Putting archive and contemporary photographs of the same landmark side-by-side, Brooklyn Then and Now® provides a visual chronicle of the city's pastBrooklyn possesses a rich history and culture. The Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn Dodgers, and Coney Island are icons as well known as Manhattan's skyline. Home to more than two million people, the borough—one of five that comprise New York City—has had many faces over the course of its fascinating history. Just across the East River from Manhattan, Brooklyn is an 81-one-square-mile peninsula that also borders New York Harbor and the Atlantic Ocean. In 1834, Brooklyn became a city in its own right and in the second half of the 19th century, a major center of industry. Its green coastline sprouted tall ships, towering grain terminals, glass and porcelain factories, and massive sugar and oil refineries—some of the largest in the world. Thousands of immigrants— including those from Ireland, Germany, Norway, Italy, Poland, and Russia—poured into the city to work in the factories and refineries. Fueled by shipbuilding and industrial growth, Brooklyn became the nation's third most populous city by the time of the Civil War. It built civic and cultural showpieces, a stately city hall and art museum, and the 526-acre Prospect Park, which rivaled Manhattan's Central Park. But, Brooklyn's city status did not last the century. In 1898, despite fierce opposition from their political leaders, local residents voted by a slim margin to give up their independence and join the great consolidation of boroughs that formed New York City. The new borough maintained its own identity, however, its residents taking pride in calling themselves "Brooklynites," a special breed of New Yorkers. Descendants of 19th-century immigrants keep up the ethnic traditions that have characterized Brooklyn neighborhoods for generations. Brooklyn Then and Now illustrates this vibrant, ever changing borough's transformations.

Pairing historical black-and-white images of notable locations with specially commissioned photographs of the same scenes as they are today, Thunder Bay Press's Then and Now series reveals the fascinating developments and cultural changes that took place. Available in standard and compact editions, this best-selling series makes an ideal souvenir or gift for travelers and locals alike.

Brooklyn has had many faces over the course of its fascinating history. It has transformed from being a major center of industry in the 19th century to being the hippest and most populous of New York's five boroughs today.Lost Brooklyn traces the cherished places that time, progress and fashion swept aside before concerned citizens or the National Register of Historic Places could save them from the wrecker's ball. Organised chronologically, starting with the earliest losses and ending with the latest, Lost Brooklyn features the much-loved buildings, industries and modes of transport that have been lost, replaced or transformed in the name of progress.Losses include: Brooklyn Naval Hospital, Brooklyn Shipping Piers, Brooklyn Sugar Refining Co., Brooklyn Velodrome, Coney Island Clubhouse, Dreamland, Ebbets Field, the Elevated Railway, Fulton Ferry, Fort Lafayette, Fox Theatre, Hotel St. George, Luna Park, Schaefer Brewery, Sheepshead Speedway, Steeplechase Park, Streetcars, Williamsburg Plaza.

From the Statue of Liberty to Central Park and beyond, the old and new photos on these pages present a vivid tour of the city’s diverse and vibrant history. Striking contrasts can be seen in the buildings and street scenes of Wall Street, Greenwich Village, Union Square, Madison Square, Times Square, and the Upper East and West Sides. In addition to the archival and contemporary photos, the book is packed with historic information. Together, they tell fascinating stories about the buildings that have come, gone, or stayed in place, remarkably transformed or thankfully preserved. Sites include: Ellis Island, Governors Island, Statue of Liberty, Battery Park, U.S. Custom House, Bowling Green, Federal Hall, Broad Street, Wall Street, Singer Building, World Trade Center, Woolworth Building, City Hall, Park Row, Brooklyn Bridge, Mulberry Street Market, Hudson River Piers, the High Line, Washington Square Arch, Cooper Union, Fifth Avenue, the Flatiron Building, Metropolitan Life Buiilding, Madison Avenue, Macy's, Penn Station, Grand Central Station, Empire State Building, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Radio City, Plaza Hotel, Central Park, Columbus Circle, Shea Stadium and much more.

Profiles places in New York City that have been destroyed, altered, and/or demolished during the twentieth century, with photographs of the original structures, background information, and stories about memorable individuals.

Around the corner. The next block. Across the At the end of the line. Borough Park. Gowanus. Flatbush. Canarsie. Ridgewood. Greenpoint. Brownsville. Bay Ridge. Bensonhurst. City Line. What was the place called Brooklyn really like back then... when Brooklyn was the world? Elliot Willensky, born in Brooklyn and now official Borough Historian, takes us back to a sweeter time when a trip on the new BMT subway was a delightful adventure, when summer days were a picnic on the sand and evenings were Nathan's hotdogs at Coney Island and a whirl of lights, spills, and chills at dazzling Luna Park. Remembering Brooklyn, it's the neighborhoods you think of first -- or maybe it's your own block, the one you were raised on. In those days, the street was a more animated, more colorful place. Jacks and jump rope, hit-the-stick, double-dutch and skelly or potsy (hopscotch to you) were played everywhere. The street was a natural amphitheater, and the stoop was the perfect place for grown-ups to sit and watch and visit with neighbors. Stores-on-wheels selling fruit, baked goods, and the old standby, seltzer, rolled right down the block, and the Fuller Brush man and Electrolux vacuum-cleaner salesmen worked door to door, saving housewives countless shopping trips. For many, a big night out was dinner at a Chinese restaurant, where 99 percent of the patrons were non-Chinese, and you could get mysterious-sounding dishes like moo goo gai pan and subgum chow mein -- "One from column A, two from column B." If you could afford to go somewhere really classy, the Marine Roof of the Bossert Hotel was one of the hottest nightspots. A hot date on Saturday night featured big bands at the clubs on TheStrip (Flatbush Avenue below Prospect Park) -- the Patio, the Parakeet Club, the Circus Lounge -- or gala stage shows at the Brooklyn Academy of Music or the enormous Paramount Theatre. Still, for family entertainment you couldn't beat a day at the beach and a night on Surf Avenue, taking in the sideshows and the penny arcades. For Brooklyn, the years between 1920 and 1957 were a special time. It was in 1920 that the subway system reached to Brooklyn's outer edge -- linking the entire borough with Manhattan and making it an ideal spot for millions of new families to build their homes. The end of the era came in 1957 -- the last year that Brooklyn's beloved Dodgers played at Ebbets Field before moving to sunny California. For many loyal fans the fate of "Dem Bums" represents the fate of Brooklyn. With a brilliant, entertaining text and hundreds of exciting, nostalgic photographs (many never before published), When Brooklyn Was the World recovers the history of this lively city, as remembered by the millions of people who knew Brooklyn in its golden era.