1005 Bedford Avenue, ca. 1960. This monolithic structure built in the Byzantine Romanesque style was originally the first temple for the Congregation of Temple Israel. The massive synagogue was constructed by the Parfitt Brothers, known for lavish townhouses, mansions, churches, and commercial buildings across the borough, including St. Augustine's Roman Catholic Church in Park Slope and 6 Pierrepont Street in Brooklyn Heights. The synagogue was dedicated in 1891 and completed in 1893. After years of catering towards the surrounding area's German Jewish population, membership dwindled in the 1920s, with many members moving to Manhattan or out of Brooklyn. The congregation joined K.K. Beth Eloheim, Brooklyn's oldest Jewish congregation, in 1929, thus vacating their synagogue at 1005 Bedford Avenue. Seeking to alleviate the crowded conditions of the Clermont Avenue Traffic Court, the city purchased the building and converted the temple into the Brooklyn Traffic Court, as seen in this image. Much of the interior was likely gutted to make way for courtrooms, detainment cells, and office cubicles. The Brooklyn Traffic Court later moved to the Downtown Department of Motor Vehicles Office. The building then became a Bergen Tile store. The building was demolished in 1969.

NYPD 88th Precinct ca. 1929 ARCHITECT: George Ingram DATE: 1889-90 STYLE: Romanesque Revival The former 4th (now 88th) Police Precinct Station House is an impressive example of Romanesque Revival style architecture. It replaced an earlier station house at Myrtle and Vanderbilt Avenues. Completed in November 1890, the 4th Police Precinct Station House was designed by George Ingram, a civil engineer who was associated with the Brooklyn Department of City Works in the 1880s. Faced with red pressed brick and sandstone, the fortress-like exterior is well-preserved, including a picturesque turret that rises asymmetrically above the entrance porch. The 4th Police Precinct originally had a separate patrol-stable-and-cells building which was demolished in the mid-1920s. This structure was replaced by a three-story brick extension that was designed by architect Thomas E. O’Brien, a lieutenant in the police force, to create the impression it was constructed at the same time as the earlier building

Crossing guard outside Ack’s Bar and Luncheonette at the corner of Classon and DeKalb Avenues, October 25, 1957.

St. Mary’s Episcopal Church ARCHITECT: Richard T. Auchmuty DATE: 1858-59 STYLE: Gothic Revival St. Mary’s Church is a beautiful Gothic Revival structure reminiscent of an English rural parish church. Built in 1858, it was designed by a relatively unknown architect, Richard T. Auchmuty, in accordance with the religious philosophy of ecclesiology. This movement laid out a strict set of rules for the design of Episcopal churches, which required the honest use of the best materials, the orientation of the church on an east-west axis, and the exterior design to reflect the plan and construction of the interior. In addition to its handsome form, St. Mary’s has beautiful ornamentation and attractive pointed-arched and rose windows.

Emmanuel Baptist Church ARCHITECT: Francis H. Kimball DATE: 1887 STYLE: French Gothic With its square twin towers and triple entrance porch, Emmanuel Baptist Church is reminiscent of a small French Gothic cathedral. The somber and solid character of this late nineteenth Century stone edifice is relieved by a varied and fanciful use of carved ornament and structural forms, creating an outstanding example of ecclesiastical architecture

Pratt Institute, general view, ca. 1917

315 Washington Street, 1957. In the years after the Civil War, the streets of Clinton Hill, particularly Washington Avenue and Clinton Street, saw a construction boom of new, lovely, and large brick and brownstone mansions. This brick home at 315 Washington Avenue was likely completed in the late 1860s. In the 1890s, well-known Brooklyn architects Parfitt Brothers designed an additional story and classic French style mansard roof. At some point in the early 20th century the building's use changed from private residence to a clubhouse (it was the Rankin Post No. 10 of the Grand Army of the Republic) before switching back. Today the home is a multi-unit residence.

In 1890, the Pratt Institute opened one of the country's first library schools, with the Pratt Free Library as its laboratory. The Daily Eagle reported on January 20, 1895: "Pratt Institute's new library building is gradually nearing completion. When ready for occupancy it will be one of the most imposing structures in this big city." The Pratt library had been earlier located in the main building and opened to the public in 1888 as the first free public library in Brooklyn- not limited to Pratt Students. Excessive demand for it services- it was, said the Daily Eagle in 1895, "thronged with students, literary workers, and bibliomaniacs every afternoon"- lead to the construction of a separate library building, dedicated on May 26, 1896. At the dedication, Pratt President Frederic Bayley Pratt presided; the Reverend John Humpstone, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church, said a prayer; and the famous Dannreuther Quarter performed Mendelssohn's overtire to Athalie, Anton Rubinstein's Music of the Spheres, and "Walther's Prize Song" From Wagner's Die Meistersinger. And then New York State Librarian Melvil Dewey (of decimal system fame) addressed the assembly, followed by a prayer from the Reverend Samuel McConnel, pastor of the Church of the Holy Trinity on Montague Street. It was a grand event. Architect William B. Tubby's Romanesque Revival building housed reference and circulating collections, including a children's collection, as well as an exhibition room, and classrooms for the library school. (In 1982 architect Giorgio Cavaglieri added the south terrace with views down onto new stacks. After 1940, with the opening of the new central library at Grand Army Plaza, Pratt's library was no longer the much-needed municipal resource it had been for 52 years and was restricted to institute students.

Pratt Institute Library ARCHITECT: William B. Tubby DATE: 1896 STYLE: Renaissance Revival The Pratt Institute Library was the first free public library in the City of Brooklyn. Pratt’s belief in self-help led him to an interest in the public library movement. The free-standing Renaissance Revival structure has slightly projecting end pavilions and a two-story stacks wing at the western end.

The Vendome is Brooklyn’s oldest surviving multi-unit apartment building. When it opened in 1887, the building’s 17 apartments were serviced by an elevator and had access to the billiard room, a caterer, and a shoeshine. Eventually, the building fell into decline, and after being abandoned for several years, it was taken by the city for failure to pay taxes. In 1980 a fire gutted the building and its demolition was imminent. At the last minute, thanks to local efforts, state and city grants were secured for rebuilding the apartment.

We have freedom of speech, religion, press, and assembly. What about freedom of accessibility? The freedom to use public transportation. For anyone to use public transportation. Yet in many of the major cities across the world accessibility is a struggle especially when it comes to subway transportation. New York City in particular is dealing with a huge accessibility crisis. The New York Times reports hust 126 of its 472 stations, or 27 percent are accessible. And to make matters worse many of the stations are extremely far from one another making it difficult for someone with a disability to get to their destination in a reasonable time. A focus upon college students who are trying to navigate the subway system demonstrates the scope of the issue. Pratt Institute, a leading art school in the heart of Brooklyn, is a case in point. Two of the closest nearby subways stations, Classon and Clinton Washington Avenue, are used by many students to get around the busy city. hat's shocking is that neither station is wheelchair accessible. In fact the next closest G train station that is accessible is Greenpoint Avenue which is a 23 minute drive. In 2019 Cheyenne Leonard, a Las Vegas native moved to Manhattan to attend graduate school at NYU. Leonard states, “I quickly realized that my prior visits to the city were filled with tourist activities, all of which were built for a wide variety of people and therefore, offered better accessibility.” Leonard is just one of the many students who struggle with a disability in the city. Blair-Goldensohn, another wheelchair user in the city stated that using the subways are extremely hard for someone with a disability. Why is this still an issue? Why isn't this a priority? NYC’s subway system predates the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. As many of the subway stations were already constructed, it is not easy to rebuild in keeping with contemporary accessiblity standards. “Though there will be progress made to many of the stations. The New York Times states, Under the settlement, the transportation authority will make an additional 81 subway and Staten Island Railway stations accessible by 2025. It will then make another 85 stations accessible by 2035, 90 more by 2045 and then 90 more by 2055.” Stations like Canal Street Station is a major hub in Manhattan yet it’s only partially accessible by certain trains. Will these stations become modified to be fully accessible? At Jay St. Metro-Tech when asking the question, “ what are your opinions on the new york city accessibility and how they affect people with disability?” Student at Pratt Institue, Brooke Miller stated, “I can name a couple locations, Columbus Square, where we are right now. It's a really good point because you never really notice it. I think it's important because how else are people going to get down.” While many who do not have disabilities may not notice, the issues of accessibility are starkly and obvious for those who are trying to navigate the subway stations in NYC. The issue of accessibility is the subject of a settlement with the MTA that would add elevators and ramps to 95 percent of the subway’s stations by 2055 - in 33 years! A more recent class action lawsuit brought by NYPIRG on behalf of wheelchair users and the blind addresses the issue of the gaps between trains and subway platforms . Overall, the accessibility in subway stations is a major problem in NYC that affects not only people with disabilities, but everyone who has a mobility issue, including parents with strollers, for exampleClinton Washington Ave, Canal Street, and Jay Street Metro-Tech subway stations are all examples of how accessibility can vary.

Orthodox Friends Meeting House, 1927. The Rundbogenstil Romanesque Revival Meeting House was completed in 1868, following a design credited to architect Stephen Carpenter Earle (himself a Quaker). (The architectural style is sometimes credited as Lombardian Romanesque, proving that architectural styles are a slippery slope that not even architectural historians can always agree on.) The Brooklyn Daily Eagle called the building “new, neat and tasteful.” The red brick church remained a Quaker Meeting House until the 1950s and was sold to the Apostolic Faith Mission in 1965, who painted it white.

218 Gates Avenue, 1919. In the late 1860s, the wealthy lace merchant John Gibb built is massive Second Empire mansion for his growing family (he would eventually have 13 children by two wives). He also owned much of the surrounding land, so for its first few decades, no other buildings stood between this house and Classon Avenue. (Gibbs was a bit of a curmudgeon who did not wish to be bothered on his quiet property.) In the late 1880s, Gibb and two of his sons got even richer when they went into business with Frederick Loeser. Frederick Loeser & Company became one of the largest department stores in Brooklyn. Gibb moved out to his Long Island estate at the turn of the century, and the large house cycled through several well-heeled owners. Owing to its enormous square footage, the house was converted into a convalescent home following the first World War. Later it was the Long Island Motor Club, a social club before becoming Hopewell House, a residential space for underprivileged women and children. In the second half of the 20th century, the homes became Plaza North Hotel, a hotel and event venue. This use ended in the 1980s after the activities here and in the more recently constructed outer building devolved in the illegal sphere. It then sat empty and in ruins. The Pratt Area Community Council bought the house from the city in 2000. They restored and reworked the mansion offices, meeting rooms and public spaces, while demolishing the outbuildings and constructing new edifices with studio apartments on the Monroe Street side of the lot. Today the complex includes more than 70 units of affordable housing.

Emmanuel Baptist Church Inspired by French Gothic prototypes, this large church, with its twin towers, resembles a small cathedral. Yet the interior is novel in the arrangement, with a semicircular seating arrangement focused on the large baptismal font.