v1973.5.5411115 Bedford Avenue YMCA, 1930 ca., v1973.5.541; Brooklyn Photograph and Illustration Collection, ARC.202; Brooklyn Historical Society.In 1853 the first YMCA in Brooklyn opened its doors.
Back then, the mission of the Young Men’s Christian Association was more evangelical than anything – but they did have a swimming pool and other such facilities. The Bedford Avenue branch opened in 1888 at its original location of 420 Gates Avenue in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant. As the population of the area expanded in size, so did the need for an even larger…
2009.004Manhattan Furrier, 2006, 2009.004.15; James and Karla Murray Counter Culture exhibition photographs, 2009.004; Brooklyn Historical Society.
This photograph shows the exterior of Manhattan Furrier, once located at 685 Manhattan Avenue in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Greenpoint.
A family owned and operated business since 1916, it unfortunately shuttered its doors in 2011, much to the dismay of their long-time customers. In NYC, the furrier trade reached its peak in the 1960s and 70s as fur coats were quite fashionable and all the craze. The 1990s gave way…