Gilmore's Restaurant and Bar, July 8, 1962. East Flatbush was once home to a considerable Irish population. This two-story brick building, constructed between 1890 and 1905 (according to contemporaneous maps) has a number of uncommon features in comparison to even its similarly aged neighbors on both of its cross streets. The middle window on the Church Avenue facade has an arched, shell-decorated lintel, while the Rogers Avenue facade has an oculus, or small oval window. Like much of Brooklyn the demographics of the neighborhood have changed since this photograph was taken in 1962. Now a Caribbean neighborhood, the former Irish bar is now a well-known and loved Trinidad Roti Shop.

Flatbush Town Hall ARCHITECT: John Y. Cuyler DATE: c. 1875 STYLE: High Victorian Gothic Constructed on historic ground – near the site of the 1776 Battle of Long Island – Flatbush Town Hall is a red brick Victorian building with buff stone trim accentuated by a series of pointed window arches with carved drip moldings ornamented with bosses. A rear addition, consisting of a simple, brown-brick exterior with large, round-arched Georgian Revival windows, was built to house the Homicide Court in 1929-30.

Chapel and Sunday School of the Flatbush Dutch Reformed Church; May, 1923. The large Victorian Gothic chapel was erected in 1871 in order to provide more space for the congregation's Sunday School. It was razed and replaced by the present Church House in 1922.

Erasmus Hall High School 899 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn 1904 Founded in 1786 as a private academy, Erasmus Hall High School became the first secondary school chartered by the State of New York and earned the nickname “mother of high schools.” With the rapid growth of Brooklyn’s population at the turn of the 20th Century, the need for a larger school was met by C.B.J Snyder’s design to build a series of Collegiate Gothic style buildings surrounding the original Federal style building to form a quadrangle. These new buildings were built in phases as needed so that classes could continue uninterrupted in the older building. Both the Federal and Gothic buildings were landmarked by the City in 1966, and the original Academy building was also listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. Since 2010, the Landmarks Conservancy, in cooperation with the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President, has been an active advocate for the preservation and revitalization of the original Academy building. Notable alumni include Mae West, Barbara Stanwyck, Neil Diamond, Bobby Fischer, and Barbra Streisand.

Aftermath of a cave-in during subway construction on Nostrand Avenue, north of Beverly Road, July 14, 1916. Runoff from heavy rains on the afternoon of July 13 overwhelmed the Nostrand Avenue sewer system, destabilizing the pillars supporting the temporary wooden roadway. A BRT streetcar — carrying only four people, including crew, thanks to a timely evacuation order — fell through the roadway into the excavation cut.

Subway construction and operation is and has always been a complicated undertaking. Accidents happen, either through human error or mechanical failure. This collection looks at some of the transit system's early mishaps. 🚆💥

C.B.J. Snyder was an architect and mechanical engineer who served as Superintendent of School Buildings for the New York City Board of Education between 1891 and 1923. During his tenure he was responsible for the design and construction of more than 350 elementary, middle, and high schools in the five boroughs. Snyder is know for innovating the design and construction process. The resulting schools have been praised for their high quality, longevity, and architectural beauty. Snyder worked in a number of styles, favoring Beaux Arts, English Collegiate Gothic, and Renaissance Revival. Another feature of his buildings were their mid-block location, preferring to keep these places of education away from the busy, noisy, and (perceived) pollution of the avenues. He believed that schools were civic monuments that were necessary for a better society and he focused on health and safety issues, improving the fire protection, ventilation, lighting, and classroom size.

Ebinger Baking Plant, 1951. In 1898 George and Catherine Ebinger opened their Ebinger's Bakery on Flatbush Avenue near Cortelyou Road. Specializing in German sweets and pastries, their best-known confection was the Brooklyn Blackout Cake, a chocolate layer cake with chocolate fudge layers, and chocolate frosting covered with chocolate cake crumbs. Though likely produced in the early 20th century, the cake got its famous name during World War II when the city experienced blackout drills. Brooklyn became obsessed with Ebinger Bakery and the business expanded to more than 50 outlets. This large factory space in Flatbush was a complex constructed over 20 years. The first building, which fronts Snyder Avenue was completed in 1912 with an addition a year later. This building, at the corner of Bedford Avenue and Albemarle Road, was completed in the circa 1930. The business thrived through the early mid-century but came under fire for discriminatory hiring practices. The company declared bankruptcy and closed in 1972. Today this building is a storage facility.

🍰🍪🍰🍪 In 1898 George and Catherine Ebinger opened their Ebinger's Bakery on Flatbush Avenue near Cortelyou Street. Specializing in German sweets and pastries, their best-known confection was the Brooklyn Blackout Cake, a chocolate layer cake with chocolate fudge layers, and chocolate frosting covered with chocolate cake crumbs. Though likely produced in the early 20th century, the cake got its famous name during World War II when the city experienced blackout drills. Brooklyn became obsessed with Ebinger's Bakery, and the business expanded to more than 50 outlets in Brooklyn, Queens, and Nassau County. The business thrived through the early mid-century but came under fire for discriminatory hiring practices in the 1960s, and in the same decade, many of their longtime customers moved out of the city. The company declared bankruptcy and closed in 1972, though rumor has it that Entenmann's purchased their recipes.

Erasmus Hall High School, entrance, 1928. Across the Street from the Reformed Church of Flatbush's churchyard, between Flatbush, Bedford, Church, and Snyder Avenues, was Flatbush's prime educational institution, Erasmus Hall Academy, built in 1787. The school was the direct successor of the first public school in New Netherland dating from 1658, as explained on a plaque next to the entrance. The Livingstons and Vanderbilts led the effort to establish it as the first chartered secondary school in the state, with cross-cultural support from prominent citizens like Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, who himself had married into the prominent Dutch Schuyler family. With a rigorous classical curriculum, the academy not only provided a strong foundation for the professional advancement of Flatbush's sons, but also attracted pupils from across the region and the Anglo-Dutch indies. The original academy structure survives- a hidden and neglected historic gem embedded within the courtyard of the giant Erasmus Hall High School, a Collegiate Gothic-style structure begun in 1905. This public school replaced the academy and produced such famous alumni as Neil Diamond, Bernard Malamud, Beverly Sills, and Barbra Streisand.

Erasmus Hall Academy was founded in 1786 and was the first secondary school chartered by the New York State Regents. The land on which the clapboard structure was constructed was donated to the school by the nearby Flatbush Reformed Dutch Church. Originally a private boys school, it opened in 1787 with only 26 pupils. The school began admitting female students in 1801. In 1896 after decades of falling enrollment due to competition from the City of Brooklyn public schools, the trustees of Erasmus voted to donate the building to the public school system. After this donation and the consolidation of NYC two years later, enrollment boomed and a larger space was needed. In 1904, C. B. J. Snyder, the New York City Superintendent of School Buildings, presented plans to build a large Gothic style building. Called Erasmus Hall High School, it was built in four phases between 1905 and 1940. The original wood-frame building remains in the center of the newer building, and can be seen through the gates under the main tower on Flatbush Avenue.

Storefronts on the east side of Rogers Avenue, Flatbush; July 8, 1962

William Fox Albemarle Theatre, ca.1920. Designed in a modest French Renaissance Revival style, the building was created by Arthur Carlson and Harrison Wiseman, experienced theatre architects. Wiseman designed at least 22 theatres in New York City including a number of Yiddish venues on Second Avenue. A vaudeville and motion picture house, it was managed, initially, by producer William Fox. The movie house remained a single screen venue until a fire in 1984 heavily damaged the building. The theatre closed, was purchased by Jehovah’s Witnesses, and soon reopened as an Assembly Hall, which it remains today.