The Bay Ridge Canon: Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane (interview)

September 24, 2019September 24, 2019 Henry Arts, Culture Ask Again Yes, Bay Ridge Canon, Mary Beth Keane

Talking to the author of one of the year’s buzziest books about its use of Bay Ridge as one of many settings.

The Hidden Histories of the Step Streets and Glorious Mansions on Bay Ridge’s Eponymous Ridge

December 3, 2018December 3, 2018 Henry Culture, History, Places 122 76th Street, 130 74th Street, 131 76th Street, 74th Street, 75th Street, 76th Street, Charles Warbasse, George Andrews, George Fletcher, the 74th Street stairs, the 76th Street stairs, the ridge

Everything you could want to know about the 74th Street and 76th Street stairs, including who built and lived in the houses above them.

The Full, Epic History of “Cannonball Park”

October 29, 2018October 29, 2018 Henry Culture, History, Places 101st Street, Cannonball Park, Church mansion, Crescent Athletic Club, Dover Patrol monument, Fort Hamilton army base, Fort Hamilton Park, Fort Hamilton Parkway, Fort Hamilton village, John Paul Jones Park, parks, protest, shore road, Verrazano Bridge, Vietnam War

A few acres at the tip of Bay Ridge provide a microcosmic history of that part of the neighborhood, from Coney Island-like amusements to Vietnam-era protests.

True Crime Bay Ridge: The Abducted Teenage Bride of PS 104

July 30, 2018November 2, 2018 Henry Culture, History 90th Street, Forest Place, Frances Trotter, Joseph Moltato, Newark, Nicholas Trotter, PS 104

Frances Trotter was 14-years-old when she disappeared after school one afternoon. Her cousin, who also disappeared, was much older.

The Long-Forgotten History of Leif Ericson Park

July 17, 2018August 1, 2018 Henry Culture, History, Places 66th Street, 67th Street, Arnold Bergier, Bay Ridge High School, block associations, Community Board 10, Crown Prince Olav, Crown Princess Martha, drugs, Fiorello LaGuardia, Gilbert Sorrentino, John Hylan, juvenile delinquency, Leif Ericson Park, Norwegians, Paddy's Patch, Raymond Ingersoll, Rex Cole, Robert Moses, roller hockey, Rune stone, tennis courts, the Bay Ridge Parkway, tornado, Verrazano Bridge

The sprawling former parkway near the Bay Ridge northern border offers a microcosmic history of the community in the 20th century, from the Irish shantytown it replaced to the site of overdose and murder it became.

The First “Towers” of Bay Ridge

July 10, 2018February 26, 2019 Henry Culture, Featured Article, History 65th Street, 65th Street gas tanks, 66th Street, Brooklyn Union Gas, Eighth Avenue, gas tanks, John C. Gallo Baseball Field, Kings County Lighting Company, Leif Ericson Park, Ninth Avenue, Parkville Youth Organization, PS 264, the Dust Bowl

The literal rise and fall of the 65th Street Gas Tanks, which dominated the local landscape for decades.

The Fort Hamilton Armybase Should Close!

June 7, 2018July 18, 2018 Henry Activism and Volunteerism, Culture, Government and Politics, History, Outdoors and Rec, Places, Real Estate Fort Hamilton army base, parks

Reviving an idea more than a century old to abolish the military installation and build a public park.

How an Ancient Cemetery Survived in Bay Ridge

June 4, 2018November 28, 2018 Henry Culture, Featured Article, History Barakloo Cemetery, cemetery, Harmanus Barkaloo, John Mackay, Mackay Place, Narrows Avenue, Revolutionary War Cemetery, Simon Cortelyou, Xaverian

The Barkaloo Cemetery, home to at least one veteran of the American Revolution, has been at the corner of Mackay Place and Narrows for almost 300 years.

True Crime Bay Ridge: On Shore Road, the First Mafia Murder in New York

May 21, 2018February 26, 2019 Henry Culture, History 73rd Street, Barrel Murder, Benedetto Madonia, Columbia Street, Giuseppe Catania, mafia, Sack Murder, shore road, Sicilian immigrants, True Crime Bay Ridge, Vincenzo Trica, Vincenzo Troyia

In 1902, a few teenage boys swimming off 73rd Street discovered the almost-beheaded corpse of a Brooklyn grocer, which would lead police to one of the earliest organized gangs in the city.

The Bad Old Days: The Mad Mail Bomber Who Struck Bay Ridge

April 9, 2018August 2, 2018 Henry Culture, History, Public Safety 91st Street, Bay Ridge Community Council, Craig Kipp, Howard Kipp, Joan Kipp, The Bad Old Days, Zip-Gun Bomber

In 1982, a booby-trapped package killed a woman on 91st Street. A decade later, the killer struck again. And again. And again. And again.