Discovering Brooklyn: Cobble Hill
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Welcome back to our monthly series covering all of Brooklyn from Greenpoint to Sea Gate.
Start your tour of Cobble Hill from Cat Greenleaf’s quaint little three story townhouse at 10 Wyckoff Street between Court and Smith Streets. Right on those steps, with a cup of coffee in hand and her dog by her side, Cat leisurely interviews famous actors, talented musicians, and superstars as host of the Emmy Award winning show, “Talk Stoop.” Who knows, when you visit this neighborhood, you just might sight a celeb or two.
Walk over to Court Street and up to Congress (street that is) to Saint Paul’s Roman Catholic Church. The church is probably open; go inside. Take a look around at its beautiful interior, say a prayer, sit in quiet mediation, or visit the courtyard where Cornelius Heeney (1754-1848) is buried. Heeney who was born in Kings County, Ireland (how ironic!) and died in Brooklyn in May of 1848, was quite the philanthropist. He donated the land on which the church was built and founded the Brooklyn Benevolent Society that continues his humanitarian work today. For more information on Cornelius Heeney, visit: Brooklynbenevolentsociety.org.
At the corner of Court Street and Atlantic Avenue, see an impressive white brick building. This building is now a thriving Trader Joe’s grocery store filled with delicious foods and drinks from around the world. Before exchanging money for food stuff inside the popular grocery chain, money exchanged hands in another way here. 138 Court Street was formerly the Independence Community Bank originally chartered as the South Brooklyn Savings Bank.
The most interesting thing about this building is what’s inscribed on a plaque in the front right above a Trader Joe’s sign: “Near This Place During The Revolutionary War Stood The Ponkiesberg Fortification Which General George Washington Is Said To Have Observed The Fighting At Gowanus During The Battle Of Long Island August 27 1776. Erected In 1926 By The South Brooklyn Saving Institution.”
All around Cobble Hill, you’ll experience the old world blended nicely with the new. Another example, is the old double feature neighborhood Rio Theater on Court and Butler Streets. Presently, it is known as the Cobble Hill Cinemas. Upgraded and equipped with state-of-the-art technology, this fiveplex movie theater with over six hundred seats still maintains its old school feel.
“Cobble Hill was one of the first Brooklyn neighborhoods to have residences that were not private homes,” indicates the book, The Neighborhoods of Brooklyn, Kenneth T. Jackson, General Editor. American writer Walt Whitman urged developers to build decent and affordable housing for working class people. And in the 1870s, businessman Alfred T. White answered the call by building experimental tenements – Tower and Home Buildings.
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According to a Brooklyn Eagle article entitled, “Model Homes for the Poor,” dated May 17, 1900, members of the Tenement House Commission were well pleased with these buildings on Hicks, Baltic, and Warren Streets. 2 rooms at the Tower or Home building rented for $1.57 a week and 3 rooms for $2.13. If a tenant could afford to pay a month in advance, that tenant received a rebate of 10 cents (a pond of rice in 1900 was a whopping 7 cents).
Today the average price for a condo at the Cobble Hill Towers on Hicks Street is $346,918. What started out as progressive housing for the poor ended up as luxury condos for the rich. With the alarming numbers of homeless people in Brooklyn’s 67 shelters, those living on the streets, and those one paycheck away, the need for safe, clean, low cost housing is more pressing than ever.
According to City-Data, the population of Cobble Hill is 7,260 with white Americans making up the majority of the population. The median household income for this area in 2011 was $99,787 – for New York it was $55,246.
Cobble Hill, referred to as South Brooklyn on old maps, geographically has Brooklyn Heights above it, Boerum Hill to its right, the East River to its left, and below it is the neighborhood of Carroll Gardens. With Manhattan only minutes away, Cobble Hill is a sweet spot on the Brooklyn map.
Walk over to 197 Amity at Court Street. This house is the birthplace of Jennie Jerome. Jerome was a Brooklyn socialite who married Lord Randolph Churchill. This union produced a son who would play a major role in world history – Winston Churchill. As British Prime Minister, Churchill along with U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin successfully strategized militarily against Germany during World War II. They were known as “The Big Three.”
By now, you are probably hungry. When it comes to good eating, there is no successful strategy for selecting a great restaurant in Cobble Hill. There are far too many superb spots and the diversity in cuisines is breathtaking. OurBKSocial suggests you try a few different restaurants in Cobble Hill before selecting your favorite.
Cobble Hill offers you beauty, history, good food, and the latest trends. What more could you ask for? Take your time here absorbing it all in.
Meet you next month in Boerum Hill and just for fun, here is one of our favorite “Talk Stoop” interviews. You wouldn’t believe which celebs have been in Cobble Hill.
