Greenpoint Nurses' Residence: Inside Brooklyn's Abandoned Quarters

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1940s Greenpoint Hospital Campus Tax Photo There is a certain kind of quiet that only abandoned buildings have. Not peaceful, quiet. More like held-breath quiet. The kind that makes you hyper-aware of every footstep, every creak, every shadow shifting at the edge of your vision. I found that quiet on a cloudy afternoon in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, standing outside a chain-link fence and looking up at the old Nurse Quarters of Greenpoint Hospital. I had stumbled onto the building almost by accident. I was deep into researching other vacant structures across the borough when the Nurses' Residence turned up on the blogs. The fact that it sat close to home made the decision easy. One overcast day, I drove slowly down the block on a hunch, scanning the fence line. That is when I spotted it: a gap, barely noticeable unless you were looking for it. No rope. No gear. Just an opening and a window of time between passing cars and foot traffic. I slipped inside. The entrance foyer stopped me cold...
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25th Anniversary of Notorious B.I.G.

 







Two weeks ago we remember the passing of Brooklyn's Notorious B.I.G. I took a tour of the murals dedicated to the rap artist synonymous with East Coast hip hop/rap culture. On March 9, 1997, Biggie Smalls was murdered in yet a still-unsolved case at the young age of 24. Six months after his rival in the rap game Tupac Shakur met a similar fate. March 9 marks the 25 anniversary of his untimely death.

The "King of New York" mural was nearly destroyed in 2017 when the landlord of the two-story building wanted to renovate it but local community members and even the Mayor's office banded together to prevent the destruction. The mural was created in 2015 by Naoufal “Rocko” Alaoui and Scott "Zimer" Zimmerman.







In addition, I strolled up to the very steps Christopher Wallace would have walked back and forth from. The building housed the apartment he grew up in. Just down the block is another mural on the side of a barbershop and a new mural on the corner pharmacy.








Also found in Bushwick Brooklyn the Biggie Smalls mural by Danielle Mastrion is outfitted with the iconic colorful sweater and dark shade fit.







Finally, I could not capture the anniversary murals located on the rolled-down gates of Fine Care Pharmacy located on Fulton Street. However, across the street, there is the black and white mural on the Respect For Life Beauty World barbershop.




Sources:



1. Walker, Ameena, "The Notorious B.I.G. mural in Bed-Stuy won't come down after all", May 23, 2017, NY Curbed

2. Alexandrauzik, "Street Art Candy: The Notorious B.I.G. by Danielle Mastrion", November 11, 2013, BushwickDaily

3. Quinn, Anna, "See: New Biggie Smalls Murals Unveiled in Brooklyn", March 10, 2022, Patch

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