In this series of “Dumbo Streetscapes Then and Now”, we are looking at photos down Adams Street, from the north side of York Street, showing the base of the Manhattan Bridge in the background. In the 69 year old photo, circa 1938, by P.L. Sperr, Adams Street used to be a block of manufacturing companies. The ad on the side of 70-72 Adams Street says:

J.B. Currie & Son
Manufacturers and Jobbers
Motor Truck Parts
70-72 Adams Street
Brooklyn, New York
Skid Chains – Truck & Passenger
we carry complete stock of
Johnson Automotive & Industrial
Bearings – [?] – Bar Bronze

The far building on the corner of Adams Street and Front Street (where today’s Forager Market at 56 Adams Street) still stands, mostly in tact with billboard and all, then and now.

The current location of one corner of Adams and York street is fenced off from the Beacon Tower (85 Adams St) construction. The top left corner of the 1938 photo shows the clock of the Clocktower building at 1 Main Street (click on photo to show larger version of photo), but is blocked off by the 84 Front Street building (The Nexus) in the current photo.

   April 5, 1938 (click on photo to show larger version of photo)

   January 21, 2007

[UPDATE: For those who say today's photo doesn't match the old photo, I couldn't take the exact angle as in the old photo. Otherwise it would have been blocked by a stop sign, the underpass of the BQE, and the construction fence of Beacon Tower. This is the point of before-and-after photos. Plus I never claimed to be a photographer.
-h]

{New York Public Library photo of York Street, north side, east from Adams Street}
{Dumbo Then and Now: Washington and York Street}
{Dumbo Then and Now: Plymouth Street West of Pearl Street}
{Dumbo Then and Now: Main Street, South From Front Street}

In this series of “Dumbo Streetscapes Then and Now”, we are looking at photos down Main Street, south from Front Street, showing the Brooklyn Bridge in the background. In the 80 year old photo, circa 1926, the street between Front and York Streets used to be a block of rowhouses with retail/commercial storefronts. They were probably torn down to make way for the Brooklyn Queens Expressway and the off-ramps. The current location of the block between York and Front Streets is a parking lot owned by the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The top left corner of the 1926 photo shows a tiny part of the crown of the 70 Washington Street building (click on photo to show larger version of photo). The background shows the Brooklyn Bridge at the center. The current photo shows Brooklyn Bridge behind the Brooklyn Queens Expressway and the off ramp of the Old Fulton Street exit. The parking lot is supposedly zoned for 8-9 story residential use, but not sure if any decision will be made to develop the lot. (Anyone have any ideas?)

   1926 (click on photo to show larger version of photo)

   December, 2006

{New York Public Library photo of Main Street Looking South from Front Street}
{Dumbo Then and Now: Washington and York Street}
{Dumbo Then and Now: Plymouth Street West of Pearl Street}

For the second in the series of “Dumbo Streetscapes Then and Now”, we are looking at photos down Plymouth Street west from Pearl Street. In the 68 year old photo, circa 1938, you’ll notice that the brown brick building on the right side of the photos is still in its original form (more or less) on the corner of Plymouth and Adams Streets. This building used to be part of Arbuckle Coffee Co. The Arbuckle Coffee Mill also occupied the Empire Stores for a number of years. In the foreground is Manhattan Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge tower is at the center of the photos. The Belgian block street is mostly paved over, but some eroded areas still show the original street blocks.

On the back: “Plymouth Street, west from Pearl Street, showing at the right of the Arbuckle Bros. Coffee Co. building. In order is also shown the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridge.
April 4, 1938″

Percy Loomis Sperr, 1890-1964 — Photographer

   1938

   September, 2006

{New York Public Library photo of Plymouth Street West Pearl Street}
{Dumbo Then and Now: Washington and York Street}

New York Public Library has a nice collection of old photographs of New York streets. There are some Brooklyn photos from the Dumbo and Vinegar Hill areas in the 1800′s and early 1900s. The area was known as Fulton Landing where the ferry dropped off passengers from Manhattan. Once the Brooklyn Bridge was built in the 1883, followed by the Manhattan Bridge in the 1909, Fulton Landing became a commercial area and Brooklyn Heights the residential area. To put things into historical perspective, take a look at the before and after.

For the first in the series of “Dumbo Streetscapes Then and Now”, we are looking north on Washington Street with York Street in the foreground. In the old photo, circa 1926, you’ll notice that 70 Washington Street and 81 Washington Street (Thompson Water Meter) buildings are still around, but the dark brick building on the near right corner of York and Washington is gone, to make way for the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Notice the old overpass between the Gair buildings past Front Street, no longer there. Also the electric wires have now moved underground.

1926

August 26, 2006

{New York Public Library photo of Washington Street and York Street}