Red Hook is a neighborhood of Brooklyn that is undergoing accelerated change. It was called Red Hook ( Roode Hoek) by the Dutch, who settled there in the 1630s, for its red soil and for a spit of land that juts out into the water in the shape of a hook. During the American Revolutionary War, Fort Defiance was located in Red Hook, but it was only an earthen work and its location has been lost over time. In the mid 1800s, the area was developed as a shipping center, which is why it has so many warehouses. Today, many artists reside in Red Hook because of the abundance of warehouse space for studios. Also, housing is less expensive than some other neighborhoods of Brooklyn. It was a rough area for crime, but that too is changing. The settings for the movie “On the Waterfront” (although not filmed in Red Hook) and Arthur Miller’s play, “A View from the Bridge” were in Red Hook. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy damaged many facilities located next to the water’s edge. A considerable number of new warehouses and some new apartment buildings are replacing the old warehouses, some of which dated back to the mid 19th century.
Retired cranes on piers in Erie Basin, Red Hook. The local waters were known as Erie Basin because many goods flowed in and out of the harbor from the mid-west to the east coast through the Erie Canal. Items were stored in warehouses in Red Hook before being distributed elsewhere.
The cranes in the photo were part of a “dry dock” for ship building and ship repair but it was filled in to make a parking lot for a large Ikea store, built in 2008. The cranes are from the 1940s. The iron to build them was from a factory in Duluth, MN, according to signage by the cranes. The biggest crane could lift 50 tons (equivalent of 10 SUVs). In 1957, one of the cranes rolled off the end of the pier.
Red Hook still has an active area for loading/unloading freight from ships, as shown by one of the container cranes on the right.
Coin operated binoculars with some snow frozen to its face in places. It’s pointed at the Statue of Liberty, which is in New York Harbor in the opposite direction from where the photo was taken.
Abandoned grain storage facility from the days when Red Hook was an active port for shipping.
This photo was taken June 14, 2020. It was a storage warehouse being torn down to make room for a large UPS distribution center that did not materialize. Many other old warehouses from multiple blocks have also been pulled down as well. Publications that I used to promote at my last job were stored in this building.
Another civil war era warehouse near the one with the Fairway store in it. Spaces in these buildings are rented to small businesses such as vintners, coffee roasters, glass blowers, and so on. The photo was taken at low tide.
Continuing the theme of old buildings, this is another that has a red brick base but was painted over with blue giving it a speckled multi-colored look.
76 Van Dyke Street was the Brooklyn Clay Retort and Fire Brick Works Storehouse. It’s currently occupied by Carvat, an architectural glass company. The building is constructed of rough-cut stone . The symmetrical design and workmanship are evident. It is a lone survivor of the fire clay brick industry once located in Red Hook. A metal plaque to the right of the doorway notes the building’s landmark status.
This view is from the exterior stairs of Ikea, which opened its doors in Red Hook in 2008. The parking lot used to be a dry dock for building and repairing ships for about 140 years. It fell into disuse and decay around the 1960s. Ikea bought the land as part of a larger footprint to support the store but, in a nod to the historical significance of the area, created a park along the waterfront (not shown) and restored some historical elements from ship building days. The warehouses in the background were shown in previous images. To the left jutting out in the water is the end of the “hook” (rest not pictured) from which the Dutch gave the neighborhood its name.
There were many abandoned lots in Red Hook but they’re fast disappearing. Construction fences where building is going on usually are wrapped with privacy screens. On a very windy day in winter, this screen became detached and was flapping in the wind like a flag,
Abandoned football field close to the large grain storage facility posted several slides above. The soil was deemed to be contaminated (as are local baseball and soccer fields), so it’s been fallow for years, and now overgrown with weeds. I believe there are plans to do something with the soil, but it’s taken a very long time to address.
A flock of birds resting on the fence surrounding the abandoned football field.
A tree with shadowy branches.
Guy repairing his car on the street with a Police Athletic League decal in his window and what seems to be a passenger, both possibly to discourage an intruder while it sits on the street at night.
While driving through a section of Red Hook, I saw this gentleman walking the streets smoking a cigarillo and wearing ear muffs that were similar to the collar of his coat. By the time I found a parking spot and walked back to the spot where I saw him, he was no where to be found. I waited around a bit and then all of a sudden he appeared. I asked him if I could take a photo of him and he agreed.
A wooden gate to the yard of Pioneer Works, a non-profit arts organization that has art installations of artists. The wooden gate has been removed.
This poster is pasted to the wooden gate (shown above) to Pioneer Works. It’s a strange poster. There are swords that appear to be jabbed into a severed rams head with a crown on it. The guy sitting behind is wearing a headdress of roses/flowers and the scene is surrounded by skull and cross bones.
Metal sculpture in a person’s yard.
In the same yard as the dragon above, is a metal sculpture of a chrome skeleton riding a horse, a symbol of the plague in the “dark” ages. In the corner is a knight in armor holding a chain that is linked to the horse.
This street art is located next to the metal sculpture yard in the previous slide. Hektad is the name of the street artist who painted the figure in black on the yellow background.
Image of an eagle and the twin towers on the side of a building with the words RUMOR on the particle wood fence surrounding the adjacent empty lot. Not sure if the words are meant to imply the possibility of a conspiracy theory regarding the collapse of the twin towers on 9/11/2001.
I was underneath Red Hook playground equipment while melting snow from a recent storm was dripping down into a puddle. I was attracted to the colors of the equipment reflected in the water. Using a fast shutter speed, the water splashes are frozen highlighting what seems to be a man’s face with eyes, nose and beard.
This is the Lehigh Valley 79, a Hudson River railroad barge that was used to deliver goods on the Hudson River from 1860 to 1960. It was rescued from disintegrating in the mud in New Jersey by David Sharps. It’s now a museum, which sponsors performances on the barge for school kids and the public. Sharps became attracted to shipboard living while performing as a juggler and clown on cruise ships in the late ‘70s. He then lived aboard a barge on the river Seine in Paris while studying theater at the prestigious École Jacques LeCoq. Later, he found the forlorn Lehigh and resurrected it to what it is today. I went to a performance on the barge years ago. Both rear doors on each side of the barge were open so there was lots of fresh air flowing through during a comedy skit that was being put on. All of us watching were shocked when one of the actors decided to jump through the open door and into the water below (as part of the act). When he climbed back on to the barge, we gave him a well-deserved applause. We certainly weren’t expecting someone to jump overboard. To the right of the barge off in the distance is the Statue of Liberty.
