Brooklyn, New York - Oct. 2022 "When autumn leaves..."

We were planning an Autumn Brooklyn trip to visit Elliot. When we noted that the Municipal Art Society (MAS) was going to have a walking tour of Brooklyn’s Crown Heights, led by Suzanne Spellman & Morgan Munsey, we arranged our visit in order to participate in that tour. The tour was to be in the neighborhood of our apartment on St. Marks Avenue. An extra added attraction was that Zack Rhodes was going to lead a MAS Manhattan tour of Kips Bay/Murray Hill the following week. Also on the agenda was a side trip to Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. Going out of town midweek was now possible since the grandchildren were living in France & we had no grandparent duties. Our adventure to NYS & PA was from October 28th to November 7th. We managed to walk or hike from 3.5 to 8.5 miles a day. It was exhilarating, especially since we had perfect Autumn weather. This is the first in a series of blogs chronicling our experiences.

SFO

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You know that you're back in Brooklyn when you see this & hear the accompanying sirens.

Franklin Ave.

Grand Army Plaza farmers market.

The invisible woman.

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It was way busier than when we were last here in April 2022.

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This fire engine backed in & a few minutes later it wss off again on another call; sirens blaring. We never got a chance to ask what was happening the night before on St. Marks Ave.

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Founded in 1924, Congregation Kol Israel is the oldest continuously practicing Orthodox community in Brooklyn. “We are a diverse and welcoming Modern Orthodox Jewish community in Prospect Heights. We are now up to 75 member units and growing.”

So they say...

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It was so crowded & unmasked that I had to leave, after admiring the attire of two guys.

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Municipal Art Society (MAS) tour of Crown Hts. led by Suzanne Spellen & Morgan Munsey. Suzanne lived for over 30 years in Bed Stuy. & is an architectural historian. Morgan is an architect who lives & is a realtor in this neighborhood. On our April Bed Stuy. tour with them, Morgan surprised us with a visit into his brownstone home.

Sauzanne & Morgan led us east along St. Marks Ave.; an area popular in the 1890's to 1920.

Four Roses apartment Renaissance Revival c. the 1930's.

“St. Marks Avenue between New York & Kingston Avenues is home to a number of interesting structures. Beginning in the 1890s, the avenue was considered one of the wealthiest in Brooklyn & certainly the most fashionable in this area. The avenue had a number of freestanding mansions set in landscaped gardens, as well as nice groupings of attached rowhouses. While most of the freestanding mansions were demolished to make way for middle class housing with the arrival of the subway in the early 20th century,” some beauties survive.

All these architectural accoutrements were purchased from catalogues.

Behind the tree are two homes. A wealthy dad built them. The smaller of the two, on the left without the fancy bay window, was for his daughter. So many great anecdotal stories from Suzanne & Morgan.

Roman brick was used in this c. 1899 building.

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Sazanne said that she grew up around here & has never seen the front of the house as it's always been hidden by foliage.

Somewhere along the way, this tudor style came into fashion.

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805 St. Marks Ave. c. 1925 with 200 units.

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Caged-in front door at 805 St. Marks Ave.

One of the foyers of 805 St. Marks Ave.

A view from the courtyard of 805 St. Marks Ave.

805 St. Marks Ave.

Across the street from 805 St. Marks Ave. is this, one of three c. 1930's homes. They all have driveways because automobiles were becoming prevalent by then.

Note that the building next door was built around a corner of this home.

“One of the most recognizable buildings in the Crown Heights North Historic District, a High Victorian Gothic rock-faced brownstone called the Dean Sage House, could soon undergo significant changes. Located at 839 St. Marks Avenue, right across the street from the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, it was built for the aforementioned lumber magnate, a friend of Mark Twain, in 1869-70. The house was purchased in 1998 by the nonprofit Institute for Community Living and currently houses developmentally disabled adults.” The development of this property is being legally challenged.

I never saw a car door handle accessorized like this.

“Founded in 1899 as the world’s first children’s museum.” “The Rafael Viñoly Architects current design of the original 1977 building combines bold & colorful forms with sustainable design.”

Another father-daughter house. Once again the daughter got the smaller side.

c. 1898 building with King Kong in the garden.

Once again Morgan had a surprise for this tour. His colleague, Malika Oyo showed us this 7,000 sq. foot c. 1899 home.

The price has been reduced to about $2.6 milliion but would need at least a million to fix up.

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The expansive view from the 2nd floor deck, goes from downtown Brooklyn (the Brooklyn Tower) to Midtown Manhattan (432 Park Ave.).

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c. 1901 in Renaissance Revival style. "Built for Bernard J. Gallagher. He was one of Brooklyn’s leading movers and shakers in Democratic politics during the 1890s." This is a father-son house with equal sizes for both. The left side is currently occupied by a 93 year old woman who’s lived there all her life.

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The couple in front of the umbrella were visiting from Adelaide, Australia. They accosted us, noting by my photo taking, that were were likely tourists as well. They were off next to Madison Sq. Garden to see a boxing match!