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.

Public School 84, 1931. Constructed in the last decade of the 19th century, with an additions added early in the 20th century, Public School 84 originally served the large Jewish population of Brownsville. In 1916 it was the location of the first district teachers council in the city, when faculty of more than 15 district school met to discuss their work and to present the Board of Education with issues and concerns. The school has had a number of well-known alumni, including Max Fleischer, a pioneer of animation and Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman elected to Congress (and to run for president).

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.

Brownsville Branch, June 25, 1942. The Brownsville Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library was designed by Lord & Hewlett and completed in 1908. The Brownsville Library was one of the original independent libraries that constituted the core of the Brooklyn Public Library established in 1902. The two-story, five-bay, brick building has seen a number of renovations in its history including work completed following a fire in 1922.

"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.