This peninsula jutting out into Gravesend Bay was constructed from landfill sometime in the latter half of the 20th century (aerial photos: 1951, 1996). I don't know what it was originally used for, but in recent years it served as a school bus parking lot. The edges of the peninsula were once higher and dropped off sharply toward the water, as I discovered in 2009 when I visited with some friends; at the tip of the peninsula (about where I was standing when I took the photo above), someone had secured a long rope to the top of the slope to aid in climbing down to the rocky beach at the base. Starting in December 2012, the site was redeveloped for retail use, and a giant BJ's Wholesale Club just opened here in mid-September. The construction of a public walkway along the shore (pictured above) was required by the city's waterfront zoning regulations.
This parklet memorializes Antonio Meucci, a telephone pioneer. On a previous visit, we took a look at the monument to Meucci standing in the background of this shot, which proclaims him the "father of the telephone".
Gravesend was founded in 1645 (not 1643) by Lady Deborah Moody, an Englishwoman. According to the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission:
The Gravesend town charter was the first in the New World to list a woman patentee, and one of the first to expressly allow freedom of religious beliefs for its inhabitants. . . . It was also the first land document in the New York area to be written in the English language, as the surrounding areas were primarily settled by the Dutch.The original layout of the Gravesend town center, a 16-acre square bisected by two perpendicular roads (map), has survived to this day as a little two-by-two square turned at an angle to the street grid that has emerged around it (map). We're just passing by one corner of that square today; we'll be back another time to walk the streets of the old village and see what's there.
(At the bottom left corner of the monument above, an inscription reads: "OCT. 4, 1987 — GRAVESEND TIME CAPSULE CONTAINING THE HISTORY OF THE GRAVESEND COMMUNITY IS LOCATED 270° AND 27 FT. DUE WEST OF THIS MEMORIAL".)
Louis Neglia
P.S. Check out the ridiculous mansion across the street to the right.
This storefront has been mysteriously cloaked in plaid since at least October 2007. I only know three other things about the place:
1) It is owned by "The Gam Gee Lau Irrevocable Trust".
2) According to the sticker on the door, the property is protected by the Flatbush Detective Agency, which will pay a "liberal reward" for any information "leading to the arrest and conviction of any person or persons committing larceny on these premises."
3) According to the Department of Sanitation sticker to the left of the door, "This establishment's sidewalk and gutter will be inspected for cleanliness every day between the following hours: 11:00am to 12:00pm and 4:00pm to 5:00pm".
I'm walking every street in New York City.
This is the counterpoint to my walk across the US. Instead of seeing a million places for just a minute each, I'm going to spend a million minutes exploring just one place. By the time I finish walking every block of every street in all five boroughs, I'll have traveled more than 8,000 miles on foot — all within a single city. Details!
Email me at matt@imjustwalkin.com
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