Glimpse Inside Jehovah’s Witness Headquarters

November 16th, 2006

NY1 visits the Jehovah’s Witness Headquarters in Brooklyn Heights and Dumbo. The Watchtower Society has maintained its headquarters in the Brooklyn Heights and Dumbo area since 1909. I’m not a JW myself, but I must admit that I find their practice of being self sufficient interesting: They generate their own electricity, they grow their own food in Walkill NY, travel in their own shuttles (look for their nondescript white mini-buses around Brooklyn Heights and Dumbo), and walk through tunnels and walkways between their buildings. The following is the NY1 article:

They set up their headquarters in Brooklyn nearly a century ago, but few New Yorkers have been inside the Jehovah’s Witnesses massive operation.

Thirty-three buildings located in Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO make up the Watchtower Society’s complex. Most are residences for their 3,000 members, who receive apartments and meals in exchange for their services.

Jehovah’s Witnesses volunteer their skills including cooking, cleaning, engineering and producing Bible literature. They eat together and use bridges and underground tunnels to travel between their buildings.

“The purpose of the tunnels is to benefit us,” said Robert Alexander of the Watchtower Society. “It helps us to move the individuals, the volunteers who are part of the headquarters staff, through the tunnels in all types of weather as well as various commodities that we need to keep the buildings in good maintenance and good repair. Also we also find it’s a great benefit to our neighbors living in Brooklyn Heights because then it leaves more of the sidewalks and streets free and clear for them to use.”

The Watchtower Society also generates its own electricity. The headquarters attracts about 60,000 visitors a year.

{NY1 Gets Rare Glimpse Inside Jehovah’s Witness Headquarters, NY1, 11/15/2006}
{www.watchtower.org}
{Watchtower New York Brooklyn Bethel, by: ierke5}
{A sect grows in Brooklyn, and old but interesting article from The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 2, 1990}

Filed in Dumbo Residents at 1:10 am
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  • Comments on this JW post is now closed. Please email DumboNYC with any relevant info on JW as it relates to Dumbo if you wish.
  • Kris
    Davos,
    In Christ I pray that you will one day see the truth behind your coveted organization. The best place to start learning about your organization and why so many people refer to it as a cult, would be the Bible. Not the New World Translation, but a Bible fully accepted and accredited by a majority of Christians worldwide. For example the NASB would be a good place to start. Davos, have you ever thought to question the athoritarian rulers you refer to as the Governing Body? You should. They have quite the history! I would suggest reading through some of their books. Russell and Rutherford alone wrote some amazing things! Study up on Beth-Sarim or even Pyramidology. Russell taught that the date 1914 could be reached using the dimensions of the "stone Gospel" or Great Pyramid at Giza. There is a lot to unlearn and its a hard an lonely path, but you can and WILL find Christ at the end of it! Praise God you are online and searching for sites such as this.
  • Davos
    I can't believe what people think we are! We are not a hidden group, everyone can go to our meeting and will be welcome, so there's not so much to hide. And we are a religious group, not as longtermresident said. All DUMBO residents should be thankfull 'cuz they'll have excellent neighbors who won't do anything harmfull to their community! By the way, how is this DUMBO project doing? Have witnesses already satarted? How does it look?
  • longtermresident
    The point is they arent a religious group.
  • AJC
    Dumbo is a wonderful area. The witnesses have tried to enhance the neighbourhood. As for paying no taxes etc. No religious group in the US does that. It is enshrined in the law.

    The people in the witnesses themselves at least are not going to go out an hurt anyone like cause a crime or anything.
  • The Saint
    Check out www.silentlambs.org to see just how much the WTS has been hiding from the public and its own members.

    Ask a Witness for a copy of their "Revelation" book. The cover of this book is red and it explains the WTS view of Revelation. Look at the drawings in it and you'll see more than a few which depict buildings collapsing on men, women and children. When you ask one of the Witnesses about this, he/she will tell you that this is what God will do to non-WTS members for being 'wicked'. The Muslim fundamentalists are not the only ones who want God to incinerate non-believers. Their books and magazines are full of such images. What's the point of believing in a God who's basically holding a gun to your head and saying "worship me!"? This is the God of the WTS.
  • HJB
    Clearly the negative comments at this site come from uninformed people. Jehovah is the father of all mankind and mankinds saviour Jesus Christ. Here is what I suggest to all the Nay Sayers. Read the bible and ask questions. The truth will come out and be very clear. You have to have the right "Heart Condition" to do this so think it through and dig in!!!
  • N
    Witnesses dont need to refute anything said about them. All you need to do to get the answers, is ask. Theyre not hiding anything, no matter what people like Danny says.
    And in the case of Caveat Viator, i dont see him insulting anybody. The sky is blue and “wild waves of the sea that foam up their own causes for shame; stars with no set course . . .” no insult, just plain truth.
  • N
    It's easy to figure out which one of the comments is from someone who either doesnt know anything about Jehovahs Witnesses.
  • It's easy to figure out which one of the comments is from an anonymous Jehovah's Witness. Very typical. They never seem to be able to refute what is said about them......they just attempt to insult their critics. We all know that JWs with computers are attracted like moths to a flame to any blog that shows up in a Google search of "Watchtower". Tsk....tsk.
  • Caveat Viator
    Comments from the usual suspects, sitting constantly with their search engines and bots spidering the web for any mention of "jehovah" or "witnesses"; "wild waves of the sea that foam up their own causes for shame; stars with no set course . . ."
  • I worked at the Brooklyn Watchtower headquarters from 1974 to 1980 and was one of their factory overseers for 3 years. While the buildings look nice and the people friendly, most do not know that they are a hard-line authoritarian religion that is currently struggling with the issue of covering over multitudes of pedophiles in their midst, who they will not expose or kick out without having "two witnesses" to the sordid act. They are downsizing and losing members, and have recently been selling off property in Brooklyn Heights area for more cash.
  • So do they not pay taxes to local, state, and federal? Does anyone know if this is for a certain period of time?
  • DannyHaszard
    Who are Jehovah's Witnesses?

    Up close and personal Jehovah's Witnesses can be wolves in sheep's clothing.

    Think about this-When the devil comes knocking on your door he may not have the 'dark goth look'.They could be smartly dressed and wielding the Christian Bible.

    I have Jehovah's Witnesses family in the USA who practice the Watchtower JW enforced ritual shunning that i have not seen or heard from in 15 years.

    The central core dogma of the Watchtower is Jesus second coming (invisibly) in 1914 and is a lie.Jehovah's Witnesses are a spin-off of the man made Millerite movement of 1840.

    A destructive cult of false teachings, that frequently result in spiritual and psychological abuse, as well as needless deaths (bogus blood transfusion ban).

    Yes,you can 'check out anytime you want but you can never leave',because they can and will hold your family hostage.

    The world has the Internet now,and there are tens of thousands of pages up from disgruntled ex-Jehovah's Witnesses like myself who have been abused by the Watchtower cult.

    Jehovah's Witnesses are often a mouth that prays a hand that kills.The Watchtower is a truly Orwellian world.
    ----
    Danny Haszard Jehovah's Witness X 33 years and 3rd generation www.dannyhaszard.com
  • DD
    They also pay no taxes, help no commerce, and give nothing back to the local community.
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