences to last you and your loved ones years-an infusion of the past into a lengthy future. After the 1980s came to an end, a generation of yuppies started moving into Park Slope, driving up prices and driving out longtime residents. They may call themselves "Park Slopers" and believe that they saved the neighborhood from itself, but true Parkslopians have a much longer, richer relationship with the neighborhood and its former community. Are you a Park Sloper or a Parkslopian? Either way, your connection to the neighborhood is truly your own, but this book will help you and those you love recognize the building blocks that fed every single one of those relationships and ultimately tied them together. The rich history that preceded Park Slope's current state must not be forgotten, and The Parkslopian endeavors to keep the past alive, if only on the page. The purchase of this book, and the others in the series, will allow you to witness firsthand how the revolution of social media truly keeps us all connected-first to our own roots, then to our new friends. By using a language today's kids will understand, you can better share with your children what your childhood was like before Park Slope changed forever. It may be more expensive to live there now, but Parkslopians know that Park Slope's worth has long been established-and the reasons are now in print for the very first time. Join the fun by giving this book a prized perch in your home, and visit www.parkslopian.com for more information on Brooklyn and more nostalgia.




Brooklyn


Book Description

A major new history of Brooklyn, told through its landscapes, buildings, and the people who made them, from the early 17th century to today.




Ask a Native New Yorker


Book Description

Tips and lifestyle guidance on living in New York City from a journalist, native New Yorker and founder of Gothamist.com. As a third-generation New Yorker who was born, bred, and educated there, Jake Dobkin was such a fan of his hometown that he started Gothamist, a popular and acclaimed website with a focus on news, events, and culture in the city, and “Ask a Native New Yorker” became one of its most popular columns. The book version features all original writing and aims to help newbies evolve into real New Yorkers with humor and a command of the facts. In forty-eight short essays and eleven sidebars, the book offers practical information about transportation, apartment hunting, and even cultivating relationships for anyone fresh to the Big Apple. Subjects include “Why is New York the greatest city in the world?,” “Where should I live?,” “Where do you find peace and quiet when you feel overwhelmed?,” and “Who do I have to give up my subway seat to?” Part philosophy, part anecdote collection, and part no-nonsense guide, Ask a Native New Yorker will become the default gift for transplants to New York, whether they’re here for internships, college, or starting a new job.




Design Brooklyn


Book Description

Design Brooklyn is a visual exploration of the unique and diverse architecture, interiors, and design of public and private spaces in today’s Brooklyn, from mechanics’ shops renovated into restaurants, to newly built museums, to restored brownstones and modern townhouses. Chapters focusing on renovation, restoration, innovation, and industry come to life with more than 150 original photographs representing various neighborhoods and trends. Including studies of the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s newest addition, Fort Greene Park, and Boerum Hill’s Flavor Paper, Design Brooklyn will appeal to anyone interested in urban living, design, and trendsetting Brooklyn style. Praise for Design Brooklyn: “A terrific book. Anne Hellman and Michel Arnaud perfectly capture the essence of the innovative, independent style of the creative people who define Brooklyn!†? —Wendy Goodman, Design Editor, New York magazine “Brooklyn’s design identity is captured in this inspired collection of projects that takes you from the manufacturing past of the Brooklyn Navy Yard to influential architect-designed new construction, with plenty of bespoke brownstone renovations and handmade artists’ studios in the mix.†? —Francesca Connolly, New York editor of Remodelista.com “The creativity that New York City is so known for seemed synonymous with Manhattan . . . that was until Brooklyn bloomed. And boy, has it bloomed!†? —Newell Turner, editor in chief, Hearst Design Group “Brooklyn’s cutting-edge creativity, beauty, and bold self-confidence are well represented in this extraordinary book of Brooklyn design. Brooklyn has more character and characters than anywhere else in the world, and that spirit of originality and sense of history is vibrant and alive in these homes and cultural institutions.†? —Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn borough president “No sleep till you devour Design Brooklyn—a thrilling guide to architecture and décor in the mythical New York City borough. From a Beastie Boy’s clever brownstone renovation to insider tours of cultural spaces and imaginative restaurant design, this stunning and idea-packed guide to Brooklyn design shows how wonderfully the old can meld with the new. Design Brooklyn is sure to resonate far beyond its borders.†? —Ingrid Abramovitch, Author of Restoring a House in the City “A visual feast of the best of Brooklyn style.†? —atHome magazine “Packed with engaging back stories of Brooklyn’s homes, shops, restaurants and public institutions like Fort Greene Park and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor Center in Prospect Heights.†? —New York Times “It’s turned the borough into a playground for high design, all beautifully chronicled in a new survey by Anne Hellman, Design Brooklyn, with page after page of gorgeous photos by Michel Arnaud.†? —Town & Country “Design Brooklyn is expansive, inclusive and filled with inspiring ideas and images of interiors, both public and private.†? —Janel Laban, Apartment Therapy “What makes this book special, is that it documents the interior spaces of Brooklyn in a way that I haven’t seen before. We all know that Brooklyn has drastically changed in the last few years, but it’s rare to get the opportunity to peek into some of the private homes or have the luxury of time or money to check out all the new public spaces—restaurants, bars and hotels—that have popped up around the borough . . . It gave me a new appreciation for the sheer volume of design happening in Brooklyn every day.†? —Amy Azzarito, Design*Sponge “Quirky, spirited, surprising and useful—brimming with charm and delight.†? —New York Times Book Review




Brooklyn Spaces


Book Description

As an incubator of culture and creativity, Brooklyn is celebrated and imitated across the world. The settings for much of its dynamic underground scene are the numerous industrial spaces that were vacated as manufacturing dwindled across the huge borough. Adapted, hacked, and reused, these spaces host an eclectic range of activities by and for Brooklyn’s unique creative class, from DIY music venues to skillsharing centers. These are spaces to make art together, throw parties and concerts, host classes and performances, grow vegetables, build innovative products, and, most importantly, to support and inspire one another while welcoming more and more collaborators into the fold. In Brooklyn Spaces: 50 Hubs of Culture and Creativity, Oriana Leckert introduces us to the creators driving Brooklyn’s cultural renaissance, and in their company takes us on a tour of these unique alternative spaces. Whether a graffiti art show in an abandoned power station, a circus school in a former ice house, or a shuffleboard club in a disused die-cutting factory, these spaces present a vibrant cross-section of life in the borough where trends in music, fashion, food, and lifestyle are set. A chronicle of a thriving and ever-renewing scene, this book will appeal to everyone who’s interested in the unique energy that makes Brooklyn Brooklyn.