bushwick

AND OTHER BUSHWICK MANSIONS

"Few men in all history ... have ever been made to suffer so bitterly and so inexpressibly as I because of the assertion of my achievement."

Was Dr. Frederick A. Cook the first American to climb Alaska's Mount McKinley and the first explorer to reach the North Pole? Or, was he, as some detractors assert, a fake and a phony?

courtesy Peter Sefton

After Cook returned to the USA in the late 19-oh's, New York City seemed to fall squarely in the pro-Cook camp, as this celebratory arch emblazoned with the words "We Believe In You" attests.

Courtesy Peter Sefton

Today, Frederick A. Cook's mansion is abandoned and deteriorated. For awhile it had served as a neighborhood clinic, but these days, it awaits an angel.

For a time, Cook resided in this mansion on Bushwick and Willoughby Avenues in Brooklyn. He died in New Rochelle, NY in 1940.

Whether Cook was the true discoverer of the North Pole should be left to historians to decide.

What concerns your webmaster today is his house in Bushwick, for it symbolizes this Brooklyn neighborhoods's steep decline and efforts to revive. Today we'll look at what became of Dr. Cook's mansion and others along Bushwick Avenue, as well as a foray or two elsewhere in this fascinating--if little- mentioned-- enclave.

In mid-2006, the planks had been removed from the windows and it appeared to be in rehabilitation. We can hope.

Bushwick, in northeast Brooklyn, is surrounded by Bedford-Stuyvesant on the west, Williamsburgh on the north, and Ridgewood to the northeast. Like many names in Brooklyn, "Bushwick" is derived from Dutch and means "town in the woods." Once a separate town in Kings County, it became a part of Brooklyn in 1869.

Bushwick boomed in the late 1800s when German immigrants opened large breweries in the area, which were very profitable; brewers were able to build large, imposing mansions built in the exuberant, baroque Beaux Arts style of the day. Subsequent waves of immigration brought Italians and Latinos to the area.

After the breweries closed or moved, starting in the 50s and continuing into the 70s when all were gone, Bushwick suffered a slow decline, culminating in July 1977 when, during a blackout, Bushwick , in effect, was destroyed by arson and looting. Broadway, which with Bushwick Avenue comprise the main arteries of Bushwick, are still attempting to recover from the destruction that happened in just one night. On this page we'll look at some of Bushwick's gems which should be the keystones in such a comeback.

A once-grand dwelling in similar condition to Cook's old digs is just across Willoughby Avenue.

A bit further up Bushwick Avenue, on Meserole Street, a building's sign testifies Bushwick Avenue's old name: The Boulevard.

a World War I memorial statue in the shadow of the Myrtle Avenue el gazes balefully at the Cook ruin located across the street from it.

Bushwick Avenue, though, offers few more of the ruins shown above. May of Bushwick's old mansions are now in surprisingly good condition.

(LEFT) This 1890 shingle-style home, built for a Charles Lindemann in 1890, was recently restored. (ABOVE) the 1890 Doerschuck House was built for a brewer, as were many mansions on Bushwick Avenue.

This mansion was built for Thomas Bossert in 1898; Bossert went on to build Brooklyn Heights' Bossert Hotel.

John Hylan, NYC mayor from 1918 to 1925, lived at 959 Bushwick Avenue (the brownstone one over from the extreme right).

Hylan paid particular attention to transit issues during his tenure (he used to operate a loco on the Brooklyn els). He opposed raising the 5-cent fare, and, some say, had a hand in nixing the expansion of subway service to Staten Island. It seems fitting, then, that Staten Island's longest boulevard is named for him.

This house at 1080 Greene Avenue at Goodwin Place is of particular note, since it's been allowed to deteriorate with many of its original features intact, preserved in amber, as it were.

(ABOVE) Original lunettes and God knows how old lace curtains.

(RIGHT) Original iron fence, not painted in decades.

The first floor is used as a storefront church, but the top floors seem unused for now.

Flecks of its original red-and gold paint job are still there on the bay window.

Of all Bushwick streets, Linden Street is particularly gracious. The crenellation on the mansard roof (LEFT) has been allowed to remain, while these town houses have their original iron fences, which have been maintained through the decades.

The South Bushwick Reformed Church at Bushwick and Himrod dates to 1853. Note the Ionic columns. These days it could use a paint job. Himrod was the name of its first minister.

The Bushwick is not the most imposing church in the area...

...That distinction goes to St. Barbara's Roman Catholic Church at Central Avenue and Bleecker Street. Among the tallest buildings in Brooklyn, it can be seen from all over Bushwick.

St. Barbara's was built in 1910. A major contributor was Leonard Eppig, a local brewer whose daughter's name was Barbara.

(ABOVE) St. Barbara's dome

(LEFT) Detail work on pillar

St. Barbara's is, if anything, more imposing inside than out, with gilding, stonework, stained glass and a magnificent pipe organ. It should not be missed if you're in Bushwick.

Next door to St. Barbara's, a stained-glass house number echoes the church's detail.

On Broadway and Arion Place is the hulk of the old Arion Mannerchör, Bushwick's foremost German singing society. It later became a mansion and catering hall, but these days, it's a handyman project.

Arion Place's former name can still be seen on an adjoining brick wall.

The building is rich in detail of its musical past; German initials, top, and lyre-shaped ironwork on the fire escapes.

Vicelius and Ulmer's Continental Lagerbier Brewery, on Beaver and Belvidere Streets. William Ulmer's old mansion is nearby.

An early telegraph office on Belvidere Street

E me at kevin@forgotten-ny.com


	In mid-2006, the planks had been removed from the windows and it appeared to be in rehabilitation. We can hope.