Red Hook Brooklyn

Red Hook was established by the Dutch as a village in the late 1630’s. It was one of the earliest settlements in Brooklyn. It was named Red Hook or (Roode Hoek) because of the type of red clay soil and the fact that it was the premier import peninsula from the East River. At the Waterfront Museum located on Conover St. in Brooklyn there is a map from the mid 1700’s that shows Red Hook as one of the only inhabited villages in Brooklyn at the time. By the mid 1800’s the ports of Red Hook were not only the most prosperous in New York but for the entire country.

The projects were originally built for longshoremen and dockworkers. At one point Red Hook housed approximately 21,000 people. At the present time 8,000 people live in and around this tiny town hidden to tourism. Since Red Hook was officially created in 1936 the neighborhood has seen its ups and downs. It is now presently under major improvement and is already a lost paradise for those who choose to peruse through it.

Some of the super celebs of our nation once lived or began as residents of this haven. It’s the place where Al Capone got his start as a small time criminal and Carmello Anthony once lived in the projects and played basketball at Tee and Coffey Parks as a kid. Yolanda Vega, Ellen Cleghorne, Angie Hall, Matty Rich and Yvette Jarvis are just a few of the many stars that have emerged from this urban utopia.

Red Hook has become an isolated Eden due to the building of the Gowanus expressway and the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel in the mid 1950’s. These new additions to Brooklyn ran along Hamilton Avenue cutting Red Hook off from the rest of the borough. It has since changed very little in terms of development. It was once a tourism hot spot and has now become a neighborhood of history frozen in time. Almost completely untouched there are still cobble stoned streets and even trolley tracks embedded in the back blocks.

The unique structure and size of this community give it too much scenery to soak in on one visit. It holds 8,000 tenants, nine baseball diamonds, four piers, two elementary schools, mosaics, artistic structures, waterfront views, historic and patriotic elements, a recreation center fully equipped with a gym and public Olympic sized pool which anyone can access for merely 50 dollars a year, a community farm, bird feeders, a football field, a professional running track, a Snapple factory, a recycling center, both fire and police departments, four public parks with all of the amenities, a soccer field with turf instead of grass and much more. The pictures despite their beauty fail to capture anything compared to a visit. If a picture is worth a thousand words than a nice walk around this neighborhood is worth a novel.

Most of the major changes to this wonderland of history have come in the last decade. Ikea has provided an avenue for tourism by busing Brooklynites from all over the borough to browse and also making free ferry trips from Manhattan to Red Hook starting at 9:00am every morning free of charge.

The fields and parks have all been upgraded, the gym facilities have done away with the boxing ring that was in place since the 1960’s. It was replaced by a more professional style gymnasium with salsa, martial arts classes and even community discussion groups. The schools have amazing yards for the children to play. All of the piers are now almost breathtakingly beautiful and the arts and crafts have become historical and meaningful for residents and outsiders alike.

Every year on the waterfront there are festivals and shows for tourists, artists and residents. The Red Hook Waterfront Arts Festival, the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition exhibits, Red Hook Jazz festival, Red Hook Film Festival and the Young People’s Performance Festival are just naming a few of the extracurricular activities that have arrived in Red Hook post revival.

When people see Red Hook off to the side of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway most see a behemoth abandoned beauty of a building called the “Gray House” by the residents. This building is the Port Authority Grain Terminal that was originally constructed in 1922 as a means of importing and processing shipments of grain. Now it stands as a landmark and representative structure to the enduring history of change that has touched our borough for centuries. Red Hook has more Civil War warehouses than anywhere else in all the 5 boroughs.

The Louis Valentino Pier is one of the most attractive areas in all of Brooklyn. Located in the outskirts of the projects on the Coffey St. dead end or “the back” it has been rebuilt from wooden to wondrous yet kept it’s old world appeal in tact. If you took a photo on this pier you might catch an unexpected woman in the background of your picture. Her name is Lady Liberty and a clear view of her statue can be seen from Red Hook’s Valentino pier which adds to its remarkably majestic appeal.

If exploring our New York is an option then take a trip down Brooklyn’s memory lane and come across to the other side of Hamilton Avenue where the scenery is sure to surprise any and all bystanders who were once afraid to tour by rumor of slum and shanty. Walk or drive on cobble stones, see the trolley tracks, peruse the many piers and warehouses, fish, shop, play, exercise, photograph, write about and enjoy this secluded and stunning section of our city because it’s not poverty, its paradise.


Extra Special Thanks to:

Patrick Hickey Jr. of www.ReviewFix.com

Water Front Museum in Brooklyn

All of the employees of the Parks Department currently working in Red Hook as well as the entire staffs at Public School 15 and the Red Hook Rec Center and pool.

Also thanks to all of my followers. Please keep following as I will be updating once a week. It's still a debate as to which location to visit next so if you have any ideas or insights please feel free to post them here. Also for photos of the wonderful views and sights that Red Hook has to offer please visit the facebook page for Poverty or Paradise.