Today, Empire Stores is a community hub, filled with shops, restaurants, including one that serves raw oysters, and revolving art displays. It now houses a West Elm shop, with its own coffee shop and a line of Brooklyn-inspired housewares, and offices upstairs. One fun high-tech display, History in Motion, places you into historical paintings to produce a shareable video.īEST VIEW: The Empire Stores building itself is a historical remnant, one of the last of hundreds of brick warehouses that lined the coast, forming a “Walled City.” The original tenants occupy an important place in culinary history, being the first to commercially produce roasted coffee and consequently driving today’s global coffee culture. Much of the exhibit focuses on the people of Brooklyn whether illustrating Walt Whitman’s waterfront trysts, dialing in the oral histories of WWII female Navy Yard workers, or digging into Brooklyn’s murky oyster economy. So they were replaced by imported baby oysters that had to be planted into manmade reefs.īy the 19th Century, Brooklynites ate (oysters) wherever they could, from makeshift stands on city streets to lavish oyster houses…(And) By the late 19th Century, 700,000 bushels a year of “Rockaway Oysters” were making their way to market.Īnd a 8-minute film, At Water’s Edge, covers 20,000 years of geological and American history in a visually engaging and succinct manner. But voracious consumption and pollution decimated the local oysters.
VISIT: The recently opened Waterfront exhibit at the Brooklyn Historical Society satellite location in Empire Stores brings Brooklyn’s coastline history to life.Īll along the coastline, European settlers found middens (massive piles of empty oyster shells) left by the Lenape Indians. Brooklyn Historical Society Waterfront Exhibit showcases Brooklyn’s oystering history. Learn about Brooklyn’s love affair with oysters, and where to savor a few, in this weekend getaway guide to a reclaimed waterfront that’s tailormade for a romantic stroll with your main squeeze. Parker, who made a career of selling the Brooklyn Bridge.īrooklyn’s waterfront history is fascinatingly complex–including the fact that New York City was built on an abundance of oysters–but now DUMBO (from acronym Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) has emerged as a tech hub, with over 500 tech and creative firms, including Etsy and West Elm corporate headquarters. With a new museum, several Instagrammable stops, and emerging trendy restaurants, there’s lots to see and do, even if you only have time for a quick trip.Įver hear the phrase, “I have a bridge to sell you?” It comes from the true life story of con man George C. WHY GO: DUMBO Brooklyn is making a comeback as a city park and food haven.
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