East New York is a dynamic and largely unrecognized jewel in New York City. In the mid 17th century, Dutch farming families began migrating here from the town of Flatbush, referring to the land as the “new lots,” and it was soon identified as a subsidiary of Flatbush. In 1852, residents deemed themselves independent and began to refer to the community officially as New Lots. Present-day East New York is part of what was once the town of New Lots. In 1886, New Lots was annexed to help form the city of Brooklyn, and in 1898, was annexed again when Brooklyn and the other boroughs were consolidated to become the City of Greater New York. In 1835, developers began buying farms in New Lots and laying out streets and lots. The area was prime for development due to the presence of the Jamaica Turnpike and the Long Island Railroad tracks along Atlantic Avenue. It was also a well-known destination for its two horse racing tracks, Union Course and Centerville Race Track (both demolished). The area’s most influential developer was a Connecticut merchant named John Pitkin, who purchased 135 acres and named his neighborhood East New York. The renaming was not only to set it apart for real estate purposes, but Pitkin envisioned a world-class and impressively-designed community filled with factories, shops and housing to rival New York City – an illustrious goal. Although Pitkin experienced significant losses during the financial panic of 1837, sales picked up in the mid-19th century and East New York became a thriving community even before neighborhoods much closer to Manhattan had even begun to be developed. Transportation improvements in the 1880s, including the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge and the introduction of steam cars and the elevated railroad on Atlantic Avenue, led to a building boom in East New York. Immigrants, including Germans, Italians, Russians and Eastern Europeans, migrated from crowded Manhattan neighborhoods to settle in the East New York countryside, in hopes of building a community where they would be free to communicate in their native languages, congregate and worship, patronize businesses catering to their cultural tastes and provide their children with opportunities to become skilled and educated citizens. By the 1930s, East New York was widely regarded as a stable, working class community, boasting of great housing stock, schools and low crime. After World War II, however, the neighborhood experienced a slow decline that it is still recovering from today. After the war, the city lost a great number of manufacturing jobs at the same time as large numbers of Puerto Ricans and African Americans were arriving in the city seeking employment. East New York was hit particularly hard in the 1970s by the FHA Mortgage Scandal and the unscrupulous and racially-charged real estate practice of “blockbusting,” which resulted in home foreclosure and abandonment. Unemployment, drug abuse and crime became commonplace in East New York, and its notorious reputation unfortunately lingers today. In recent years, East New York has begun to experience a rebirth. Vacant lots have been transformed into community gardens; well-maintained homes have helped to revitalize blocks; desolate sections under the elevated train tracks now exhibit vibrant murals; and diverse groups are working to enhance the neighborhood.

St. John's Lutheran, ca. 1905. Completed in 1898 for the German-speaking congregation of St. John's Lutheran Church, the English Gothic building was designed by an unknown architect. The community here thrived for the next six decades, but by the 1960s the German parishioners had largely moved away. The church was disbanded in 1972 and the structure was sold to the Grace Baptist Church of Christ, an African American congregation, which still occupies it.

The Lutheran Hospital was opened in 1881 and closed in 1979. It served the community of East New York for almost 100 years. An article from the New York Times in August 1979 chalked up its closure to an outstanding debt of two million dollars. According to the executive director, "the hospital was receiving $168 a day per patient...while others were getting an average of $225 to $250." On August 15th, 1979, the hospital was forced to close abruptly, leaving hundreds of staffers and professionals demanding their final paycheck. The hospital was demolished in the 1980s. This 113-bed hospital was forced to close abruptly, transferring 28 patients to nearby St. Mary's and leaving 300 employees out of work.

Brooklyn, like any bustling urban center, is (and has always been) home to a diverse variety of venues constructed and operated with the express purpose of entertainment: from theatres to pools to baseball fields. In the late 19th and early 20th century, vaudeville theatres were constructed in the most populous areas of Brooklyn, bringing popular entertainment to the working-class masses. In the early decades of the 20th century, the changes in technology altered the way Brooklynites were entertained. Vaudeville waned in popularity as moving pictures were introduced. Some of the early theatres evolved with the times, adding a movie screen and changing their operations, others closed and were razed in the boom of the building that overtook the borough in the first half of the 20th century. This massive development growth meant the former sleepy rural areas of south Brooklyn were becoming vibrant communities. New movie theatres, often designed by well-known architects, popped up everywhere, offering cheap entertainment (and snacks!) to generations of first dates and family outings. As technology once again evolved in the second half of the 20th century and television allowed for similar entertainment within one's home, theatres suffered. In the financially depressed years of the 1970s, many movie theatres closed or transitioned to more "adult" entertainment. Very few of Brooklyn's early 20th century venues remain operating movie theatres today. Those structures—not an inconsiderable number, particularly in South Brooklyn—that survive have largely been re-purposed as music venues, big-box retailers, churches, and is a popular conversion for these large spaces, as fitness centers and chain pharmacies. If you keep your eyes open, the architectural features of the old Brooklyn theatres occasionally pop out from the streetscapes, hiding behind Rite Aids and Walgreens.

The Gotham Theatre, seen here at the far right, was originally the William Bennett's Casino, an entertainment hall at the corner now referred to as Broadway Junction. After a construction collapse during the initial building phase, the Casino opened in June 1890, only to be destroyed by fire in 1893. Rebuilt and opened in 1896 as the Brooklyn Music Hall, a vaudeville house, the business struggled and closed a few years later. By 1901, the building was the Gotham Theatre and unlike many of the other theatres, it banned smoking in the lobby and the auditorium. It was billed as a family venue with the advertising slogan "Clean Shows in Clean Houses." In the 1920s the venue switched from live shows to silent movies. The silent movie house lasted less than a decade. It attempted to open again with sound films in 1932 but closed in 1934 and was demolished before 1940.

"Gotham Theatre, East New York, Brooklyn, N. Y." Mae West once performed on the stage of the Gotham as part of Hal Clarendon's Stock Theater company.

The building on the far right of this 1922 photograph is the Tyrian Temple. Built between 1905 and 1907, it was the home of Tyrian Lodge #618, an organization of Free Mason. The lodge was established in 1867 and originally met in some rooms on Atlantic Avenue. This sect of the fraternal organization had over 400 members by 1900 and as such this more substantial building was constructed as their headquarters. Pennsylvania Avenue was one of the major thoroughfares in this neighborhood at the turn of the 20th century. It was lined with large, fine homes as well as important civic and social institutions, such as police stations, post offices, banks, and social clubs. The membership of this particular social club was a well-heeled group of doctors, lawyers, businessmen, and real estate developers. The building remained the social club until at least the 1940s, and it maybe have been used as a factory at some point after that. In 1971 the surviving #618 trustees sold the building to the Prince Hall Masons, an African-American Masonic body, which certainly reflected the demographic shift in the neighborhood. Though it still bares the name of that Masonic group, it has been owned by another organization and used as a community center since 2012.

Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity, 1940. East New York has a long and diverse history of ethnic populations. A somewhat sizable and, by the 1930s, well-to-do community of Belarusians Orthodox Christians erected this traditional onion-domed church in 1935. The congregation was originally established in 1909 as the Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church. The church was completed in 1935 to the plans of architect Roman Meltzer. In the 1950s, the interior ceiling and murals were redone by an artist named Pimen M. Sofronoff. Born in Estonia, he was perhaps the most important Orthodox iconographers of the 20th century, having painted in Eastern Europe and the Vatican before moving to the United States. Though the Belarusian community of East New York has diminished drastically from the mid 20th century, the church has had a resurgence in the last 15 years as a place that welcomes and assists new Russian immigrants with acclimating to a new country with unfamiliar language and laws.

233 New Jersey Avenue Architect unknown 1898 This stately Gothic Revival style church was originally built for the German congregation of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, which referred to itself as St. Johannes Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche – a name memorialized in stone at the base of the church’s tower. From its formation in 1847, this German immigrant congregation worshipped in a wooden church building at the corner of New Jersey and Liberty Avenues, making it one of East New York’s earliest institutions. The new church, constructed just south of the original building, was dedicated in 1898. Committed to staying connected to their heritage, the members of the church spoke German and for many years refused to conduct services in English. This was largely in response to the early 20th century trend of German congregations switching to English-speaking services. This eventually led to a schism in the congregation, wherein a group broke off to form the English-speaking Lutheran Church of the Reformation on Barbey Street. By the mid-20th century, most of the German population had moved out of East New York, so in 1972, the parish voted to disband and sold the building to the congregation of Grace Baptist Church of Christ, which continues to worship here. The structure is adjoined by a charming rectory building, faced in the same rough-hewn brick as the church.

This stately Gothic Revival style church was originally built for the German congregation of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, which referred to itself as St. Johannes EvangelischLutherische Kirche – a name memorialized in stone at the base of the church’s tower. From its formation in 1847, this German immigrant congregation worshipped in a wooden church building at the corner of New Jersey and Liberty Avenues, making it one of East New York’s earliest institutions. The new church, constructed just south of the original building, was dedicated in 1898. Committed to staying connected to their heritage, the members of the church spoke German and for many years refused to conduct services in English. This was largely in response to the early 20th century trend of German congregations switching to English-speaking services. This eventually led to a schism in the congregation, wherein a group broke off to form the English-speaking Lutheran Church of the Reformation on Barbey Street. By the mid-20th century, most of the German population had moved out of East New York, so in 1972, the parish voted to disband and sold the building to the congregation of Grace Baptist Church of Christ, which continues to worship here. The structure is adjoined by a charming rectory building, faced in the same rough-hewn brick as the church.

The Piel Brothers Brewery was founded in 1883 by four brothers. They purchased Landser Brewery and began brewing a German pilsner - which Americans were partial to at the time over heavier English ales. Michael Piel, the brewer of the family, had already made a name for himself in Germany by inventing a centrifuge for processing honey. With a keen eye and a knack for innovation, Michael prompted the family's investment in the brewery in East New York. Its access to the softer waters of Long Island made it a premier location for brewing pilsner beers. Utilizing modern refrigeration to brew their beer, the Piel brothers were wildly successful. Prior to prohibition they hosted various experts and scientists who were interested in Michael's work. The Piel's company eventually expanded to encompass the entire block between Georgia and Sheffield, north of Liberty Avenue. The plant closed in 1973, after Americans began to favor brands stronger flavored beer.

This wood-frame corner building with the eye-catching peaked roofline was the local chapter of the Y.M.C.A. Opened in 1893, this structure served its original function until the late 1920s, when the larger, more modern Y.M.C.A opened on Jamaica Avenue near Highland Park. The building then housed the Polish Democratic Club and later the Polish Falcon Club, a catering hall. The building was demolished in the 1950s following a fire.

(Roman Meltzer, 1935) Founded in 1909 by immigrants from Belarus, the Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church commissioned this magnificent structure a few decades later, with construction completed in 1935. The church was designed in the traditional Russian Orthodox style by Roman Meltzer, a notable Russian-born architect. Before arriving in New York in 1921, Meltzer worked as an architect and decorator for several of the Imperial palaces in St. Petersburg, and was appointed court architect in 1903. He was best known for his Art Nouveau style interiors and for the wrought-iron grillework he designed for the Winter Palace entrance gates and garden railing. In the late 1950s, the interior of the Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church was redecorated with murals by the famed iconographer Pimen M. Sofronoff. On the exterior, the church’s domed copper roofs, which have tarnished to reveal a beautiful green patina, have become neighborhood icons and serve as a beacon to those of the Russian Orthodox faith. After many years of coping with a diminishing congregation, the church’s membership has increased in recent years due to an influx of Russian immigrants to southern Brooklyn.

St. John's Lutheran Church, ca. 1890. Established in 1847 with the formal name of St. Johannes Evangeliach-Lutheriache Kirche, the first church building was a simple wood chapel on the on the southeast corner of New Jersey and Liberty Avenues. Serving the small but growing population of Germans in East New York, the church was enlarged in 1868 with a bell tower and an extension. The church replaced the wooden chapel with a brick edifice, constructed in 1898 just south on New Jersey Avenue from the original building. The wood-frame church was replaced with a Borden Milk plant.