Brooklyn Heights

This neighborhood is remarkable for the success with which it has endured through good times and bad. During the 19th century, the prosperous farms and sprawling estates gave way to urbanization. The land was sold off and stately mansions and townhouses replaced them, as well as housing for the carriages and horses that were their transportation. 

Eventually the present Brooklyn Heights took shape. All but a few of the mansions were replaced by row houses; the stables became residential carriage houses, and “The Heights” became the desirable enclave next to downtown Brooklyn.

After a decline that threatened to turn it into a slum, and many of the townhouses were cut up into smaller apartments, it became the haven of artists and writers.  Today, the literati have been priced out and it has become a luxury enclave.  

Brooklyn Heights has been extensively photographed and written about, to the point where its history has become a familiar litany, with the same content repeated as a litany. But in our times, the changing environment is presenting challenges to the integrity of “The Heights.” Tall towers and highways threaten the borders, and the current urgent need for more housing. 

The dynamism of our times has created a need to report on the ways it is changing with the changes in our society. Most reports are mainly text with a few photographs attached. It is time for a new, mainly image based presentation of the Heights today.