(PBS special on the American Revolution – Chapter 4: “The Battle for Long Island”)

It’s pretty darn shocking how many life long New Yorkers have no idea about the Battle of Brooklyn, which back then was also referred to as Long Island. If you’re one of them, watch the videos to gain some insight.

In the first battle ever by the US Army, it was a learning experience to say the least. They were surprised in the middle of the night and wound up getting shellacked. By midday they were on the run . . . 

Plus if Washington played by the rules of warfare, when his army was defeated and cornered, he should have surrendered. Then he probably would have been executed. Instead he escaped under the cover of night with his remaining troops to Manhattan.

Check out the videos and the books at the bottom of the post.

(High school kid’s project on the battle. I’m certain he got an A+!)

<< Click here for more on the battle from Wikipedia >>

Here are some of my related posts:

This from Episode Fourteen in the stories section: THE IMMORTALS

Related pictures: Old Stone House and Prospect Park

Maryland 400 Monument & Prospect Park

The above is a fantastic book on the Battle of Brooklyn by John J. Gallagher. Another great one is The Battle for New York: The City at the Heart of the American Revolution by Barnet Schecter.

Here are my STORIES and PHOTOS

(Front Street – Photo by Bald Punk)

After a winter’s evening spent imbibing beer with the b’hoys, I slipped out of Jeremy’s Ale House onto the cobbled Front Street with a kick in my step.

Only now do I realize that a presence was waiting for me. Without body or visible shape, he followed me to the subway on Fulton and Broadway. At the time I had felt ”lighter than life,” and thought it was because of my altered mood.

Yet I can remember how certain shadows and light fanned around me as if I was moving through a dream. I was aware of it then, but paid little attention. I was too taken with feeling great. Plus if I stopped and gawked at every little thing that didn’t look right in NYC, I’d wind up being a silly fool who was late for everything.

Though all the while my imagination was unusually active. It was filled with pictures of places I couldn’t identify. For the moment, I ignored them, too.

In the fore of my attention had been Sigur Rós’ playful composition, “Gobbledigook.” I had tried to keep in step with the tribal drum beat, while shaking my shoulders side-to-side and extending careful karate chops. My motions were akin to a thespianic strut, as if I was parading across a Broadway stage. Everything else aside, Jeremy’s will do that to ya.

Time breezed along and the next thing I knew, I was jogging down the stairs to catch the incoming train at Fulton Street.

I plopped into a seat, my head full of brilliant images. I focused in on what seemed like a sea of white fire. My mind’s-eye moved closer. There were many glittering points of light.

It was somewhere between Houston Street and Astor Place that I realized I was seeing Coney Island circa 1905. I picked out the shape of the Dreamland tower. The lagoon in front of it was a shimmering bed of illumination. Set a short block away was another nebula of light–Luna Park, which I recognized by its ”electric tower” that was decorated on all sides with wagon wheels of lights. While the conical and swirl-design on its top made it look like a fanciful toy.

(Dreamland in operation 1904-1911/Coney Island - Photo: Charles Denson Archive)

From what could only be Steeplechase Park, ebullient faces of riders on the Steeplechase ride drifted into view. I heard screams and cries of what sounded like pure ecstasy.

People were on the beach. A dozen feet or so above the ocean waters, electric lights were hung on strings and hoards of men in long underwear and women in bloomers danced in the waves.

Another vision simultaneously appeared. Set on a different plane, I realized it was from another time, though I had a feeling the place was just outside NYC harbor. It was not too far past the lights of Coney, where I saw a ship headed for a dark landscape. It was a three-masted wooden clipper ship.

Within the screams and yelps of excitement from Coney, I could hear creaks and pops coming from the vessel. Overhead was a moonlit sky dappled with vapor trails of white. On the broadside was a crudely fashioned hole. It could have been from a cannonball blast.

I saw through the hole and picked up on movement inside the hull. Oily black skin gleamed and flashed in the low light, and I heard the clink of chains.

(Electric tower in center. Luna Park, Coney Island 1905)

From the dark hulk of bodies, a hand waved to me. It seemed he wanted me to come closer, as if I could.

I closed my eyes and tried to come back to the moment in the bright subway car.

I heard a deep, raspy, southern, black man’s voice. He was speaking to me then, as he can now, but I’m afraid to listen. There’s something about “moving closer” to hear that terrifies me.

On the train, I remember how I had focused in on the fiery lights of Coney Island like a greedy child, hungry for excitement.

I had rubbed my face and stood, grabbing the bar overhead, and used it to guide me to the doors. A fleeting image stayed with me. It’s of the man’s hand and smooth black forearm. It was superimposed over the fiery, white lights of Coney.

I had seen the same appendage before. It belonged to the ghost of the slave known as Hardy.

(Slave ship – Digital Schomburg Images of 19th Century African Americans: NY Public Library)

—

To be continued . . .

Here are my STORIES and PHOTOS

(Snapshot of the Williamsburg Greenpoint News + Arts’ website)

Two of my favorite towns in Brooklyn are Williamsburg and Greenpoint. It’s great that I can go to a single source to read about them. I especially like their reporting on the Arts, because the community is filled with hipsters of all types trying to stretch their wings; so it’s exciting to learn about the local success stories.

<< Click here to visit Williamsburg Greenpoint News + Arts >>

Here are my other photos from this area:

Old American Theatre in Greenpoint

More Williamsburg Photos

Williamsburg Brooklyn

St Anthony of Padua in Greenpoint

Northside Williamsburg Waterfront

GREENPOINT

Here are my STORIES and PHOTOS

(“Gobbledigook” Live at Naturra)

“Gobbledigook” is the greatest song ever! Right now we have this piped into the stereo in our apartment, and me, my lady friend, and the pizza and Chinese delivery guys are dancing like nuts!

Join us! Come on!

“La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, al, la, la . . .”

(Photo by Olikristinn)

Here are my STORIES and PHOTOS

(The Steeplechase and the Blowhole Theater)

I love this clip! To me it represents Coney Island’s zenith caught on film.

If I could go back in time I’d visit with George Washington, Abe Lincoln, Jesus, Einstein, and Henry V. Miller. Then I’d zip over to Coney Island, ride the Steeplechase, and afterwards, file into the Blowhole Theater for an electric jolt by a clown and a whack by a midget with a rubber noodle.

I’d probably stick around for a while and leer at the ladies coming over the blowhole, too.

Here are my Coney posts:

Sixth Episode – May 2009 (Coney Magic)

Coney Island Magic!

Coney Island Fun!

Ghost Breath of Coney Island

Coney Island Photos:

Coney Island 

Coney Island Polar Bears – 1-1-09

(Coney Island Steeplechase)

Here are my STORIES and PHOTOS

(Photos by Bald Punk – Seagull with Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in background)

The birds were flying around like crazy when I took these photos. There were so many chances for great photos of them swooping through the frame, yet I missed them by milliseconds. It was so bad I couldn’t even get a decent picture of a turkey. The damn bird kept turning away. His pics are at the bottom.

Here are two other sets of photos I took that day: Battery Place to Rector Street and Back and Battery Park

Here are my STORIES and PHOTOS

(Times Square of approximately the 60 and 70’s  1970/*see comments) 

The changes in Times Square over the past twenty years have been pretty miraculous. I would hate to imagine the impact it would have on the lives of New Yorkers if it was still a porn haven. The fact that MTV is on The Great White Way is bad enough.

Here are two sets of the photos I took there: Times Square on New Years Eve morning

Times Square

(Times Square of the 1970s – uncredited)

Here are my STORIES and PHOTOS

(Photos by Bald Punk – Universal Soldier)

Battery Park is a 25-acre park at the southern tip of Manhattan. It’s named so because an artillery battery was stationed there periodically by the Dutch and then the British in order to protect the settlers.

Here is another set of photos I took that day: Battery Place to Rector Street and Back.

There will be one more in the coming week.

Here are my STORIES and PHOTOS

(Screenshot of Gothamist.com)

Of the blogs focused on NYC news, arts, entertainment, food, politics, etc., ”Gothamist.com is the Broadway of the blogosphere.” If you’re looking for what’s going-on in the Big Apple, it’s probably the best place to start. The blog format makes it easy to skim over the articles to find stories of interest.

<< Click here to visit Gothamist.com >>

Given the popularity of online news and entertainment outlets that have many a newspaper closing their doors, look for Gothamist to carve-out a much larger market share.

Here are my STORIES and PHOTOS

 (New York Divided: Slavery and the Civil War)

My next episode will feature the ghost of a slave called Hardy. So I decided to post something on slavery and NYC. Here are my other posts in which Hardy is mentioned.

Episode Nineteen – October 2009

Expedition to Sandy Ground, Staten Island

Historical Sandy Ground

Just A Car Ride To Staten Island

Looking for the ghost of a slave named Hardy

Mount Loretto in Staten Island (Photos only)

Episode Twenty-Six - February 2010

Music of the Night

The Eyes on Avenue A

Forces of Heaven and Hell . . .

Tompkins Square Park (Photos only)

(African America drummer boy in Union Army) 

Click here to check out the New York Historical Society series on Slavery and NYC.

Here are my STORIES and PHOTOS