Dumbo (brooklyn)
Dumbo or DUMBO or DUMBO is the abbreviation for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass , translated as " Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass ". It refers to a residential area in the New York district of Brooklyn . The neighborhood is on the East River and consists of two parts: One is between the Manhattan Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge , which connect Brooklyn with Manhattan , the other east of the Manhattan Bridge to Vinegar Hill . The Brooklyn Bridge forms the border with Fulton Ferry . The quarter is dominated by the mighty bridges and the ramps that lead up to the bridges.
history
The first known inhabitants of this area on the East River were Canarsee - Indians . In 1673 they sold a large piece of land on the East River to the Dutch settler Joris Jansen Rapalje . The Rapalje family used the land as farmland until the end of the War of Independence . Because they were supporters of the British colonial power , their land was confiscated after the victory of the thirteen North American colonies . In 1784 it was bought by future bankers and members of Congress Comfort and Joshua Sands for $ 12,000 . They began with the construction of roads in what is now Dumbo, which was then still called Olympia . Then residential and commercial buildings were built.
Around 1830, the character of the residential area at that time changed when the residential buildings were gradually replaced by commercial buildings. The western part of today's neighborhood was known as Fulton Landing or Gairville until the 1890s . This is where the ferries to Manhattan left before the Brooklyn Bridge opened. Today's buildings date mainly from the period between 1880 and 1920 and consist mainly of factories and warehouses, wooden or later steel frame buildings with brick facades. At that time it is an almost pure industrial and commercial area, including breweries (Howard & Fuller Ale Brewery), coffee roasters and sugar factories (Arbuckle Brothers), machine (EW Bliss), shoe (Hanan & Son) or cardboard manufacturers ( Robert Gair Co.), as well as the Brillo company , which made steel wool sponges. By 1900, over 100,000 people found work in Dumbo. Some of these workers also lived in the neighborhood. In the course of the de-industrialization of Brooklyn, as well as established companies went bankrupt or moved from here and many of the former industrial buildings were partly empty, partly converted into mixed commercial complexes, more and more apartments and studios were built in the old buildings. Artists and young people in particular settled here in the late 1970s, as prices were relatively low, especially for large apartments.
The abbreviation DUMBO was created in 1978 by pioneers of the new district, believing the unattractive name Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass would discourage urban developers and financiers from investing here. Abbreviations as names for neighborhoods are quite common in New York, for example SoHo (South of Houston) or Tribeca (Triangle Below Canal) in Manhattan. With the approach of using art as an accelerator for change, Joy Glidden , founding director of the Dumbo arts center (DAC) in particular, succeeded in creating a model for restructuring in Dumbo that has been incorporated into developments in similar former port areas worldwide. As Manhattan housing became more expensive at the end of the 20th century, Dumbo became increasingly bourgeois. This development partly displaced the artists of the first hour. In the meantime, some buildings have been converted into luxury apartment buildings, and new residential buildings have also been built in the district, which has increased the standard, but also the prices for living space.
Historic Dumbo district
On December 18, 2007, Dumbo was designated the 90th Historic District of New York City. The Dumbo historic district comprises the area between John Street to the north, York Street to the south, Main Street to the west and Bridge Street to the east. The area lies on both sides and partly below the Manhattan Bridge, which it still spans here, on the East River. The conservation area comprises around 91 historic buildings. On some streets the tracks from the industrialization of Brooklyn still exist, in some places they lead into the buildings. Many streets and pedestrian paths still consist of the original large stone paving with granite stones . This street scene reinforces the industrial character of the district. Most of the historical buildings are used today as residential or office buildings, only a small part is still used for industrial and commercial purposes.
Tourist importance
In addition to the tourist destinations in the neighborhood such as the Brooklyn Bridge, which is easy to walk over from Manhattan to Brooklyn, the neighboring district of Fulton Ferry with its Pier Fulton Slip and the former fire boat house with the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory just below the Brooklyn Bridge , the newly created Brooklyn Bridge Park and the Brooklyn Heights district with its famous promenade, Dumbo has now established itself as one of the most important artists' quarters in New York. There are many art galleries and restaurants, with Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park on the East River and another part of Brooklyn Bridge Park further east.
reachability
Dumbo can be reached from Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge footpath that runs above the roadways. By boat, NY Waterway and New York Water Taxi offer the option to travel to Fulton Slip in Fulton Landing. Continue with the New York City subway lines A and C to the High Street station and with the F line to York Street station or with the MTA bus to various stops in the district.
Trivia
The American comedian Jerry Seinfeld , known from the US sitcom Seinfeld , who himself comes from Brooklyn, joked on a talk show about the residential area in Brooklyn that it was actually called " Down Under Manhattan Bridge ", but the New Yorkers had an arbitrary "O" appended to the end of the abbreviation because nobody wants to live in a residential area called Dumb .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Dolkart, Andrew S. et al., DUMBO Historic District Designation Report, New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission December 18, 2007
- ^ A b c Dumbo Journal: District Trying to Forge a New Identity, article in the New York Times, December 25, 2007
- ^ Donald Presa, 1997, Vinegar Hill Historic District Designation Report (LPC Report 1952) (New York: City of New York, 1997)
- ^ Eugene L. Armbruster, 1929, The Olympia Settlement in Early Brooklyn, NY
- ↑ a b c New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission Designates Dumbo as New York City's 90th Historic District ( Memento of the original from October 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 113 kB)
- ↑ A Neighborhood Called Dumbo Has High Hopes, New York Times article, Aug. 7, 1998
- ↑ SoHo, TriBeCa and Now Dumbo ?, New York Times article, October 25, 1998
Coordinates: 40 ° 42 ′ 11 ″ N , 73 ° 59 ′ 22 ″ W.