Submarine History of the Brooklyn Navy Yard | Episode 208

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PAST PROGRAM | Virtual Programs

On National Submarine Day, dive into the undersea history of the Brooklyn Navy Yard! Although no submarines were ever built at the Yard, from the Civil War to the Cold War, it was a critical facility for the development, testing, and outfitting of the US Navy’s submarine fleet, from primitive hand-cranked submersibles to nuclear-powered ballistic missile subs. This program will explore the evolution of submarine technology and critical breakthroughs that were made at the Yard, including the development of diesel engines from captured German U-boats, experimental torpedoes and underwater munitions, and the world’s first satellite-based navigation system.

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Virtual Tour of Upper Manhattan Waterways with Classic Harbor Line | Episode 207

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Join us for another virtual boat tour aboard a beautiful motor yacht with our friends at Classic Harbor Line. This time we will be heading north, exploring the very northern tip of Manhattan. We will get beautiful views of the Palisades and George Washington Bridge, then tuck inside the narrow confines of the Harlem River and under more than a dozen road, rail, and foot bridges that connect Manhattan to the Bronx. Along the way we will discuss visible landmarks like Yankee Stadium, the Cloisters, and the Harlem River Houses, as well as the extensive rail and barge infrastructure in the area, and the fascinating story of how the famed Spuyten Duyvil was blasted from a meandering backwater into a navigable ship canal.

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How World War I Changed the Way New Yorkers Eat | Episode 206

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April 6 marks the 104th anniversary of America’s entry into World War I, but the impacts of this global conflict were already being felt in New York City. Starting in 1914, panicked markets, inefficient infrastructure, and marauding U-boats caused price shocks and shortages, and the war led directly to the creation of new modes of food distribution, leading to the creation of New York City’s wholesale and retail public market system that still exists today. In this program, we will examine reports from the time period by the city and state Departments and Markets about how new open-air markets were stood up, pushcart peddlers were mobilized to bring food to neighborhoods, and the public was educated to conserve scarce or strategically valuable ingredients.

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Recycling and Manufacturing at the Brooklyn Navy Yard | BCAP at Home

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A tour at IceStone with 7 people looking at and handling samples of counter tops in a factory space

PAST PROGRAM | Virtual Programs

Join this free family program with Brooklyn Public Library’s Brooklyn Cultural Adventures Program.

This interactive virtual tour will stream live to the factory floor of IceStone in the Brooklyn Navy Yard! We’ll meet IceStone’s Marketing Director Ashon McCollin and he will show us how people, machines, and processes come together at their factory to transform 100% recycled glass into countertops. This program will be hosted by Turnstile Tours in partnership with the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at Building 92, IceStone, and the Brooklyn Cultural Adventures Program.

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Animal Art Adventure at Prospect Park Zoo | BCAP at Home

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Join this free family program with Brooklyn Public Library’s Brooklyn Cultural Adventures Program.

Join us for a virtual visit to Prospect Park Zoo to see and learn about animal-inspired art and buildings! This virtual program will be hosted by our friends at Turnstile Tours in partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society, Prospect Park Alliance, and Brooklyn Cultural Adventures Program.

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Virtual Midtown Food Cart Tour | Episode 205

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Take a virtual walk through Midtown and learn about some of the food carts and food trucks that serve this neighborhood. We will discuss the history of street vending, the landscape of vending in the city today, and the regulations in NYC, including the impacts of a recent major reform to city law. Along the way we will check out some of our favorite spots, and talk to the vendors themselves about their food and the challenges of running a street food business. We wish we could pass out tastings with everyone, but we will share the spots that we visit to check out on your own.

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Hidden Secrets of Prospect Park’s Water System | BCAP at Home

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Prospect Park Well House A one-story brick structure with windows and an ornamental portico painted in pastel colors and brown with trees in the background

PAST PROGRAM | Virtual Programs

Join this free family program with Brooklyn Public Library’s Brooklyn Cultural Adventures Program.

Brooklyn’s biggest lake is in Prospect Park – but where does all of the water in the lake come from? Join this live virtual visit to Prospect Park, where we will explore not just the lake, but all of the waterfalls, streams, and ponds that run through the park, and the pipes that run underneath it! We’ll learn how the water system works, and how it has changed throughout history. We’ll also go behind the scenes inside the Wellhouse; Prospect Park Alliance recently transformed this historic building, which once housed machinery for pumping water into the lakes and streams, into the first composting toilets in an NYC park. We’ll explore how this environmentally-friendly system works and get to see the bugs and worms that help break down waste from the bathrooms!

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Virtual Walk of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Perimeter | Episode 204

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Explore the neighborhoods surrounding the Brooklyn Navy Yard, including Vinegar Hill, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, and Williamsburg, on this walk around the Yard’s long perimeter. We will explore connections between the Yard and the surrounding communities, including a peek at the landmark Commandant’s House, the Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument in Fort Greene Park, and other buildings that provided housing for Yard workers and produced components for the shipyard. We will also explore some of the public areas of the Yard, including Building 77, the Admirals Row site, and the Naval Cemetery Landscape. Follow along with our map guide created for Open House New York Weekend 2020.

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Exploring the Brooklyn Navy Yard Archives | Episode 203

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Black and white photo of three workers standing around a wooden model of a ship

PAST PROGRAM | Virtual Programs

As both an historic site and an active industrial park, with buildings and infrastructure spanning nearly 200 years, the Brooklyn Navy Yard is literally made up of layers of history. The Brooklyn Navy Yard Archives serves the dual function of documenting and preserving the Yard’s history, while also providing historical engineering and architectural documentation that is critical for restoration and development projects. In this virtual visit to the Archives, we will be joined by archivist Elizabeth McGorty, who will tell us about the role of the Archives, show us some of the highlights of the collection and what they tell us about the Yard’s history, and take us behind the scenes to their storage facility where they keep some of the more unique artifacts of the collection.

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Where is Pete Panto? Corruption and Crusaders on NYC’s Waterfront | Episode 202

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New York City’s working waterfront has been widely associated with crime and corruption at least since On The Waterfront hit movie screens in 1954, but the story goes back further. Nathan Ward, author of Dark Harbor: The War for the New York Waterfront and CUNY scholar Joseph Sciorra join us to reveal the story of Pete Panto, a longshoreman who took a stand against the mob bosses. Though Panto paid the ultimate price, his death initiated a long struggle toward waterfront reform.

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