Red Hook Rumba is a song on Chembo Corniel Quintet's 2023 album, Artistas, Músicos y Poetas . Featuring vocals, in English and Spanish, by Felipe Luciano, the song tells the story of the middle passage and the African influence on...
The Atlantic Basin, 1893
Select passages from The Citizen guide to Brooklyn and Long Island , 1893 [Page 103] A comparison between the commerce of New York and Brooklyn will serve to show the relative importance of the two cities as regards shipping and allied industries....
Ad For Atlantic Docks, 1847
Construction of The Atlantic Dock - a massive, man-made harbor for deep water ships, began on June 3, 1841. The erection of stout stone warehouses and towering grain elevators that could handle products coming down the Erie Canal began in...
Tin City' Folks Gird For Dreariest Winter, 1932
The area between Erie Basin and Columbia Street was home to a makeshift shantytown community known as Tin City, made up largely of unemployed and under-employed maritime workers in the 1920s and 30s. In the winter of 1932, the Brooklyn Eagle...
Atlantic Basin: Where Puerto Ricans Landed in NY, 1906 to 1928
Red Hook's Atlantic Basin was the main port of entry for early Puerto Rican migrants. They traveled on the ships of the NEW YORK & PORTO RICO STEAMSHIP COMPANY" (aka, PORTO RICO LINE). Jose Mendez is quoted in Place Matters , a joint...
Porto Rican Stowaways: 1911
In the early 1900s, many Puerto Ricans migrated to Brooklyn on the S.S Carolina. Most paid for their passage, but some hid on board - and of that number some made the newspapers. This was the case for 4 sixteen year old boys (three of African...
Ad: Red 'D' Line, 1920
In 1920, the Red 'D' line advertised that it would sail weekly from Pier 11, Red Hook Brooklyn, carrying passengers and freight between New York, Puerto Rico, Curacao and Venezuela. The line, established in 1838, was owned by Bliss,...
Ad: Porto Rico Line, 1920
The Porto Rico Line regularly sailed from the Atlantic Basin's Pier 35 to Puerto Rico. The line transported cargo and tourists to and from the islands. Many Puerto Ricans migrated to New York on the line and established a community in Red Hook. In...
Encarnancion Armas, Puerto Rican, interviewed in 1974, talks about her WaterStories.
Encarnancion Armas discusses her time living in Red Hook. selection from interview: The Liberty Party Club. “It was the Liberal Party Club. And we had a party for the children, and we had in the Red Hook Stadium, and it, we caught about 2 thousand...
Ramon Colon, Puerto Rican, interviewed in 1973, talks about his WaterStories
Ramon Colon recounts his experience of traveling by boat to Brooklyn. He also discusses why Brooklyn Puerto Ricans often moved to 'El Barrio' instead of staying in Brooklyn. Transcription of interview: His arrival to Brooklyn. “I came by ship. By...