That grille-mounted cuddle object looks awfully familiar...
Located in the Red Hook Houses, this farm provides free produce to the tenants and employees of Brooklyn's largest public housing project.
Either that, or two intersecting streets that border the playground
I tried, but it was already closed. I think there's a logical flaw in those instructions.
Fitted with a perforated cap that allows about 25 gallons of water per minute to spray into the street, this fire hydrant serves as a neighborhood sprinkler in which children and other young-at-heart hydrophiles can cool off and frolic. Even though the fire department provides these spray caps for free, many young New Yorkers prefer to illegally crack open their local hydrants, setting them on full blast. An unthrottled hydrant (like this one) can release upwards of 1000 gallons of water per minute, noticeably reducing water pressure in the area and lowering the flow into the hoses of any firefighters who may be trying to put out a nearby blaze.
To deal with the prevalence of these illegal street geysers during the summer months, the Department of Environmental Protection sends out teams of professional killjoys: those unfortunate workers assigned to hydrant duty, whose job it is to go around and turn off all the open fireplugs, trampling the sweet, naïve joy of countless youngsters who just want to enjoy a nice shpritz, and incurring the wrath of heat-crazed, projectile-equipped onlookers.
Obscured by all the overgrowth, that white sign on the wall reads:
Attention friends and neighbors,Judging by the appearance of the place, you'd think it hadn't been touched in a decade or more (and the AOL email address does nothing to dispel this impression), but it turns out the dig took place just last summer! This site is rumored to have been a burial ground for soldiers who died in the Battle of Brooklyn; Dr. Bankoff and his students were searching for evidence to verify that claim. John B., replying from the aforementioned email address, reports that nothing conclusive was found, however. (See page 14 for more info.)
The Brooklyn College Summer Archaeological Field School, under the guidance of Professor H. Arthur Bankoff, will be working this site on a regular basis. Dr. Bankoff is the head of the Anthropolgy Department at Brooklyn College, and is recognized as a leader in his field of archaeology.
With the property owner's consent, they will be carefully searching the site for any evidence which may connect these grounds to the village of Red Hook and its Revolutionary War heritage.
We request all persons to treat this property with the respect it deserves during and after this archaelogical mission.
Contact RedHookHistory@aol.com for any information.
