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 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.

(Charles B. J. Snyder, 1906) Public School 149 was one of the roughly 400 schools constructed during the tenure of the notable architect/engineer C. B. J. Snyder, superintendent of school buildings for the Board of Education from 1891 to 1923, when the city’s population was growing and new laws mandated children’s education. Snyder was known for his innovative “H-plan” design, inspired by the medieval Hôtel de Cluny in Paris, which allowed for improved ventilation, advances in fireproofing, better lighting, larger classroom sizes and the incorporation of two courtyards for recreation. Public School 149 initially housed kindergarten through ninth grade classes, but in the 1920s was downsized to offer only sixth, seventh and eighth-grade classes when the city adopted a Junior High School system in an effort to relieve overcrowding. At that time, it became known as either Junior High School 149 or East New York Junior High School. In 1967, the city opened another junior high school nearby, I.S. 292, and P.S. 149 became an elementary school. The school is named for famed actor, dancer and musician Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky), one of the school’s most illustrious alumni (he attended from 1919 to 1927), who also attended Thomas Jefferson High School (site 14).

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.

(Emile M. Gruwe, c. 1886-92) To protect its rapidly growing population in the 1880s and 1890s, Brooklyn greatly expanded its police force and built precincts throughout its neighborhoods. This magnificently adorned but dilapidated structure served as the 75th Precinct until the 1970s. Affectionately known to the local community as “The Castle,” it was designed in the Romanesque Revival style with Venetian and Norman Revival ornament, including brick molded cornices, arched openings, brownstone moldings and stone bandcourses with carved faces and Byzantine leafwork. It originally had a crenellated roofline, lending it a fortress-like quality, but that detail has been removed. In 1976, the People’s First Baptist Church bought “The Castle” at auction from the City, but due to the declining health of the church’s owner and faith leader, the building fell into disrepair. In 2016, the building again changed hands, but its future is uncertain. A near-identical twin of this building, designed by the same architect, stands at 4302 Fourth Avenue in Sunset Park, Brooklyn and was designated as an individual landmark in 1983. That building is also in a state of disrepair but is currently being considered for use as a public school.

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.

New Lots Town Hall ca. 1922 This structure stands as a rare remnant of the town of New Lots. In 1873, the newly established and growing town authorized a $10,000 bond for the construction of a town hall. Opening in December of that year, this building included office space, rooms for public assembly and a fire department. Later, space was made for a police force and jail cells, as well. After New Lots became the 26th Ward of the City of Brooklyn in 1886, a town hall was no longer necessary and the building became the 71st police precinct until 1892, when a larger police station was built at 484 Liberty Avenue (site 4). In 1899, the building became the 26th Ward Homeopathic Hospital and Dispensary, later the Bradford Hospital, until it closed in 1934. Eventually, the building was converted into a multifamily residence. Today, while its large windows have unfortunately been shrunk, their lintels and sills remain as a memory of the original openings. The building also retains its cornice and 1930s entrance porch

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.

Fire at the St. Malachy Parochial School at Atlantic Avenue and Hendrix Street, January 8, 1929. According to a Brooklyn Daily Eagle report bearing the headline "Nun, Clothing Aflame, Saves 213 Children as Parochial School Burns," the fire was attributed to a faulty flue. Sister St. Clare's robes caught fire as she sounded the first alarm, then led the successful evacuation of St. Malachy's pupils. The school building was unsalvageable and razed shortly thereafter.

153rd Precinct, ca. 1910. This small fortress-like building was constructed in 1891 and designed by George Ingram, whose medieval-style police stations dot the borough. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle described his works as “Palatial Homes for the Wielders of the Club." This Cypress Hills building is the twin of the station at Fourth Avenue and 43rd Street in Sunset Park. They both have large corner turrets and deep entrance pavilions. Following its service as a police facility (called at various points the 153rd, 75th, and 17th precincts) , it was the People’s First Baptist Church in the 1970s. While some of Ingram's creations still function as police stations, both the Sunset Park and Cypress Hills buildings have been empty and largely abandoned for the last few decades.