The Neighborhood of Greenpoint - The Industrial Center of Brooklyn

The rise of Greenpoint mirrors the rise of industrialization in the United States. Beginning in the mid-19th Century firms based in Greenpoint manufactured China, porcelain pottery, and glass; built ships, such as Civil War ironclad ship, the USS Monitor, the caissons for the Brooklyn Bridge, boilers and steam engines for the oil and gas industry, and engaged in metalworking, brewing, printing, and pharmaceutical production. Oil and gas properties were prominent in the community and dozens of refineries operated in the area including those of Astral Oil, which was owned by Charles Pratt, a leading Brooklyn businessman, civic leader, and founder of the Pratt Institute.

Greenpoint was one of New York City's most important industrial centers for nearly 100 years until the 1950s when truck transportation and the Interstate Highway System eliminated the need for waterfront locations as distribution points. The Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center has sought to revive Greenpoint's industrial base and jobs by rehabilitating five vacant manufacturing buildings for small manufacturers between 1992 and 2001. The buildings have provided a half a million square feet of space for more than 100 firms, including woodworkers, furniture makers, finishers, painters, sculptors, metal workers, a glass blower, and others. The East Williamsburg Valley Industrial Development Corporation (EWVIDCO) serves as the administrator, which offers financial and tax incentives to businesses located within the Empire Zone.

Housing in Greenpoint was originally built to accommodate the owners, managers, and employees working in neighborhood industries including Astral Apartments, a Queen Anne style development that Charles Pratt had built for his refinery workers on Franklin Street, which was designed by the same architects who created his Pratt Institute Main Building. The neighborhood features a historic district with some homes within the district dating from the 1850s.

Greenpoint is well-known for its large Polish community, which is large enough that a helpful local Web site lists common Polish phrases and common Polish foods, and as with nearby Williamsburg, artists and young professionals have been attracted to Greenpoint because of its abundance of affordable housing.