History of Greenpoint

Greenpoint is the northernmost neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bordered on the southwest by Williamsburg at the Bushwick inlet, on the southeast by the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and East Williamsburg, on the north by Newtown Creek andLong Island City, Queens at the Pulaski Bridge, and on the west by the East River.

Originally farmland (many of the farm owners’ family names, e.g., Meserole and Calyer, still name the streets), the residential core of Greenpoint was built on parcels divided during the 19th century, with rope factories and lumber yards lining the East River to the west, while the northeastern section along the Newtown Creek through East Williamsburg became an industrial maritime reach.

Parks include McCarren Park (formerly known as Greenpoint Park), the neighborhood’s largest green space, and the smaller McGolrick Park (formerly known as Winthrop Park), which contains both the landmarked Shelter Pavilion (1910) (NRHP) and an allegorical monument (1938) to the USS Monitor ironclad ship.

The Greenpoint Historic District (NRHP) roughly bounded by Kent, Calyer, Noble, and Franklin Sts., Clifford Pl. Lorimer St. and Manhattan Ave.