With climate change at the forefront of the national conversation and April 2020 marking the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, it's high time to take a dive into Brooklyn's environmental history. This City Story explores the impact of industrialization along Brooklyn's waterways, sites of notorious pollution, sustainability challenges, the effects of increased temperatures on our coastlines, and the changing ecology of our urban landscape.

The stoop is a coveted treasure in all of New York's boroughs. Let's take a look at what residents passionately call "stoop culture" through the years.

View from Highland Avenue, looking toward New York Harbor, ca. 1870.

Monument of the Cary sisters, ca. 1875. Poets Alice Cary (1820-1871) and Phoebe Cary (1824-1871) were important nineteenth century literary figures, leading the cultural circle known as the “Cary Salon” in their Manhattan home. When Alice succumbed to illness is 1871, her funeral, according to Horace Greeley was attended by more distinguished men and woman, and a larger audience, than any other funeral of which he knew. Phoebe was in good health until her sister’s death; her sorrow thereafter was so intense that, within five months, she passed away, joining her sister at Green-Wood. (Lot 13769, Sec. K)

View of Battle Avenue, ca. 1860, from the main entrance of Green-Wood. This photo may have been taken when the main entrance arches of Green-Wood were still under construction. At this time, the area to the left of Battle Avenue contained worker housing, stables, and storage sheds, which can be seen at the far left in this photograph.

Green-Wood Cemetery Gates ca. 1865 One of the most splendid monuments of Brooklyn, this unique entrance to the cemetery combines offices, gates, a clock tower, and a spire in one imposing structure. It was designed by Richard Michell Upjohn, the son of the leading architect of the Gothic tradition in New York. The younger Upjohn also designed the Connecticut State Capitol at Hartford.

Growing plants in the Northeast year-round is no mean feat! Here is a look at greenhouses of all stripes throughout the city.

Monuments to William Henry Wallis and family, ca. 1875. (Lot 1209, Sec. 108/109)

Weir's Greenhouse ARCHITECT: G. Curtis Gillespie DATE: 1895 The Weir Greenhouse is among the rarest of nineteenth-century survivors; it is the only Victorian commercial greenhouse known to be extant in New York City. Although the forms and massing of the greenhouse are bold and impressive, the detailing is simple and straightforward. The greenhouse is a wood- frame structure enclosing glass panes, and has glass and galvanized-iron roof surfaces. The double-entry doors are flanked by wide window expanses with transoms. A frieze and cornice separate the transoms from a narrow clerestory. The sloping roof is capped by an octagonal cupola with a ball finial.

View of the New York Harbor from Battle Hill in The Green-Wood Cemetery, looking down from Fern Avenue, ca. 1875.

Lot of the Spencer family, ca. 1875. (Lot 15471, Sec. K)

Monument of John W. Schmidt (1777-1853), ca. 1875. (Lot 247, Sec. 123)

View from Bay Grove Hill, looking toward Green-Wood's main entrance, ca. 1875. Several of the monuments along Arbor Avenue, running through the center of this photograph, are still standing today, including the urn-topped monument of Clarkson Crolius (1773-1843) visible on the left. The mausoleum in the foreground is gone; a garden is now there.

Monuments to William Henry Wallis and family, ca. 1875.

Main Entrance Gates of The Green-Wood Cemetery from Bay Side Avenue, ca. 1870.

Green-Wood, with more than 600 mausoleums and other buildings, offers a spectacular display of nineteenth-century architectural styles. On the streets of New York, tearing down buildings every generation and replacing them with "the latest" has become something of a habit. But at Green-Wood, once a building goes up, it almost always stays up. Want to see what NYC's buildings looked like more than a century ago? You've come to the right place! This tour, a walk of about a half-mile, offers you a stroll through a quiet landscape as well as fascinating information about each of the five intriguing stops along the way. In order to walk it, you will proceed up the incline of Battle Hill to near the highest point in Brooklyn. Your legs will thank you! And if you would like to explore more of Green-Wood, get our app at the App Store. Trees, monuments, great stories, and more!

Mausoleum of tobacconist John Anderson (1812-1881), ca. 1870. John Anderson’s Greek Revival Tomb, in the form of a Greek Temple, is dated 1864 above its door. Greek Revival architecture, sometimes referred to as “columnar,” was particularly popular in America in the 1830’s and 1840’s. It conjured up America’s role as the successor to ancient Greece as the bastion of democratic Ideals, and was associated with the latest social movements. This architectural style was particularly appropriate for Anderson’s tomb, for he used his great wealth to support a variety of progressive causes. Greek Revival features of this tomb include its fluted columns, ionic capitals, pilasters, pedimented gable, heavy cornices with unadorned friezes, and horizontal transoms. The four statuettes, two in front and two in back, are of the evangelists, Matthew Mark, Luke and John, and are signed by their sculptor, and the designer of the tomb, John M. Moffitt. (Lot 13724, Sec. K/111)

"Portion of Weir's Greenhouse at southwest corner of 25th Street and Fifth Avenue, 1960." Weir's Greenhouse is the only 19th century commercial greenhouse structure to survive in New York City. It was in 1895 by James Weir Jr., whose family was in the local horticultural business. The original greenhouse on this site was built in 1880 by a prominent architect named Mercein Thomas, who is better known for his Romanesque Revival Brooklyn homes. The current structure was an 1895 alteration of the original building, though it is believed that very little of the original structure was retained during the construction. This wood, glass, and iron structure served visitors to Green-Wood Cemetery for nearly a century, and likely survived, while other nearby greenhouses disappeared, because of its location directly across the street from the cemetery's main entrance. In February 2012 the cemetery acquired the greenhouse and with a grant from New York State’s Regional Economic Development Council, they plan to restore the structure and use it as a visitors center and exhibition gallery.

Lot of the Spencer family, ca. 1870.

Green-Wood Cemetery Gates, 25th Street, 1899. The Gothic Revival entrance gates and clocktower were designed by the firm ecclesiastical architect Richard Upjohn and son Richard M. Upjohn — both Brooklyn residents, later interred at Green-Wood — and completed in 1865. As described the Landmarks Preservation Commission's 1966 Designation Report, the Upjohn-designed entrance "represents an ingenious linking together and piling up of architectural elements to create an impressive main gateway to the cemetery." Green-Wood's gates are also home to an unexpected population of cemetery guests: a colony of monk parakeets, allegedly escapees from an illicit shipment to Idlewild Airport (JFK).

Monument of William and Betsey Dunley, ca. 1860. (Lot 3320, Sec. 109)

View of John Anderson's monument from the front, with small tree to the right and Green-Wood's main entrance gates in the background, ca. 1875.

Monument of Gordon Webster Burnham (1803-1885), brass and copper manufacturer, by the prolific sculptor John Moffitt, circa 1870. This scene, at Battle, Fern, and Mulberry Avenues, shows the monument of Colonel Abraham Vosburgh (1825-1861), by sculptor Patrizio Piatti, topped by an eagle at the far right, the mausoleum of Thomas Clark Durant (1820-1885) near the center, and New York City’s Civil War Soldiers' Monument at the left. (Lot 17609, Sec. 123)

View north down Battle Avenue, from in front of the mausoleum of John Anderson (1812-1881), ca. 1865. One of the original entrances to Green-Wood, located at 24th Street and Sixth Avenue, predating the Gothic Arches, is still visible in this image, at the far right.

While most of this series has focused on some of New York's interior spaces as we've been stuck in our apartments, we thought for this one we'd try something different. So we've turned our gaze to some of the best places for New Yorkers to escape to: the parks of New York! Specifically, how three of New York's most iconic parks connect.

Founded in 1838 and now a National Historic Landmark, Green-Wood was one of the first rural cemeteries in America. By the early 1860s, it had earned an international reputation for its magnificent beauty and became the prestigious place to be buried, attracting 500,000 visitors a year, second only to Niagara Falls as the nation’s greatest tourist attraction. Crowds flocked there to enjoy family outings, carriage rides, and sculpture viewing in the finest of first generation American landscapes. Green-Wood’s popularity helped inspire the creation of public parks, including New York City’s Central and Prospect Parks. This tour takes you through some of the monuments of Green-Wood and its famous denizens.

Monument to actor Bernard Flaherty, better known by his stage name Barney Williams (1824-1876). (Lot 13464, Sec. 111)