brownstone brooklyn

Brownstone Garage Sale

 

I moved to Brooklyn last May and the entire month was a blur. We had a frenzy of moving, and all of the noise that comes with it. I didn’t take in my surrounds as carefully as I do now. Then all of a sudden it was 90 degrees and every chance I got I escaped the concrete jungle.

Some places don’t have steam coming up from the streets.

As the sun emerges and the temperatures are rising in the mercury I’ve started to notice a few interesting things. One of which is something that doggedly sticks in my head as the “Brownstone Garage Sale”. I use the word ‘doggedly’ because these are not sales or in garages.

I guess more appropriately they are Brownstone Stoop Giveaways – but for some reason that’s just as much fun to say.

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I know in a lot of places the act of placing free items on your lawn is illegal and in violation of city codes. I haven’t looked too heavy into the stoop laws of Southern Brooklyn, but it seems like this is an accepted act.

I unfortunately do not have the fortune to live in a brownstone, so in this sense I feel slightly isolated from the community because there is no upcycling in my future.  But I have had the pleasure of seeing some pretty interesting things.

 

Who knows I could probably write an entire blog on stoop treasure hunting, best loot finds and most fruitful blocks.

This has been a fun find for me, and especially interesting because it’s marking the drastic turn in season here. And it’s one more little quirk I get to discover as I’m walking these streets.

The communal nature of this act is one of the hipster/yupster of the environment that I’m living in, and one that is difficult to find in an urban space. I want to find out more about it.

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The Palace Hotel poster was pretty tempting.

Wiki, Christ Church

Christ Church (or the Old Christ Church) is a Episcopalian congregation located on 326 Clinton Street in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. It was founded in 1835 when there was a call for a Christian organization in some of the newly incorporated towns in Brooklyn. It was then consecrated in 1842 and currently has a congregation from Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill neighborhoods.

History and Architecture

While building finished in the 1840s it was commissioned to be renovated in the 1910s. Christ Church then became well known for its Louis Comfort Tiffany altar, pulpit and windows. Tiffany was renown at the time for his work with Church windows. In 1939 a fire ripped through the church destroying most of its interior forming a need for further renovations. Most of the Tiffany interior, however, did remain in tact.

Along with most of Cobble Hill, Christ Church received historical preservation and landmark status in the 1960s.

In the early 2000s members of the congregation met when lightening first struck the roof causing damage and then met again after an earthquake shook the church in 2011. Concerns over the structure of the church were raised and renovations were made.

In the summer of 2012 heavy lightening storms initially damaged the roof of the church creating the need for further renovations. The strength of the storm caused part of the structure to fall and fatally injure a man in his 60s, once again calling the congregation to met about safety standards.

Then in the fall of 2012 Hurricane Sandy ripped off the part of the roof that was under construction, which cause significant damage to the interior. A group called the Friends of Christ Church help generate support for the restoration of their community parish.

Community Events

Christ Church host a variety of community events and is an active participant of the Cobble Hill Asscoaiton, some of its partners include:

  • The Canoni Chorale
  • The Cobble Hill Tree Fund
  • The Cobble Hill Association
  • The Clinton Street Block Association and annual Block Party
  • Linden Tree Pre-school
  • The Vertical Players Repertory Opera Company
  • The Cosmic Bicycle Theatre and the ClockWorks Puppetry Studios
  • The Cobble Hill Ballet School
  • Opera Feroce
  • The Young Actor’s Workshop
  • Music Together
  • July 4th annual neighborhood BBQ
  • Dalcroze Music
  • Integrity-Brooklyn
  • The Children’s Shadow Puppet Workshop
  • Gymstars
  • Summer Ballet Camp
  • The Cobble Hill C.S.A. Food Co-Operative
  • The Cobble Hill Health Center
  • Long Island College Hospital
  • Alcoholics Anonymous
  • Food and Winter Clothing Collection with C.H.I.P.S. (Christian Help in Park Slope)
  • CHANYS Assemblywoman Joan Millman

Christ Church celebrates all seasonal religious events.  The parish uses a garden on Clinton Street that it maintains with its “Garden Volunteers”.

The parish is a part of the Gotham Early Music Society series, and yearly Christmas caroling through Cobble Hill. 

The church also provides counseling for families, and has an attached school for special needs children.

The church hosts weddings, baptisms and regularly holds weekly services.

As of February 2014, parish services are still being held at the Kane Street Synagogue until the renovations and repairs are fully completed.

Photos:

Church images Church roof

Originals, Bklyntenant 2014

Sources:

http://cchf.tripod.com/index.html

http://www.fccch.org
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323848804578605850058471288

Walking Brooklyn:, 30 tours exploring historical legacies, neighborhood culture, side streets and waterways. Onofri, Adrienne; 2nd Edition 2009; Wilderness Press, Berkeley, CA