Aunt Hazel of Brooklyn Heights

Continuing in my habit of tracking down my ancestral residences in New York, I looked up my "Aunt Hazel", a gruff and humorous woman who was my maternal grandfather's sister.  I knew she lived in Brooklyn Heights with her companion Aunt Marguerite.  And there they were, listed in the 1940 census as living at 160 Columbia Heights.  The census lists Marguerite as the head of household, and Hazel as her "partner".  Their occupations are listed as secretaries.  Hazel and Marguerite always came to our house for Thanksgiving and Christmas every year, along with all the other relatives in New York.   I wish I knew more about them!

160 Columbia Heights was a very new building in 1940, in an Art Deco style, with amazing views of Manhattan.

After walking around Brooklyn Heights and its wonderful historic architecture, I walked down the hill towards what is now called Dumbo, and saw the famous dual bridge view that everyone photographs:

Dumbo is really more a real estate marketers idea than anything else, with some nice old historic warehouses converted into condos, and some old buildings. It is fun to look at the bridges from underneath.  Who knew that the Manhattan Bridge was held up by a brick chimney?

But what they don't talk about is the absolutely deafening roar produced by the subways as they cross the Manhattan Bridge.  It's kind of like living next to a runway at an airport; I don't know how anyone can stand it.  There was a good reason for this being a warehouse district.

Naturally the next step was to join the crowds and walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.
I have to confess that I find the notion of Gothic arches on a modern bridge to be somewhat  peculiar; I prefer my bridges to be all metal, like the Manhattan and Williamsburg.   But there is no denying the appeal of the patterns of the cables.

The renovations also add a bit of variety, with this tarp covering part of the bridge.

Once in Manhattan, I walked down towards the Battery, and saw the beginnings of Santiago Calatrava's  transportation hub emerging above ground.   It looks a bit sinister at the moment, but will hopefully be a great relief from the bland glass boxes that surround it.