A Choice Tidbit From The New York Times Archives

Speaking as someone who has lived in north Brooklyn for ten years I remember a time when Williamsburg was more or less defined as the first four stops on the L train— no “ifs” “ands” or “buts”. Over the ensuing years this has been expanded to include pretty much anything short of Ridgewood and given current trends they may very well be next. Only time will tell if my fair burgh will be rechristened “Williamsburg(h) Heights”. Lest the first three sentences of this post have not made it clear I have found a heaping help of black humor to be immensely helpful when living in the shadow such a capacious and rapacious giant. And what a shadow it is! Case in point:

I found this bad boy outside the Morgan Avenue stop of the L. Per the ad copy (which can be seen in larger format by clicking on the above image*) this Valhalla is located off the DeKalb Avenue stop of the L. Apparently eight stops out of Manhattan now qualifies as “East Williamsburg”. Albeit with a significantly smaller typeface.

Imagine if you will, dear readers, a time when real estate agents were not so fast and loose about “branding” a neighborhood  “Williamsburg”. A time when Williamsburgers didn’t even want to be called Williamsburgers; they wanted to be simple Brooklynites. There was such a time. What’s more, the New York Times documented it on February 23, 1896. Enjoy!

Found In Brooklyn, who took the above photograph, writes:

And this Toll Brothers monolith on the other side. Ewwwww. Can you imagine being one of the numbers living in there? This would fit in better in a business district of a city such as Phoenix or Miami but whatever it’s here and they are not selling like hotcakes.

Welcome to the newer conditions of society.

Miss Heather