Fulton Ferry Landing

Manhattan skyline as seen from Brooklyn Fulton Ferry landing area, ca. 1975, v1989.18.56; DUMBO, Brooklyn waterfront photographs and slides, Joseph Maraio, V1989.018; Brooklyn Historical Society.

This week's post comes from our CHART intern, Twila Rios, who is currently digitizing and cataloging the DUMBO, Brooklyn waterfront photographs and slides by Joseph Maraio.

What a difference a few decades make.  This is a picture of a new park deck circa 1975 in the Fulton Ferry area of DUMBO. The two people strolling on the deck are probably enjoying views of the Twin Towers, the Woolworth Building (behind that tree), the Brooklyn Bridge and the rest of Manhattan’s skyline.  They are also ignoring the No Trespassing signs that are still posted!

Brooklyn Historical Society’s Water Street Associates collection on the Fulton Ferry Landing proposal  (1990.027) contains the architectural plans proposing a renovation of the Fulton Ferry area, dated 1971, at which time the area shown in the above photograph was a parking lot; not a park deck. Now part of the Empire-Fulton Ferry Park, this picture indicates that this part of the waterfront was identified as a locale in need of renovation more than once: in 1971 and its more recent proposal that we enjoy today. As of Fall 2012, the same view of the Manhattan skyline is dominated by the in-process One World Trade Center and the twists and turns of Frank Gehry’s Beekman Tower.

Interested in seeing more photos from BHS’s collection? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images. To search our entire collection of images visit BHS’s Othmer Library Wed-Fri, 1:00-5:00 p.m.