The SS Carolina, was the means of migration for many Puerto Ricans, from 1906 to 1918. 1906 was the year the New York and Porto Rico Steamship Company purchased the vessel and made Pier 35 in Red Hook's Atlantic Basin her homeport. ...
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...
Hamilton Avenue Ferry Terminal, 1924
Hamilton Avenue Ferry Terminal in Brooklyn as seen from Union Street, 1924. Clicking on the TAG Hamilton Avenue Ferry below will bring you to a list of related stories such as: How the Hamilton Avenue Ferry got started,...
“General Belief of Tuberculosis Among Negroes is Disproved by Health Commissioner”, 1934
During a tuberculosis scare in 1934 a New York Health Commissioner study disproved the belief that people of color suffered in greater numbers than whites. The New York Age: National Negro Weekly reported that the study which compared Harlem...
Ørkenen Sur images
In the early 1920s, the international freight trade collapsed leaving as many as 1,000 Norwegian seamen unemployed and unable to get back home. With little to no income many of them made shelters on a large area of landfill and rubble just north of...
Jose “Tuffy” Sanchez Corner
[from NYC Honorary Street Names:] Jose “Tuffy” Sanchez (1933-2005) was a Korean War veteran and a community leader in Red Hook. In the early 1960’s, he became co-owner of the 3&1 Social Club in Brooklyn. He was a pioneer in promoting Latin...
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...
Captain Nels Helgesen of the New York and Porto Rico Steamship Company
Captain Nels Helgesen during his long career which began in 1918, commanded every ship of the New York and Porto Rico Steamship Line. The home port of the steamship line was in Red Hook's Atlantic Basin. Starting in the late 1910s, their ships...
Inhabitants of the Squatter Camps Trying to Pull Through the Winter. 1933
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 New York Sun ...
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...