This is a timeline and chronology of the history of Brooklyn, New York. Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's boroughs, and was settled in 1646.
1652 – The Wyckoff House is estimated to have been built in 1652, one of the first structures built by Europeans on Long Island. Only a small section remains from 1652.[1] It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1967.[1][2] and is owned by New York City but is operated by a nonprofit agency.
1654 - Municipal privileges of Brooklyn enlarged.[3]
1665 – perhaps Brooklyn's first murder trial, Albert Cornelis Wantenaer was found guilty of manslaughter for the death in Wallabout Bay of Barent Jansen Blom.[5]
1744 – Joost Van Nuyse House, original section was built in 1744 and enlarged between 1793 and 1806. It was moved to its present site in 1925. It is a 1+1⁄2-story frame house with a steeply pitched flared roof.[8] and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
1786 – Erasmus Hall High School – oldest public high school in the city, founded as Erasmus Hall Academy, a private school. Later joined by free academy in the 1840s as the first public high school, which later becomes City College of New York.[12] Wooden schoolhouse[13] was opened in 1787. Later wings were added and removed.
1790 – Small population recorded for the villages of Brooklyn and Brooklyn Heights on the western end of Long Island in the first decennial United States Census of 1790.
1797 – Population: 1,603 recorded in newly published reference book The American Gazetteer.[14]
1828 – New Utrecht Reformed Church established and is the fourth oldest church in Brooklyn. In 1828, The present church was built in 1828 of stones taken from the original church, built in 1700.
The Brooklyn Lyceum, later the Brooklyn Institute, is built at the intersection of Washington Street and Concord Streets.[29]
1837
The 9-gun, side-wheel steamer USS Fulton (Fulton II) is launched from the Brooklyn Navy Yard and is the first U.S. Navy steam-powered warship assigned to sea duty.
James Weeks, an African-American freedman from Virginia, buys the land which marks the beginning of Weeksville, which grows to be the largest independent Negro town in the nation before the Civil War
1839 – Cyrus P. Smith is elected the Mayor of Brooklyn and served from 1839 to 1841.
An area later designated as the Greenpoint Historic District was built up between 1850 and 1900.[40] & is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Samuel Smith is elected the Mayor of Brooklyn and just served one year, 1850.
Edward A. Lambert is elected the Mayor of Brooklyn from 1853 to 1854.
Brooklyn, Baltimore, named specifically after the New York town, established in Maryland. Later cities and towns adopt "Brooklyn" name, or "Brooklyn Park", "Brooklyn Heights", "Brooklyn Center", and "New Brooklyn" in Ohio, Minnesota, etc.
Brooklyn played a major role with its industrial resources and vast population in supplying troops and materiel for the American Civil War, with such regiments as the 14th Brooklyn, known as the "Red Legged Devils". They fought from 1861 to 1864 and wore red the entire war.
Samuel S. Powell is elected the Mayor of Brooklyn from 1872 to 1873.
1874
Construction starts on Ocean Parkway (Brooklyn) & extends over a distance of about five miles (8 km), running almost north to south from the vicinity of Prospect Park to Brighton Beach.
Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch dedicated to the memory of the veterans and the casualties from the Civil War of which the people and resources of Brooklyn, played a large part.
Brooklyn's expansion of its population and commercial/residential and industrial development had reached its natural municipal boundaries at the Kings County line with almost all of the available territory being "urbanized".
Lefferts Manor established, later becomes a national historic district in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Flatbush.
Luna Park is the name of two amusement parks in Coney Island. The first Luna Park existed from 1903 to 1944 on the north side of Surf Avenue. A second Luna Park was opened on the former site of the nearby Astroland amusement park on the south side of Surf Avenue, on May 29, 2010.[96]
Construction is complete on the Manhattan Bridge, third major East River span and a gateway into Brooklyn from Canal Street in lower Manhattan.
Shaari Zedek Synagogue was built in 1909–1910, a two-story rectangular brick building with cast stone trim.[101] and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
1912 – Brooklyn Music School founded and owns and operates a four-story building located at 126 St. Felix St. that contains twenty-four classrooms, three dance studios, and a 266-seat Spanish Style theatre.
Congregational Church of the Evangel, a historic Congregational church in Flatbush, Brooklyn & was built in 1916–1917 and is an asymmetrically massed Late Gothic Revival style building.
28th President Woodrow Wilson asks in April U.S. Congress to declare war on German Empire and later Austria-Hungary of Central Powers alliance, entering America into World War I. Industries, commerce and people of New York and Brooklyn enter into war mobilization until Armistice, November 11, 1918.
Buddy Hackett [born "Leonard Hacker"]; (August 31, 1924 – June 30, 2003): American comedian and actor in motion pictures, television and live acts and theatre, was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of a Jewish upholsterer. He grew up on 54th Street and 14th Avenue in Borough Park.[118][119][120]
Born in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn is actor, director and producer and live stage performances comedian Mel Brooks, who occasionally starred in his own produced features.[122] – actor, comedian, film director, film producer and screenwriter.
1929 – Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower was built. At the time of construction, it was the tallest office building in Brooklyn, at Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues.
1930s
1933
Born in Brooklyn is television talk-show host and interviewer Larry King –[126]
Woody Allen – Woody Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; December 1, 1935) is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, author, playwright, and musician whose career spans over 50 years is born in Brooklyn
Eddie Murphy is born in Brooklyn.[174][175] A comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician.[176][177][178] He was a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1980 to 1984 and has worked as a stand-up comedian.
Saint Ann's School, considered one of New York's most prestigious private schools, and well known for its lack of formal grading, is founded in Brooklyn Heights[182][183]
1967 – Wyckoff House was declared a National Historic Landmark.[1][2] The house is estimated to have been built in 1652, it is the oldest surviving example of a Dutch saltbox frame house in America, and was one of the first structures built by Europeans on Long Island.
1971 – The French Connection is filmed in Brooklyn and is an American dramaticthriller film about crime, detectives, and the increasing worldwide nature of drug smuggling.
1972
The Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York (A.R.T./New York), founded in 1972, A.R.T./New York serves nearly 400 not-for-profit theatres throughout New York City. Its South Oxford Space in the Cultural District houses twenty-one performing arts organizations.
Fulton Ferry District consists of 15 contributing buildings built between 1830 and 1895 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[21] The district was the site of the terminus of the Fulton Ferry.[4] Today the area holds many popular attractions such as Pier One of Brooklyn Bridge Park, and Grimaldi's pizza.
Wyckoff-Bennett Homestead was declared a National Historic Landmark.[1][2] Historians estimate that the Wyckoff-Bennett Homestead was constructed before 1766. During the American Revolution, it housed Hessian soldiers, two of whom, Captain Toepfer of the Ditfourth regiment and Lieut. M. Bach of the Hessen-Hanau Artillerie, scratched their names and units into windowpanes.
Saturday Night Fever, a musical film, starring John Travolta, in his break-out major role, is filmed in Brooklyn. Famous also for using the disco music soundtrack by The Beegees.
Astral Apartments, historic apartment building in Brooklyn & built in 1885–1886 as affordable housing for employees of Charles Pratt's Astral Oil Works was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982
1983
Astral Apartments (1885–1886) are designated a City Landmark.
Carroll Gardens Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Placesc and consists of 134 contributing residential rowhouses built between the 1860s and 1880s. They are two and three-story brownstone buildings in neo-Grec and late Italianate styles featuring uniform setbacks, even cornice lines and stoop levels, and fenced front yards and landscaped gardens.[197]
Cypress Avenue West Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places[21] and includes 440 contributing buildings built between 1888 and 1906. They consist mainly of brick two and three-story row houses with one apartment per floor and three-story tenements with two apartments per floor.
Boerum Hill Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and consists of 238 contributing residential rowhouses and a few commercial buildings built between 1845 and 1890. Most are three bay, three-story brick buildings with projecting stoops in a Greek Revival or Italianate style.[4]
Greenpoint Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, consisting of 363 contributing commercial and residential buildings built between 1850 and 1900, including both substantial and modest row houses, numerous walk-up apartment buildings, as well as a variety of commercial buildings including the former Eberhard Faber Pencil Factory, six churches, and two banks.[4]
Rockwood Chocolate Factory Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.[21] and consists of 16 contributing buildings built between 1891 and 1928. The largest and oldest building (Building 1 and 2) dates to 1891 and is located at the corner of Washington and Park avenues. It is a five-story, Romanesque Revival style building.[4] Much of the complex has been converted to loft apartments.
Weir Greenhouse, is a historic greenhouse located in Sunset Park, Brooklyn was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built in 1880 and significantly rebuilt and enlarged in 1895.[4]
1985
Clinton Hill Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is made up of 1,063 contributing, largely residential buildings.
Clinton Hill South Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and consists of 246 contributing, largely residential buildings built between the 1850s and 1922. It includes fine examples of Neo-Grec style row houses.
1987 – The movie Radio Days is filmed in Brooklyn and is directed by Woody Allen and is a movie that takes a look back on an American family's life during the Golden Age of Radio using both music and memories to tell the story.
1988 – 651 ARTS was founded and is committed to developing, producing, and presenting performing arts and cultural programming grounded in the African Diaspora, with a primary focus on contemporary performing arts. 651 ARTS serves the cultural life of New York City, with a particular focus on Brooklyn, one of America's most culturally diverse communities.
1989 - The movie Do the Right Thing, focused on racial tensions set in Bedford-Stuyvesant, was released. The movie has been named one of the best films of all time and is enshrined in the Library of Congress.
The Carey Playhouse is converted to the four-screen Brooklyn Academy of Music Rose Cinemas, home to BAMcinématek, featuring repertory, independent, and foreign films.
Brooklyn Academy of Music – BAMcafé Live begins programming free weekend music in the Lepercq Space
2001 – Brooklyn Cyclones – The team's new park, which was then called KeySpan Park, was completed in time for the 2001 season. Brooklyn had been without professional baseball since 1958.[201]
2002
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Governor George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2002 that created Brooklyn Bridge Park.[202]
The movie Deuces Wild is filmed in Brooklyn & is set in 1958 and Martin Scorsese was the executive producer.
Renovation of the 80 Arts – James E. Davis Arts Building, completed in Summer 2004, becoming the Downtown Brooklyn Cultural District's first completed project.
Steiner Studios Opens at the site of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The 310,000-square-foot facility is the largest and most sophisticated studio complex outside of Hollywood, offering five soundstages and state-of-the-art film and television production facilities. Steiner Studios
Construction starts at Northside Piers, a 29-story – 180-unit building of luxury condominium tower in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Opening of a 400-foot-long recreation pier with the city's finest waterfront sculpture, a dramatic, stainless-steel, curving canopy designed by Brooklyn artist, Mark Gibian and located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Steiner Studios was the location of the 17th annual Gotham Awards held on November 27, 2007.[211]
One Brooklyn Bridge Park, a building that converted 1,000,000+ square foot warehouse building located along Furman Street just south of Joralemon Street with over 400 residential units with 80,000 square feet of ground floor retail, and over 500 parking spaces.
The City Council adopted a plan calling for expansion of the historic amusement area at Coney Island and the creation of new housing and investment in municipal infrastructure.
In October, it was announced that Douglaston Development, which built the Edge, the adjoining property just to the north of Northside Piers, would build a 40-story rental tower on a site within the Northside Pier complex with construction scheduled to bring in March 2012.
The Brooklyn Flea opened the Williamsburg location.
In March 2012, Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled five new sound stages (a total of 30,500 square feet (2,830 m2)) at Steiner Studios.[219] The new sound stages all feature two or three wall cycloramas.[220]
On February 2, 2012, the Weir Greenhouse was purchased by the neighboring Green-Wood Cemetery, which plans to preserve the greenhouse and restore elements which have decayed in recent years.[221]
In December 2012, the city approved 50,000 square feet of new creative, cultural, and community space at the "South Site" located at Flatbush Avenue and Lafayette Street.
The landmarks commission designated a 16-block area bounded by Gates Avenue, Fulton Street, Bedford Avenue and Tompkins Avenue as the Bedford Historic District.[234] The 800 largely intact residential buildings represent various styles.
2017
The first of two replacement spans for the Kosciuszko Bridge open.[235]
^Taylor, B. Kimberly. "Erasmus Hall High School and Academy of the Arts" in Jackson, Kenneth R. (ed.) The Encyclopedia of New York City (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995) p.382
^ abHenry Reed Stiles (1884). "The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884". New York: Munsell. OL7020661M.
^Del Valle, Cezar Joseph (2010). The Brooklyn Theatre Index, Volume II; Manhattan Avenue to York Street. Theatre Talks, LLC. p. 200. ISBN9780982772416.
^US Dept of Veterans Affairs. Cypress Hills National Cemetery is closed to new interments. The only interments that are being accepted are subsequent interments for veterans or eligible family members in an existing gravesite. Periodically however, burial space may become available due to a canceled reservation or when a disinterment has been completed. When either of these two scenarios occurs, the gravesite is made available to another eligible veteran on a first-come, first-served basis.
^"BAMblog". Brooklyn Academy of Music. Retrieved September 19, 2012.
^Steve Voce (November 8, 1993). "Obituary: Adelaide Hall". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on May 7, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
^[3]The New York Times, nytimes.com Zander Hollander is born in Brooklyn, United Press International journalist and in the mid-1960s by becoming what Sports Illustrated magazine called "the unofficial king of sports paperbacks"
^"Sandy Koufax", by Jane Leavy, HarperCollins 2002, pp. 20, 29.
^Severo, Richard (July 1, 2003). "Buddy Hackett, Irrepressible Clown of Stage, Screen and Nightclubs, Is Dead at 78". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 20, 2010. Retrieved April 27, 2010. Mr. Hackett's career spanned more than half a century in nightclubs, movies, the stage and television. Of short stature and "plump" body style, his chubby, rubbery face was a familiar one on America's home screens in the 1950s and 1960s when he was a frequent guest on talk shows such as hosted by Jack Paar and Arthur Godfrey, along with his nasal whine and obvious "Brooklyn" or "New York" accented speaking.
^Smolenyak, Megan (January 27, 2014). "Jimmy Fallon Family Tree". Irish America. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
^Levy, Ariel (October 18, 1999). "Not Jerry Seinfeld". New York. p. 41. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
^"Amerika Müslümalar Birliği" (in Turkish). United American Muslim Association. Archived from the original on November 7, 2009. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
^Pluralism Project. "Brooklyn, New York". Directory of Religious Centers. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
Harrington Putnam (1899). "Brooklyn". In Lyman P. Powell (ed.). Historic towns of the middle states. New York: G. P. Putnam's sons. OCLC248109.
Published in the 20th century
Ernest Ingersoll (1906). "Greater New York: Brooklyn". Rand, McNally & Co.'s handy guide to New York City, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and other districts included in the enlarged city (20th ed.). Chicago: Rand, McNally. OCLC29277709.