December 7, 1917: The US Navy in World War I | Episode 170

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PAST PROGRAM | Virtual Programs

December 7, 1941 is a date that is indelible in American history, but 24 years earlier, that date also marked an important moment: the arrival of Battle Division 9 to Scapa Flow, the first American battleships to join the British Grand Fleet, which included the Brooklyn Navy Yard-built USS New York and USS Florida. We will discuss the special role of the US Navy in the naval war, in which battleships actually played a very small part. Places like the Brooklyn Navy Yard were instead tasked with building submarine chasers and painting “dazzle” camouflage schemes to counter German U-boats, and American manufacturing was mobilized to produce more than 50,000 mines for the North Sea Mine Barrage to close off passage to the Atlantic from Germany.

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Semper Fi on Flatbush: US Marine Corps in Brooklyn, 1807–1975 | Episode 158

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PAST PROGRAM | Virtual Programs

November 10 marks the 245th birthday of the United States Marine Corps, which has had a longstanding presence in Brooklyn, dating back to the first marine guards posted at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1807. This virtual program will highlight important historical moments and the evolving mission of the Corps – from the Draft Riots and Whisky Wars of the 1860’s to the Caribbean interventions of the 1910’s to the Vietnam War – through the lens of the marines stationed here in Brooklyn. We will examine original historical documents and listen to oral histories of marines and their families to better understand the meaning of “Semper Fidelis” – always faithful.

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Archtober Podcast: Brooklyn Grange Farm at the Brooklyn Navy Yard

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Throughout AIA NY’s Archtober – New York Architecture Month – each day has a “Building of the Day,” which is highlighted with tours and other programming. This year, three of the 29 featured sites are located in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, including New Lab, the Naval Cemetery Landscape, and on October 3, the Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farm. As part of the celebration, our own Andrew Gustafson sat down with Grange COO Gwen Schantz to talk about the farm and the history of the building it sits on, the massive Building 3.

In this 5-minute conversation, they discussed the construction of Building 3 during the height of World War I, past and current uses of the building, and how and why the Grange built their 1.5-acre farm on this 11-story structure. The podcast is featured on Culture Now’s Museum Without Walls project.>> Continue reading

From the Brooklyn Navy Yard to Mars: Honeybee Robotics

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The Brooklyn Navy Yard has a long tradition of exploration. For 165 years, the Yard built, outfitted, and repaired ships that traveled millions of miles around the world, including building the first US Navy ship to circumnavigate the globe (USS Vincennes, 1826-30), dispatching the groundbreaking US Exploring Expedition (1838-42), and receiving the Navy’s first nuclear submarine USS Nautilus after it passed underneath the ice of the North Pole (1958). But none of these ships went as far or as deep into uncharted territory as systems developed by Brooklyn Navy Yard tenant Honeybee Robotics.>> Continue reading

Explore Traditional Letterpress Printing at Woodside Press on an Inside Industry Tour

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Mergenthaler Linotype Machine at Woodside Press at the Brooklyn Navy Yard

Woodside Press is one of our featured Brooklyn Navy Yard tenants on our Making It In NYC: Inside Industry at the Brooklyn Navy Yard tour series. This past winter, we visited the letterpress printshop to learn about their company and the unique services they offer. Woodside was founded back in 1993 by Andy Birsh in Woodside, Queens (hence the name), and in 1998 moved into their space in Building 3 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. We were shown around the print shop by Davin Kuntze, who has been with the company for more than 10 years.>> Continue reading