Dumbo NYC

Notes from the DUMBO, Brooklyn NY neighborhood


Dumbo Then and Now: Jay and Front Street Corner

March 14th, 2008


 1938 [+ enlarge]


 March, 2008 [+ enlarge]

In this series of “Dumbo Streetscapes Then and Now”, a 1938 photograph by Percy Loomis Sperr of the corner of Front and Jay Street looks southwest from the west side of Jay Street. A previous Then and Now post is also on the corner but facing northeast.

Both the old and new photos have some common elements: the Manhattan Bridge approach and the 110 York Street building on the left and the small sliver of the existing building at 126 Front Street (the building where Superfine and Spring are located) on the right. The 70 year old photo shows three 2-3 story structures replaced by a 33 story residential building, J Condo (100 Jay Street), built in 2006. In both photos, the fire hydrant stays where it is. The 110 York building is the Scarano Architect headquarters, which added the Jetsons-like structure on top.

On the back of the NY Public Library photo:
“Jay Street, west side, south from Front Street, showing in the background the approach to the Manhattan Bridge”, April 4, 1938

{New York Public Library photo of Front and Jay Street, 1938}
{Google Street View, corner of Jay and Front St.}
{Dumbo Then and Now, series, DumboNYC}

Filed in Dumbo Streetscapes, Front Street, Images, Jay Street, Then and Now at 11:47 am
Comments
  • anon
    "The 70 year old photo shows three 2-3 story structures replaced by a 33 story residential building, J Condo (100 Jay Street), built in 2006."

    to be (picky picky) fair, i think the J condo didn't really replace these buildings as they were already gone. which in and of itself is a little disappointing, the old character of dumbo is quite nice.
  • sg
    I wish they would scrape off the asphalt to bring out the cobblestone again
  • loose stool
    I wish they would scrape off the J Condo so we could smell the horse shit again.
  • BrooklynLove
    pretty cool.
  • rascal
    On the empty lot seen in the 1938 photograph once stood one of Brooklyn's earliest Roman Catholic churches, which served (circa 1850) the area's predominantly Irish population. At that time a road bisected the block (along where the stretch of widows can be seen in the low brick structure), called Franklin Place. The brick buildings seen here on the South end of the block are later additions--perhaps 1880s.
  • Andrew Porter
    There are hundreds of photos of this area in the New York Public Library's "Digital Library", from about 1870 through the 1930s. Go there and browse to your heart's delight.
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