Misplaced Pages

#503496

156-593: The Brooklyn Union Gas Company Headquarters , also known as 176 Remsen Street , is a historic building in Brooklyn Heights , Brooklyn , New York City . Designed by Brooklyn architect Frank Freeman in the neoclassical style, it was completed in 1914 as the headquarters of the Brooklyn Union Gas Company (later KeySpan ). The structure was part of the St. Francis College campus from 1963 to 2022. The facade

312-420: A completely crystalline rock. Granitic rocks mainly consist of feldspar , quartz , mica , and amphibole minerals , which form an interlocking, somewhat equigranular matrix of feldspar and quartz with scattered darker biotite mica and amphibole (often hornblende ) peppering the lighter color minerals. Occasionally some individual crystals ( phenocrysts ) are larger than the groundmass , in which case

468-521: A plateau on a high bluff that rises sharply from the river's edge and gradually recedes on the landward side. Before the Dutch settled on Long Island in the middle of the seventeenth century, this promontory was called Ihpetonga ("the high sandy bank") by the native Lenape American Indians . Ferries across the East River were running as early as 1642, serving the farms in the area. The most significant of

624-547: A "stoop", a word derived from Dutch. The basement is typically a half-flight down from the street, and was used as the work area for servants, including the kitchen. The first floor would be the location of the public rooms, bedrooms were on the second floor, and servants' quarters were on the top floor. The rear of the lot would feature a private garden. Aside from rowhouses, a number of houses, particularly along Pierrepont Street and Pierrepont Place, are authentic mansions . The concentration of over 600 pre-Civil War houses, one of

780-490: A 200-seat auditorium with a model kitchen. Brooklyn Union Gas offices occupied the second through seventh stories. When the building was opened in 1914, the second and fourth stories were unoccupied, while the third floor housed the company's distribution department and street department. The fifth floor had a claim department, an addressograph department, a telephone room, and offices for the chief engineer and gas-manufacturing engineer. The sixth floor had executive offices for

936-552: A 34-story condominium, which now contains the smaller library at its base. In the interim, the BPL branch moved to the temporary 109 Remsen Street location, until the new location was completed in 2022. Brooklyn Heights is serviced by numerous subway services, specifically the A and ​ C trains at High Street ; the A , ​ C ​, F , <F> ​​, N , R , and ​ W trains at Jay Street–MetroTech ;

1092-439: A 5,000-U.S.-gallon (19,000 L; 4,200 imp gal) water tower . Gas lighting was used throughout the structure, and ducts carried water, air, steam, and gas throughout the building. When 176 Remsen Street opened, the entrance vestibule led to a corridor leading to the elevators, with two stairways at either end. To the right of the entrance were the offices of the manager of the commercial or gas appliances department. To

1248-553: A basaltic magma to a granitic magma, but the quantities produced are small. For example, granitic rock makes up just 4% of the exposures in the South Sandwich Islands . In continental arc settings, granitic rocks are the most common plutonic rocks, and batholiths composed of these rock types extend the entire length of the arc. There are no indication of magma chambers where basaltic magmas differentiate into granites, or of cumulates produced by mafic crystals settling out of

1404-520: A diapir it would expend far too much energy in heating wall rocks, thus cooling and solidifying before reaching higher levels within the crust. Fracture propagation is the mechanism preferred by many geologists as it largely eliminates the major problems of moving a huge mass of magma through cold brittle crust. Magma rises instead in small channels along self-propagating dykes which form along new or pre-existing fracture or fault systems and networks of active shear zones. As these narrow conduits open,

1560-509: A few (known as leucogranites ) contain almost no dark minerals. Granite is nearly always massive (lacking any internal structures), hard (falling between 6 and 7 on the Mohs hardness scale) , and tough. These properties have made granite a widespread construction stone throughout human history. The word "granite" comes from the Latin granum , a grain, in reference to the coarse-grained structure of such

1716-425: A few 2/1/2-story late Federal houses from the early 19th century in the northern part of the neighborhood. Some houses were constructed of brick, but the dominant building material was brownstone or "Jersey freestone", a reddish-brown stone from Passaic County, New Jersey . A typical brownstone rowhouse was three or four stories tall, with the main floor above the street level and reached by stairs, referred to as

SECTION 10

#1733085479504

1872-560: A firmly middle-class area, which became "one of New York City's most pleasant and attractive neighborhoods." Starting in 2008, Brooklyn Bridge Park was built along the shoreline of the East River. As of 2018 the park was 90% complete, and it is now completely renovated. The Squibb Park Bridge was constructed in 2013 to provide access between the park and the rest of Brooklyn Heights, but had to be demolished in 2019 due to various structural issues. A replacement bridge opened in 2020. By

2028-610: A granite that is derived from partial melting of metasedimentary rocks may have more alkali feldspar, whereas a granite derived from partial melting of metaigneous rocks may be richer in plagioclase. It is on this basis that the modern "alphabet" classification schemes are based. The letter-based Chappell & White classification system was proposed initially to divide granites into I-type (igneous source) granite and S-type (sedimentary sources). Both types are produced by partial melting of crustal rocks, either metaigneous rocks or metasedimentary rocks. I-type granites are characterized by

2184-515: A headquarters at 180 Remsen Street in 1856. Rapid growth in the early 1900s prompted the company to acquire land in 1912 for an expanded headquarters at 172–178 Remsen Street. The building was finished in 1914, and the gas company remained there for 47 years. St. Francis College agreed to buy the building in 1960 as part of an expansion of its campus, and the college reopened the building on February 1, 1963, following an extensive renovation. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated

2340-565: A high content of sodium and calcium, and by a strontium isotope ratio, Sr/ Sr, of less than 0.708. Sr is produced by radioactive decay of Rb, and since rubidium is concentrated in the crust relative to the mantle, a low ratio suggests origin in the mantle. The elevated sodium and calcium favor crystallization of hornblende rather than biotite. I-type granites are known for their porphyry copper deposits. I-type granites are orogenic (associated with mountain building) and usually metaluminous. S-type granites are sodium-poor and aluminum-rich. As

2496-474: A high school education and 25% are high school graduates or have some college education. By contrast, 40% of Brooklynites and 38% of city residents have a college education or higher. The percentage of Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene students excelling in math rose from 27 percent in 2000 to 50 percent in 2011, and reading achievement rose from 34% to 41% during the same time period. Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene's rate of elementary school student absenteeism

2652-442: A mezzanine above the seventh floor, which was connected via a dumbwaiter to a blueprint room in the penthouse. 176 Remsen Street became part of St. Francis College campus in 1963. As part of the renovation, a chapel and an auditorium with up to 200 seats were added. In addition, the building contained the college's departmental and administrative offices, music and visual-aid rooms, four conference rooms, and 12 seminar rooms. One of

2808-820: A much higher proportion of clay with the Cecil soil series a prime example of the consequent Ultisol great soil group. Granite is a natural source of radiation , like most natural stones. Potassium-40 is a radioactive isotope of weak emission, and a constituent of alkali feldspar , which in turn is a common component of granitic rocks, more abundant in alkali feldspar granite and syenites . Some granites contain around 10 to 20 parts per million (ppm) of uranium . By contrast, more mafic rocks, such as tonalite, gabbro and diorite , have 1 to 5 ppm uranium, and limestones and sedimentary rocks usually have equally low amounts. Many large granite plutons are sources for palaeochannel -hosted or roll front uranium ore deposits , where

2964-465: A new Downtown Brooklyn campus. 176 Remsen Street would host classes for 1,200 students each during the day and night, while 180 Remsen Street would become a student union building. The college was also supposed to retain its old campus on Butler Street, but the Butler Street campus was razed in 1965. The college's development director Jarlath Murphy had selected the site so the institution could remain in

3120-542: A number of historic buildings to house their staff, including the former Hotel Bossert , once the seasonal home of many Dodgers players, on Montague Street. In 2010, the organization announced plans to begin selling off its numerous properties in the Heights and nearby downtown Brooklyn, given that it plans to relocate itself in upstate New York. The executive offices of the Brooklyn Dodgers were, for many years, located in

3276-536: A peculiar mineralogy and geochemistry, with particularly high silicon and potassium at the expense of calcium and magnesium and a high content of high field strength cations (cations with a small radius and high electrical charge, such as zirconium , niobium , tantalum , and rare earth elements .) They are not orogenic, forming instead over hot spots and continental rifting, and are metaluminous to mildly peralkaline and iron-rich. These granites are produced by partial melting of refractory lithology such as granulites in

SECTION 20

#1733085479504

3432-574: A prominent area of Brooklyn since 1834. The neighborhood is noted for its low-rise architecture and its many brownstone rowhouses , most of them built prior to the Civil War . It also has an abundance of notable churches and other religious institutions. Brooklyn's first art gallery, the Brooklyn Arts Gallery , was opened in Brooklyn Heights in 1958. In 1965, a large part of Brooklyn Heights

3588-568: A range of hills, formed by the metamorphic aureole or hornfels . Granite often occurs as relatively small, less than 100 km stock masses ( stocks ) and in batholiths that are often associated with orogenic mountain ranges. Small dikes of granitic composition called aplites are often associated with the margins of granitic intrusions . In some locations, very coarse-grained pegmatite masses occur with granite. Granite forms from silica-rich ( felsic ) magmas. Felsic magmas are thought to form by addition of heat or water vapor to rock of

3744-410: A relatively low population of residents who are uninsured , or who receive healthcare through Medicaid . In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 4%, which is lower than the citywide rate of 12%. However, this estimate was based on a small sample size. The concentration of fine particulate matter , the deadliest type of air pollutant , in Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene

3900-496: A resolution of the alderman. In Historically Speaking , Brooklyn borough historian John B. Manbeck says only that these street names "have questionable origins", as does Love Lane , which reputedly gets its name from the meetings that took place there between a pretty girl who lived nearby and her suitors. There have been many noted residents of Brooklyn Heights. The dates listed are their respective birth and death dates. Famous residents include: Notes Granite Granite

4056-415: A result, they contain micas such as biotite and muscovite instead of hornblende. Their strontium isotope ratio is typically greater than 0.708, suggesting a crustal origin. They also commonly contain xenoliths of metamorphosed sedimentary rock, and host tin ores. Their magmas are water-rich, and they readily solidify as the water outgasses from the magma at lower pressure, so they less commonly make it to

4212-413: A select neighborhood and circle of society." Where there had been only seven houses in the Heights in 1807, by 1860 there were over six hundred of them, and by 1890 the area was almost completely developed. The buildings were designed in a wide variety of styles; development started in the northern part, and moved southward, so the architecture general changes in that direction as the preferred style of

4368-478: A surveyor and submitted an alternative. In the end, the Hickses' plan was adopted north of Clark Street, and Pierrepont's, featuring 25-by-100-foot (8-by-30 meter) lots, south of it. Thanks to the influence of Pierrepont and other landowners, Brooklyn received a charter from the state as a village in 1816, which led to streets being laid out in a regular grid pattern, sidewalks being laid, water pumps being installed and

4524-466: Is grus , which is often made up of coarse-grained fragments of disintegrated granite. Climatic variations also influence the weathering rate of granites. For about two thousand years, the relief engravings on Cleopatra's Needle obelisk had survived the arid conditions of its origin before its transfer to London. Within two hundred years, the red granite has drastically deteriorated in the damp and polluted air there. Soil development on granite reflects

4680-539: Is microgranite . The extrusive igneous rock equivalent of granite is rhyolite . Granitic rock is widely distributed throughout the continental crust . Much of it was intruded during the Precambrian age; it is the most abundant basement rock that underlies the relatively thin sedimentary veneer of the continents. Outcrops of granite tend to form tors , domes or bornhardts , and rounded massifs . Granites sometimes occur in circular depressions surrounded by

4836-412: Is 0.0088 milligrams per cubic metre (8.8 × 10  oz/cu ft), lower than the citywide and boroughwide averages. Eleven percent of Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene residents are smokers , which is slightly lower than the city average of 14% of residents being smokers. In Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene, 24% of residents are obese , 6% are diabetic , and 25% have high blood pressure —compared to

Brooklyn Union Gas Company Headquarters - Misplaced Pages Continue

4992-517: Is 3–6·10 Pa·s. The melting temperature of dry granite at ambient pressure is 1215–1260 °C (2219–2300 °F); it is strongly reduced in the presence of water, down to 650 °C at a few hundred megapascals of pressure. Granite has poor primary permeability overall, but strong secondary permeability through cracks and fractures if they are present. A worldwide average of the chemical composition of granite, by weight percent, based on 2485 analyses: The medium-grained equivalent of granite

5148-402: Is about equal to the rest of New York City. In Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene, 20% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per school year , the same as the citywide average. Additionally, 75% of high school students in Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene graduate on time, equal to the citywide average. St. Ann's School , a K–12 school, is located in the neighborhood, with

5304-410: Is an excess of aluminum beyond what can be taken up in feldspars (Al 2 O 3 > CaO + K 2 O + Na 2 O) are described as peraluminous , and they contain aluminum-rich minerals such as muscovite . The average density of granite is between 2.65 and 2.75 g/cm (165 and 172 lb/cu ft), its compressive strength usually lies above 200 MPa (29,000 psi), and its viscosity near STP

5460-618: Is believed to have a mass of around 81 tonnes. It was the tallest temple in south India. Imperial Roman granite was quarried mainly in Egypt, and also in Turkey, and on the islands of Elba and Giglio . Granite became "an integral part of the Roman language of monumental architecture". The quarrying ceased around the third century AD. Beginning in Late Antiquity the granite was reused, which since at least

5616-434: Is called a binary or two-mica granite. Two-mica granites are typically high in potassium and low in plagioclase, and are usually S-type granites or A-type granites, as described below . Another aspect of granite classification is the ratios of metals that potentially form feldspars. Most granites have a composition such that almost all their aluminum and alkali metals (sodium and potassium) are combined as feldspar. This

5772-568: Is covered by ZIP Code 11201. The United States Post Office operates two locations nearby: the Cadman Plaza Station at 271 Cadman Plaza East, and the DUMBO Automated Postal Center at 84 Front Street. Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene generally have a higher ratio of college-educated residents than the rest of the city as of 2018 . The majority of residents (64%) have a college education or higher, while 11% have less than

5928-429: Is divided vertically into five bays. The third through sixth floors comprise the shaft, and the seventh and eighth floors constitute the capital; they are divided into 11 bays. The windows originally were hollow-bronze sash windows with bronze trim and wire glass panes. Much of the ornamentation, including spandrel panels with torches and oil lamps, were intended to signify the building's original purpose. The entrance

6084-418: Is eight stories high and is horizontally divided by cornices into three sections. The first two stories, constructed of granite , are vertically divided into five bays ; they feature a large central portico with Doric columns. The third through eighth stories are clad with limestone and are divided vertically into 11 bays. There is a colonnade with six Ionic columns on the top two stories. The building

6240-433: Is limited by the amount of thermal energy available, which must be replenished by crystallization of higher-melting minerals in the magma. Thus, the magma is melting crustal rock at its roof while simultaneously crystallizing at its base. This results in steady contamination with crustal material as the magma rises. This may not be evident in the major and minor element chemistry, since the minerals most likely to crystallize at

6396-739: Is located at 74 Middagh Street, serving the northern part of the neighborhood, while Engine Co. 224 is located at 274 Hicks Street, serving the southern part of the neighborhood. A third fire station, Engine Co. 207/Ladder Co. 110/Satellite 6/Battalion 31/Division 11, is located at 172 Tillary Street in nearby Fort Greene . As of 2018 , preterm births and births to teenage mothers are less common in Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene than in other places citywide. In Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene, there were 74 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 11.6 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide). Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene have

Brooklyn Union Gas Company Headquarters - Misplaced Pages Continue

6552-465: Is lower than that of the city as a whole. The 84th Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 82.3% between 1990 and 2018. The precinct reported 2 murders, 18 rapes, 147 robberies, 184 felony assaults, 126 burglaries, 650 grand larcenies, and 31 grand larcenies auto in 2018. Brooklyn Heights is served by two New York City Fire Department (FDNY) fire stations. Engine Co. 205/Ladder Co. 118

6708-439: Is part of a larger land lot measuring 300 ft (91 m) wide and 100 ft (30 m) deep, with an area of 29,814 sq ft (2,769.8 m). The buildings are set back 8 feet (2.4 m) from the sidewalk; this gives the sidewalk a total width of 14 feet (4.3 m), much wider than other sidewalks in the neighborhood. This setback exists because of a restrictive covenant placed by Hezekiah Pierrepont , who owned

6864-404: Is permeated by sheets and channels of light granitic rock (the leucosome ). The leucosome is interpreted as partial melt of a parent rock that has begun to separate from the remaining solid residue (the melanosome). If enough partial melt is produced, it will separate from the source rock, become more highly evolved through fractional crystallization during its ascent toward the surface, and become

7020-454: Is relieved when overlying material is removed by erosion or other processes. Chemical weathering of granite occurs when dilute carbonic acid , and other acids present in rain and soil waters, alter feldspar in a process called hydrolysis . As demonstrated in the following reaction, this causes potassium feldspar to form kaolinite , with potassium ions, bicarbonate, and silica in solution as byproducts. An end product of granite weathering

7176-411: Is some concern that some granite sold as countertops or building material may be hazardous to health. Dan Steck of St. Johns University has stated that approximately 5% of all granite is of concern, with the caveat that only a tiny percentage of the tens of thousands of granite slab types have been tested. Resources from national geological survey organizations are accessible online to assist in assessing

7332-479: Is that magma will rise through the crust as a single mass through buoyancy . As it rises, it heats the wall rocks , causing them to behave as a power-law fluid and thus flow around the intrusion allowing it to pass without major heat loss. This is entirely feasible in the warm, ductile lower crust where rocks are easily deformed, but runs into problems in the upper crust which is far colder and more brittle. Rocks there do not deform so easily: for magma to rise as

7488-410: Is the case when K 2 O + Na 2 O + CaO > Al 2 O 3 > K 2 O + Na 2 O. Such granites are described as normal or metaluminous . Granites in which there is not enough aluminum to combine with all the alkali oxides as feldspar (Al 2 O 3 < K 2 O + Na 2 O) are described as peralkaline , and they contain unusual sodium amphiboles such as riebeckite . Granites in which there

7644-420: Is through a shallow portico in the center bay, supported on two Roman Doric columns, The upper half of the portico retains its original bronze decorations, as well as a glass globe hanging from the ceiling behind the spandrel panels; a pair of flagpoles hangs above the portico. Anodized-aluminum doorways, which replaced the original doors, flank the lower half of the portico. There are two bays on either side of

7800-485: Is typical of a larger family of granitic rocks , or granitoids , that are composed mostly of coarse-grained quartz and feldspars in varying proportions. These rocks are classified by the relative percentages of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase (the QAPF classification ), with true granite representing granitic rocks rich in quartz and alkali feldspar. Most granitic rocks also contain mica or amphibole minerals, though

7956-409: Is typically orthoclase or microcline and is often perthitic . The plagioclase is typically sodium-rich oligoclase . Phenocrysts are usually alkali feldspar. Granitic rocks are classified according to the QAPF diagram for coarse grained plutonic rocks and are named according to the percentage of quartz , alkali feldspar ( orthoclase , sanidine , or microcline ) and plagioclase feldspar on

SECTION 50

#1733085479504

8112-428: Is uncommon, is classified simply as quartz-rich granitoid or, if composed almost entirely of quartz, as quartzolite . True granites are further classified by the percentage of their total feldspar that is alkali feldspar. Granites whose feldspar is 65% to 90% alkali feldspar are syenogranites , while the feldspar in monzogranite is 35% to 65% alkali feldspar. A granite containing both muscovite and biotite micas

8268-548: The 2 and ​ 3 trains at Clark Street ; and the 2 , ​ 3 ​, 4 , ​ 5 ​, N , R , and ​ W trains at Borough Hall/Court Street . Although no bus routes actually stop in Brooklyn Heights, many MTA Regional Bus Operations bus routes are located nearby in Downtown Brooklyn. The B25 also stops in Dumbo/ Fulton Ferry , while

8424-451: The B61 and B63 serve Cobble Hill. In June 2017, NYC Ferry 's South Brooklyn route started stopping at Brooklyn Bridge Park Piers 1 and 6 in Brooklyn Heights. Many of the streets in Brooklyn Heights are named after people who figured prominently in the neighborhood's history. Concerning the "fruit streets" in Brooklyn Heights – Cranberry , Orange and Pineapple Streets –

8580-868: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle , there was speculation that St. Francis College officials supported the landmark designation so they could transfer the building's air rights to a nearby site. The LPC designated the Brooklyn Union Gas Building as a New York City landmark on May 10, 2011, along with the Constance Baker Motley Recreation Center in Midtown Manhattan . St. Francis College announced in May 2021 that it would be selling off its Remsen Street campus, including 180 Remsen Street. The college agreed to move to nearby Livingston Street;

8736-731: The Long Island Historical Society , Packer Collegiate Institute , and St. Ann's and the Holy Trinity Church , among other historically notable buildings. A number of bank buildings are concentrated on Montague Street, including the Brooklyn Trust Company Building , the People's Trust Building , and the National Title Guaranty Building . Based on data from the 2010 United States Census ,

8892-483: The NYPD , located at 301 Gold Street. The 84th Precinct ranked 60th-safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. This was attributed to a high rate of property crimes in the neighborhood. As of 2018 , with a non-fatal assault rate of 40 per 100,000 people, Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene's rate of violent crimes per capita is less than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 401 per 100,000 people

9048-642: The New York City borough of Brooklyn . The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, and the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway or the East River on the west. Adjacent neighborhoods are Dumbo to the north, Downtown Brooklyn to the east, and Cobble Hill and Boerum Hill to the south. Originally referred to as Brooklyn Village , it has been

9204-582: The Newtown Creek in the late 1920s. The building also hosted numerous events and exhibitions during the 1920s and 1930s, including annual Christmas celebrations (a practice which began in 1923), film screenings, cooking classes, and employee flower shows. To celebrate the centennial of the Brooklyn Gas Light Company's first gas service in Brooklyn, the company hosted an exhibition of gas appliances in

9360-559: The Underground Railroad ". To dramatize the plight of those held in captivity, Beecher once brought a female slave to the church and held an auction, with the highest bidder purchasing not the slave, but her freedom. Beecher also raised money to buy other slaves out of captivity, and shipped rifles to abolitionists in Kansas and Nebraska in crates labelled "Bibles", which gave the rifles the nickname " Beecher's Bibles ". The completion of

9516-623: The WPA Guide to New York City reports that before the Civil War, these streets, along with Poplar and Willow Streets , were named after prominent families, but that a member of the Middagh family expressed her dislike of these families by replacing the street signs with botanical names. The city would restore the proper names, and Middagh would put back her own signs. Several iterations of this game ended when Middagh's new names were given official status by

SECTION 60

#1733085479504

9672-526: The "heart of Brooklyn". The Remsen Street site was also close to the New York City Subway , the Long Island Rail Road , and several bus routes, making it ideal for St. Francis College, which was a commuter college . The structures cost $ 1.25 million (equivalent to $ 10 million in 2023). The Brooklyn Union Gas Company leased back both buildings until its new nearby headquarters was completed, and

9828-567: The A-Q-P half of the diagram. True granite (according to modern petrologic convention) contains between 20% and 60% quartz by volume, with 35% to 90% of the total feldspar consisting of alkali feldspar . Granitic rocks poorer in quartz are classified as syenites or monzonites , while granitic rocks dominated by plagioclase are classified as granodiorites or tonalites . Granitic rocks with over 90% alkali feldspar are classified as alkali feldspar granites . Granitic rock with more than 60% quartz, which

9984-627: The Brooklyn Heights Promenade, is sometimes considered to be its own neighborhood. Brooklyn Heights is part of Brooklyn Community District 2 , and its primary ZIP Code is 11201. It is patrolled by the 84th Precinct of the New York City Police Department . The New York City Fire Department operates two fire stations near Brooklyn Heights: Engine Company 205/Ladder Company 118 at 74 Middagh Street, and Engine Company 224 at 274 Hicks Street. Brooklyn Heights occupies

10140-464: The Brooklyn Heights branch shared the site with the Business & Career Library. In 2013, BPL announced its intent to sell 280 Cadman Plaza West, and as part of this announcement, the Business and Career Library's functions were relocated to BPL's Central Branch . BPL then sold the Brooklyn Heights branch to developer Hudson Companies. Hudson Companies then demolished the structure and replaced it with

10296-509: The East River, and to this end he became a prominent investor in Robert Fulton 's New York and Brooklyn Steam Ferry Boat Company, using his influence on Fulton's behalf; he eventually became a part owner and a director of the company. Fulton's ferry began running in 1814, and Brooklyn received a charter as a village from the state of New York in 1816, thanks to the influence of Pierrepont and other prominent landowners. The city then prepared for

10452-598: The European Union safety standards (section 4.1.1.1 of the National Health and Engineering study) and radon emission levels well below the average outdoor radon concentrations in the US. Granite and related marble industries are considered one of the oldest industries in the world, existing as far back as Ancient Egypt . Major modern exporters of granite include China, India, Italy, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Sweden, Spain and

10608-401: The Heights could leave the office at three o'clock, have dinner at home at four o'clock, and still have time for a "leisurely drive to the outskirts of town", a "middle class paradise". The community's development was helped by the yellow fever epidemic of 1822, when many of the rich from the city abandoned it for an area that was advertised as "elevated and perfectly healthy at all seasons ...

10764-608: The Heights, near the intersection of Montague and Court Streets. A plaque on the office building that replaced the Dodgers' old headquarters at 215 Montague Street identifies it as the site where Jackie Robinson signed his major league contract. Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims and Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic Cathedral are located in Brooklyn Heights, as are the First Unitarian Congregational Society ,

10920-540: The Livingston estate, plus the Benson, De Bevoise and Reemsen farms – on what was then called "Clover Hill", now Brooklyn Heights, and built a mansion there. Pierrepont purchased and expanded Philip Livingston 's gin distillery on the East River at what is now Joralemon Street, where he produced Anchor Gin. Wishing to sub-divide and develop his property, Pierrepont realized the need for regularly scheduled ferry service across

11076-651: The Pierrepont (1928), among others – were constructed. By the beginning of the Great Depression , most of the middle class had left the area. Boarding houses had become rooming houses, and the neighborhood began to have the appearance of a slum. During the 1940s and 1950s, the building of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) badly affected the neighborhood, as it took away the neighborhood's northwest corner, destroying whole rows of brownstones . At about

11232-515: The Realty Associates. These were among a series of real-estate transactions that led the Brooklyn Daily Eagle to say : "The opinion is expressed by realty men that Remsen Street will soon become a business block like its neighbor, Montague Street." Brooklyn Union Gas planned a larger structure for its business at 172 to 178 Remsen Street, and it was selling the old residences' furnishings by that March. The existing headquarters at 180 Remsen Street

11388-560: The St. Francis College yearbook from that year, the relocation to 176 and 180 Remsen Street represented "a transformation and the formulation of a new image and purpose". In 1965, the college bought several sites to the west for a planned expansion of its campus along Remsen Street. This expansion was to include a new student union building and the Generoso Pope Athletic Complex , among other facilities. The buildings also began to house

11544-504: The United States. The Red Pyramid of Egypt ( c.  2590 BC ), named for the light crimson hue of its exposed limestone surfaces, is the third largest of Egyptian pyramids . Pyramid of Menkaure , likely dating 2510 BC, was constructed of limestone and granite blocks. The Great Pyramid of Giza (c. 2580 BC ) contains a huge granite sarcophagus fashioned of "Red Aswan Granite". The mostly ruined Black Pyramid dating from

11700-453: The area's major landowners. Pierrepont had accumulated 60 acres of land, including 800 feet which directly overlooked the harbor, all of which he planned to sub-divide. Since his intention was to sell to merchants and bankers who lived in Manhattan, he needed easy access between Brooklyn Heights and New York City, which Fulton's company provided. Pierrepont bought 60 acres (24 ha) – part of

11856-419: The base of the chamber are the same ones that would crystallize anyway, but crustal assimilation is detectable in isotope ratios. Heat loss to the country rock means that ascent by assimilation is limited to distance similar to the height of the magma chamber. Physical weathering occurs on a large scale in the form of exfoliation joints , which are the result of granite's expanding and fracturing as pressure

12012-418: The big difference in rheology between mafic and felsic magmas makes this process problematic in nature. Granitization is an old, and largely discounted, hypothesis that granite is formed in place through extreme metasomatism . The idea behind granitization was that fluids would supposedly bring in elements such as potassium, and remove others, such as calcium, to transform a metamorphic rock into granite. This

12168-455: The building as a city landmark in 2011. St. Francis College relocated from the building in 2022 and sold it in April 2023 to Rockrose Development Corporation . The Brooklyn Union Gas Company Building is located at 176 Remsen Street in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City . It occupies a rectangular land lot on the south side of Remsen Street, between Clinton Street to

12324-422: The building that it is one of Freeman's "lesser work[s]". In designating the building as a landmark in 2011, LPC chairman Robert Tierney described 176 Remsen Street as "a reminder of a company that literally fueled the growth of a newly expanded City in the first decades of the 20th century". Notes Citations Bibliography Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within

12480-455: The building was completed, it had two elevators with space for a third, as well as two stairways near the front of the building, which were separated from the rest of the structure by hollow steel doors and trim. There was a "fire tower" to the east, which could be accessed from each story. When the building was completed, it contained multiple mechanical systems. Most of the building was heated directly by radiators, but an indirect heating system

12636-508: The citywide averages of 24%, 11%, and 28% respectively. In addition, 14% of children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%. Eighty-eight percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is slightly higher than the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 86% of residents described their health as "good", "very good", or "excellent", more than the city's average of 78%. For every supermarket in Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene, there are 12 bodegas . Brooklyn Heights

12792-462: The college and Rockrose in July 2023 for breach of contract, though the defendants sought to have the suit invalidated. Alexico claimed that, at the time of the sale, it had been reviewing the legal terms of a 19th-century covenant that required the buildings to be set back from the sidewalk. In October 2024, Rockrose filed plans to convert 180 Remsen Street and two nearby structures into 747 apartments. When

12948-608: The company did not begin supplying gas until 1849. The company spent $ 20,000 (equivalent to $ 678,222 in 2023) to erect a brownstone building at 180 Remsen Street in 1856. The building, completed the next year, was a two-story structure with large Tuscan columns on the ground story and large arched openings on the second story. The company was renamed the Brooklyn Union Gas Company in 1895, at which time it had acquired six other firms and served 100,000 customers. Brooklyn Union Gas continued to grow after James Jourdan became

13104-511: The completion of the Brooklyn Union Gas Company's headquarters at 176 and 180 Remsen Street, the company could consolidate its 300 employees at one location. The Brooklyn Union Gas Company began exhibiting gas-powered appliances permanently at 180 Remsen Street in 1925. This exhibit, according to the Brooklyn Citizen , showcased "every known appliance which may be fired by gas". The company continued to expand, erecting gas-generating plants on

13260-563: The compromise plan despite strong opposition from the preservation community, including the North Heights Community Group. As a result, 1,200 residents were removed from their houses and apartments in late 1961 and early 1962 as construction began on the modified plan. One positive development came about when community groups – prominently the Brooklyn Heights Association, founded in 1910 – joined with Moses in

13416-494: The conference rooms at 176 Remsen Street had space for up to 80 seats. The building was also variously cited as containing 25, 27, or 46 lecture rooms. The neighboring brownstone at 180 Remsen Street was converted into the McGarry Library. The library had space for 75,000 or 100,000 volumes, as well as microfilm, language, and reference rooms. 180 Remsen Street also had five reading rooms and a student-union center. The structure

13572-466: The cornice. The western and eastern walls, which are partially visible from the street, are largely clad in red brick, except at the corners where there are quoins. 176 Remsen Street was built with about 6,775 sq ft (629.4 m) on each floor, which gave the building a total floor area of 47,400 sq ft (4,400 m). The building has a light court above the first floor, which allowed each office to be illuminated by natural light. When

13728-682: The creation of the Brooklyn Heights Promenade , also called the Esplanade, which was cantilevered over the BQE. It became a favorite spot among locals, offering magnificent vistas of the Statue of Liberty , the Manhattan skyline across the East River , the Brooklyn Bridge , the Manhattan Bridge , and spectacular fireworks displays over the East River. Moses originally proposed to build the BQE through

13884-524: The difficulty of building there. They later sold part of their land to John Jackson, who created the Vinegar Hill community, much of which later became the Brooklyn Navy Yard . Brooklyn Heights began to develop once Robert Fulton 's New York and Brooklyn Steam Ferry Boat Company began regularly scheduled steam ferry service in 1814, with the financial backing of Hezekiah Beers Pierrepont , one of

14040-404: The division between S-type (produced by underplating) and I-type (produced by injection and differentiation) granites, discussed below. The composition and origin of any magma that differentiates into granite leave certain petrological evidence as to what the granite's parental rock was. The final texture and composition of a granite are generally distinctive as to its parental rock. For instance,

14196-467: The early 16th century became known as spolia . Through the process of case-hardening , granite becomes harder with age. The technology required to make tempered metal chisels was largely forgotten during the Middle Ages. As a result, Medieval stoneworkers were forced to use saws or emery to shorten ancient columns or hack them into discs. Giorgio Vasari noted in the 16th century that granite in quarries

14352-485: The early 2020s, increasing numbers of celebrities were moving to the neighborhood. Brooklyn Heights was the first neighborhood protected by the 1965 Landmarks Preservation Law of New York City . The neighborhood is largely composed of blocks of picturesque rowhouses and a few mansions. A great range of architectural styles is represented, including Greek Revival , Italianate , Second Empire , Victorian Gothic , Romanesque , Neo-Grec , and Classical Revival , as well as

14508-405: The entrance. These bays retain their original design, which consists of bronze-framed display windows on both the ground and second floors, with decorative spandrels above the ground-story windows. The piers between each window formerly contained large glass globes. Two recessed areaways , one on either side of the portico, run in front of the windows, with stairways descending to the basement. Above

14664-426: The establishment of a street grid, although there were competing plans for the size of the lots. John and Jacob Hicks, who also owned property on Brooklyn Heights, north of Pierrepont's, favored smaller lots, as they were pitching their land to tradesman and artisans already living in Brooklyn, not attempting to lure merchants and bankers from Manhattan as Pierrepont was. To counter the Hickses' proposal, Pierrepont hired

14820-447: The existing building at 180 Remsen Street. The company had expanded into southern Brooklyn and Staten Island by the end of that decade. Consequently, the company began to develop a new headquarters at 195 Montague Street to house its growing operations. St. Francis College announced in April 1960 that it would buy 176 and 180 Remsen Street, as well as three adjacent five-story buildings at 162 to 166 Remsen Street, and convert them into

14976-651: The ferries went between the current Fulton Street and Peck Slip in Manhattan, and was run by Cornelius Dirksen. The ferry service helped the lowland area to thrive, with both farms and some factories along the water, but the higher ground was sparsely used. The area was heavily fortified prior to the Battle of Long Island in the American Revolutionary War . After British troops landed on Long Island and advanced towards Continental Army lines, General George Washington withdrew his troops here after heavy losses, but

15132-611: The firm's president the next year. Jourdan's son James H. Jourdan, who became a vice president of Brooklyn Union Gas in 1910 after his father died, began planning a new headquarters on Remsen Street in Downtown Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Union Gas Company acquired the houses at 172 to 178 Remsen Street, adjacent to its existing building at 180 Remsen Street, in February 1912 at an estimated cost of $ 200,000. The houses at 172 and 174 Remsen Street had been boarding-houses owned by lawyer E. T. Paul, while those at 176 and 178 Remsen Street had belonged to

15288-579: The first magma to enter solidifies and provides a form of insulation for later magma. These mechanisms can operate in tandem. For example, diapirs may continue to rise through the brittle upper crust through stoping , where the granite cracks the roof rocks, removing blocks of the overlying crust which then sink to the bottom of the diapir while the magma rises to take their place. This can occur as piecemeal stopping (stoping of small blocks of chamber roof), as cauldron subsidence (collapse of large blocks of chamber roof), or as roof foundering (complete collapse of

15444-463: The gas company moved out during March 1962. Work began that May. The renovation of the first two buildings was scheduled to be completed in September 1963, but this date was pushed forward to September 1962 due to increases in enrollment. Due to delays in construction, the buildings did not open until February 1, 1963. The college dedicated its five buildings on Remsen Street on May 21, 1963. According to

15600-684: The grotto is a highly regarded piece of Buddhist art , and along with the temple complex to which it belongs, Seokguram was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1995. Rajaraja Chola I of the Chola Dynasty in South India built the world's first temple entirely of granite in the 11th century AD in Tanjore , India . The Brihadeeswarar Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva was built in 1010. The massive Gopuram (ornate, upper section of shrine)

15756-462: The heart of Brooklyn Heights. Opposition to this plan led to the re-routing of the expressway to the side of the bluff, allowing creation of the Promenade. By the mid-1950s, a new generation of property owners had begun moving into the Heights, pioneering the "Brownstone Revival" by buying and renovating pre-Civil War period houses, which became part of the preservationist movement which culminated in

15912-442: The institution of a watch. After 1823, farms begin to be sub-divided into 25-by-100-foot (7.6 by 30.5 m) lots, which were advertised as suitable for a "country retreat" for Manhattanites, leading to a building boom that resulted in Brooklyn Heights becoming the "first commuter suburb ", since it was easier and faster to get to Manhattan by ferry than it was to commute from upper Manhattan by ground transportation. A resident of

16068-544: The largest ensembles of such housing in the nation, and the human scale of the three, four- and five-story buildings creates a neighborly atmosphere. Brooklyn Heights has very few high-rise buildings. Among these buildings are 75 Livingston Street , Hotel St. George , and the Concord Village co-op development on Adams Street. Additionally, Jehovah's Witnesses had its world headquarters in the northern part of Brooklyn Heights at 25 Columbia Heights. The organization restored

16224-513: The left of the entrance were display rooms, and at the end of the corridor was an entrance into the old building at 180 Remsen Street. Immediately opposite the entrance, through an arch, was the public office, a room with a high ceiling and a central, elliptical-domed skylight. The public room's counters, column bases, and pilasters were made of polished gray marble, while the walls and ceiling were of Caen stone . The room also had several marble tables and benches; bronze and glass counter screens. There

16380-474: The lower crust , rather than by decompression of mantle rock, as is the case with basaltic magmas. It has also been suggested that some granites found at convergent boundaries between tectonic plates , where oceanic crust subducts below continental crust, were formed from sediments subducted with the oceanic plate. The melted sediments would have produced magma intermediate in its silica content, which became further enriched in silica as it rose through

16536-697: The lower continental crust at high thermal gradients. This leads to significant extraction of hydrous felsic melts from granulite-facies resitites. A-type granites occur in the Koettlitz Glacier Alkaline Province in the Royal Society Range, Antarctica. The rhyolites of the Yellowstone Caldera are examples of volcanic equivalents of A-type granite. M-type granite was later proposed to cover those granites that were clearly sourced from crystallized mafic magmas, generally sourced from

16692-435: The magma is inevitable once enough magma has accumulated. However, the question of precisely how such large quantities of magma are able to shove aside country rock to make room for themselves (the room problem ) is still a matter of research. Two main mechanisms are thought to be important: Of these two mechanisms, Stokes diapirism has been favoured for many years in the absence of a reasonable alternative. The basic idea

16848-426: The magma. Other processes must produce these great volumes of felsic magma. One such process is injection of basaltic magma into the lower crust, followed by differentiation, which leaves any cumulates in the mantle. Another is heating of the lower crust by underplating basaltic magma, which produces felsic magma directly from crustal rock. The two processes produce different kinds of granites, which may be reflected in

17004-408: The magmatic parent of granitic rock. The residue of the source rock becomes a granulite . The partial melting of solid rocks requires high temperatures and the addition of water or other volatiles which lower the solidus temperature (temperature at which partial melting commences) of these rocks. It was long debated whether crustal thickening in orogens (mountain belts along convergent boundaries )

17160-542: The main building in 1949. By that time, the company was profitable and had helped fund the development of the Transcontinental Pipeline . During December 1951, the Brooklyn Gas Company leased the third through sixth floors of the neighboring building at 186 Remsen Street, after the seventh and eighth stories of that structure had been demolished. The company constructed a doorway between its new space and

17316-501: The main building opened in 1914, Architecture and Building magazine wrote: "While many large public service companies erect architectural monuments, not infrequently of grandiose pretensions, this building, which cannot be criticised for any lack of architectural adornment where necessary, is above all a service building." The structure as a whole has been characterized as "a fine, stately office building demonstrating Freeman's infinite versatility." The AIA Guide to New York City says of

17472-465: The main campus at 129 Pierrepont Street. Packer Collegiate Institute , a K–12 school, has also been located in the neighborhood, at 170 Joralemon Street, since its 1845 founding. St. Francis College is located on Remsen Street and occupies half a city block. It was founded as St. Francis Academy in 1859 by the Franciscan Brothers and was originally located on Baltic Street. St. Francis College

17628-405: The mantle. Although the fractional crystallisation of basaltic melts can yield small amounts of granites, which are sometimes found in island arcs, such granites must occur together with large amounts of basaltic rocks. H-type granites were suggested for hybrid granites, which were hypothesized to form by mixing between mafic and felsic from different sources, such as M-type and S-type. However,

17784-510: The neighborhood and the perceived loss of the specialness and "quality" began to drive out the merchants and patricians who lived there; in time their mansions were divided to become apartment houses and boarding houses. Artists began to move into the neighborhood, as well as writers, and a number of large hotels – the St. George (1885), the Margaret (1889), the Bossert (1909), Leverich Towers (1928), and

17940-439: The now historic Brooklyn Bridge in 1883, the Brooklyn end of which was near Brooklyn Heights' eastern boundary, began the process of making the neighborhood more accessible from places such as Manhattan. The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT)'s Lexington Avenue subway line , which reached Brooklyn Heights in 1908, was an even more powerful catalyst in the neighborhood's development. The resulting ease of transportation into

18096-441: The overlying crust. Early fractional crystallisation serves to reduce a melt in magnesium and chromium, and enrich the melt in iron, sodium, potassium, aluminum, and silicon. Further fractionation reduces the content of iron, calcium, and titanium. This is reflected in the high content of alkali feldspar and quartz in granite. The presence of granitic rock in island arcs shows that fractional crystallization alone can convert

18252-650: The passage in 1965 of the Landmarks Preservation Law. In 1965, community groups which later became the Brooklyn Heights Association, succeeded in having the neighborhood designated the Brooklyn Heights Historic District by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission , the first such district in the city. This was followed in the following decades by the further gentrification of the neighborhood into

18408-511: The pastor of Plymouth Church , now the Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims. Beecher was a nationally known figure famous on the lecture circuit for his novel oratorical style, in which he employed humor, dialect, and slang. Under Beecher, so many slaves passed through Plymouth Church on their way to freedom in Canada that later generations have referred to the church as the " Grand Central Station of

18564-405: The percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 39% in Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene, lower than the citywide and boroughwide rates of 52% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, as of 2018 , Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene are considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying . Brooklyn Heights is patrolled by the 84th Precinct of

18720-559: The population of Brooklyn Heights was 22,887, a change of 339 (1.5%) from the 22,548 counted in 2000 . Covering an area of 235.86 acres (95.45 ha), the neighborhood had a population density of 97 inhabitants per acre (62,000/sq mi; 24,000/km ). The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 75.2% (17,210) White , 5.5% (1,259) African American , 0.2% (37) Native American , 8.8% (2,003) Asian , 0% (3) Pacific Islander , 0.4% (82) from other races , and 2.7% (618) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.3% (1,675) of

18876-514: The population. The entirety of Community Board 2, which comprises Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene, had 117,046 inhabitants as of NYC Health 's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 80.6 years. This is slightly lower than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are middle-aged adults and youth: 15% are between the ages of 0–17, 44% between 25 and 44, and 20% between 45 and 64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents

19032-569: The public archives of Kings County, the county in New York that is coextensive with Brooklyn. Although the Brooklyn Heights Historic District had been designated four decades earlier as the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC)'s first historic district, the campus was just outside the district. The AIA Guide to New York City wrote that 180 Remsen Street had been "miraculously saved", but local civic group Brooklyn Heights Association had never formally sought landmark designation for

19188-702: The reign of Amenemhat III once had a polished granite pyramidion or capstone, which is now on display in the main hall of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (see Dahshur ). Other uses in Ancient Egypt include columns , door lintels , sills , jambs , and wall and floor veneer. How the Egyptians worked the solid granite is still a matter of debate. Tool marks described by the Egyptologist Anna Serotta indicate

19344-551: The risk factors in granite country and design rules relating, in particular, to preventing accumulation of radon gas in enclosed basements and dwellings. A study of granite countertops was done (initiated and paid for by the Marble Institute of America) in November 2008 by National Health and Engineering Inc. of USA. In this test, all of the 39 full-size granite slabs that were measured for the study showed radiation levels well below

19500-418: The rock's high quartz content and dearth of available bases, with the base-poor status predisposing the soil to acidification and podzolization in cool humid climates as the weather-resistant quartz yields much sand. Feldspars also weather slowly in cool climes, allowing sand to dominate the fine-earth fraction. In warm humid regions, the weathering of feldspar as described above is accelerated so as to allow

19656-414: The rocks often bear a close resemblance. Under these conditions, granitic melts can be produced in place through the partial melting of metamorphic rocks by extracting melt-mobile elements such as potassium and silicon into the melts but leaving others such as calcium and iron in granulite residues. This may be the origin of migmatites . A migmatite consists of dark, refractory rock (the melanosome ) that

19812-489: The roof of a shallow magma chamber accompanied by a caldera eruption.) There is evidence for cauldron subsidence at the Mt. Ascutney intrusion in eastern Vermont. Evidence for piecemeal stoping is found in intrusions that are rimmed with igneous breccia containing fragments of country rock. Assimilation is another mechanism of ascent, where the granite melts its way up into the crust and removes overlying material in this way. This

19968-598: The sale of the Remsen Street buildings was intended to fund the relocation, which occurred in August 2022. Initially, Alexico Group expressed interest in redeveloping 180 Remsen Street into apartments. but this sale was not finalized. At the end of March 2023, Rockrose Development bought the college's buildings on Remsen Street for approximately $ 160 million. At the time, 180 Remsen Street and its neighboring structures had 500,000 sq ft (46,000 m) of space. Alexico sued

20124-523: The same time, plans began to be developed by New York's "master builder", Robert Moses , wielding the Housing Act of 1949, to replace brownstone rowhouses – which were the typical building form in the neighborhood – with large luxury apartment buildings. A prominent example of the intended outcome is the Cadman Plaza development of housing cooperatives in the northern part of the neighborhood, located on

20280-413: The second floor is a heavy cornice with modillions , running the width of the building. On the third through sixth floors, quoins mark the extreme west and east ends of the facade. The outermost two bays on either end are grouped together, while the remaining seven bays are spaced apart at regular intervals. The windows are one-over-one sash windows. The sixth floor is surmounted by a plain cornice. On

20436-415: The seventh and eighth floors, the center seven bays are spaced by a series of six engaged Ionic columns rising to an entablature. The outermost two bays on either end are grouped together and are flanked by large pilasters . Above the windows on the eighth story are transom windows. Above the eight-story windows, a heavy stone cornice runs across the entire width of the building. There is a parapet above

20592-611: The site in the 19th century, back when the neighborhood was filled with townhouses. The building was designed by Frank Freeman , a prolific Brooklyn architect, for the Brooklyn Union Gas Company (now KeySpan ). Although Freeman is known for his work in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, the Brooklyn Union Gas Company Building was completed during his later, Neoclassical period, and is more restrained than his earlier work. The George A. Fuller Company

20748-586: The site where the Brooklyn Bridge trolley terminal once stood. In 1959, the North Heights Community Group was formed to oppose destroying cheap low-rise housing in order to build the high-rise Cadman Plaza towers. Architect Percival Goodman presented an alternate plan to maintain all sound structures, which garnered 25,000 supporters. In early 1961, a compromise proposal came from City Hall calling for two 22-story towers with over 1,200 luxury and middle income units. The Brooklyn Heights Association fully supported

20904-448: The structure. St. Francis College demolished 180 Remsen Street in 2004, after no one tried to save it. The older structure was replaced by an academic center that opened in 2006. Afterward, the campus, including the Brooklyn Union Gas Building, carried the address 180 Remsen Street. In February 2009, the LPC expressed its intent to designate the 1914 building as an individual landmark. According to

21060-435: The surface than magmas of I-type granites, which are thus more common as volcanic rock (rhyolite). They are also orogenic but range from metaluminous to strongly peraluminous. Although both I- and S-type granites are orogenic, I-type granites are more common close to the convergent boundary than S-type. This is attributed to thicker crust further from the boundary, which results in more crustal melting. A-type granites show

21216-440: The texture is known as porphyritic . A granitic rock with a porphyritic texture is known as a granite porphyry . Granitoid is a general, descriptive field term for lighter-colored, coarse-grained igneous rocks. Petrographic examination is required for identification of specific types of granitoids. Granites can be predominantly white, pink, or gray in color, depending on their mineralogy . The alkali feldspar in granites

21372-466: The time changed over the decades. Throughout the 19th century, Brooklyn Heights remained an elegant neighborhood, and became Brooklyn's cultural and financial center. Its development gave rise to offshoots such as Cobble Hill and, later, Carroll Gardens . Prior to the Civil War , Brooklyn Heights was a locus of the Abolitionist movement, due to the speeches and activities of Henry Ward Beecher ,

21528-404: The time. Brooklyn Life reported in August 1914 that the building had been "recently completed" at a cost of $ 500,000. The old headquarters at 180 Remsen Street was converted into Brooklyn Union Gas's Domestic Science Department, which featured a showroom. The showroom opened on January 22, 1915, and was intended as a gathering place for local women and as a place where lectures could be given. With

21684-487: The top baccalaureate colleges in the north. Brooklyn Heights is also the location of Brooklyn Law School , founded in 1901. The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL)'s Brooklyn Heights branch is located at 286 Cadman Plaza West. The branch was formerly located at 280 Cadman Plaza West, which was shared with the Business & Career Library , but that site was sold to a developer and demolished. Brooklyn Heights' first library

21840-480: The treasurer, secretary, assistant secretary, and auditor, which were decorated in a utilitarian manner; this floor also had space for the auditing department and the New York Public Service Commission . The seventh floor had a 15-foot (4.6 m) ceiling and contained the drafting room, construction department, construction engineer's offices, and an auditorium. Blueprints and plans were stored on

21996-502: The uranium washes into the sediments from the granite uplands and associated, often highly radioactive pegmatites. Cellars and basements built into soils over granite can become a trap for radon gas, which is formed by the decay of uranium. Radon gas poses significant health concerns and is the number two cause of lung cancer in the US behind smoking. Thorium occurs in all granites. Conway granite has been noted for its relatively high thorium concentration of 56±6 ppm. There

22152-599: The use of flint tools on finer work with harder stones, e.g. when producing the hieroglyphic inscriptions. Patrick Hunt has postulated that the Egyptians used emery , which has greater hardness. The Seokguram Grotto in Korea is a Buddhist shrine and part of the Bulguksa temple complex. Completed in 774 AD, it is an artificial grotto constructed entirely of granite. The main Buddha of

22308-476: The west and Court Street to the east. Nearby buildings include the Brooklyn Trust Company Building , 181 Montague Street , and 185 Montague Street to the north; the Montague–Court Building to the northwest; Brooklyn Borough Hall to the east; and 75 Livingston Street to the south. The site originally measured about 98 feet (30 m) wide and 92 ft (28 m) deep. The modern-day building

22464-415: Was a balcony with several rooms and with a pair of three-story-high vaults for book and record storage. The mezzanine contained the offices of the purchasing department and a photometer room. The company's original headquarters, at 180 Remsen Street, housed showroom space and a mezzanine with a living room, dining room, and library. The second floor of the original building also had a small office, as well as

22620-468: Was able to make a skillful retreat across the East River to Manhattan without the loss of any troops or his remaining supplies. After the war, the 160-acre tract of land belonging to John Rapeljie, who was a Loyalist , was confiscated and sold to the Sands brothers, who tried to develop the part of the land on the palisade as a community they called "Olympia", but failed to make it come about, partly because of

22776-408: Was constructed with about 6,775 sq ft (629.4 m) on each floor. When 176 Remsen Street opened, the ground floor had a large public office and exhibition spaces, while the second through seventh stories accommodated Brooklyn Union Gas offices. By the 1960s, these had been converted into academic facilities. The predecessor to the Brooklyn Union Gas Company was established in 1825 and built

22932-438: Was demolished in 2003 and replaced with a 35,000-square-foot (3,300 m) academic center, which included a three-story library, 14 classrooms, and an auditorium with 95 seats. The facade of the academic center was designed to resemble that of the building at 176 Remsen Street. The Brooklyn Gas Light Company was established in 1825 to provide gas in Brooklyn, which at the time was a separate municipality from New York City , but

23088-579: Was founded in 1857 by the Mercantile Library Association of the City of Brooklyn. The first BPL branch in the neighborhood, the Montague Street branch, was opened in 1903. The Brooklyn Heights branch building at 280 Cadman Plaza West opened in 1962 and originally contained an auditorium and children's room. It was renovated and expanded from 1990 to 1993, and upon the completion of the renovation,

23244-460: Was lower, at 9% and 12% respectively. As of 2016, the median household income in Community Board 2 was $ 56,599. In 2018, an estimated 22% of Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene residents lived in poverty, compared to 21% in all of Brooklyn and 20% in all of New York City. One in twelve residents (8%) were unemployed, compared to 9% in the rest of both Brooklyn and New York City. Rent burden, or

23400-533: Was planned to become a sales and demonstration room. Brooklyn architect Frank Freeman was commissioned to design the new headquarters. The Eagle reported in October 1912 that the Fuller Company was about to raze the existing buildings at 172 to 178 Remsen Street. The Brooklyn Union Gas Company Building was almost finished by November 1913; it was one of several commercial buildings being erected in Brooklyn Heights at

23556-570: Was protected from unchecked development by the creation of the Brooklyn Heights Historic District , the first such district in New York City. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. Directly across the East River from Manhattan and connected to it by subways and regular ferry service, Brooklyn Heights is also easily accessible from Downtown Brooklyn. Columbia Heights, an upscale six-block-long street next to

23712-405: Was sufficient to produce granite melts by radiogenic heating , but recent work suggests that this is not a viable mechanism. In-situ granitization requires heating by the asthenospheric mantle or by underplating with mantle-derived magmas. Granite magmas have a density of 2.4 Mg/m , much less than the 2.8 Mg/m of high-grade metamorphic rock. This gives them tremendous buoyancy, so that ascent of

23868-564: Was supposed to occur across a migrating front. However, experimental work had established by the 1960s that granites were of igneous origin. The mineralogical and chemical features of granite can be explained only by crystal-liquid phase relations, showing that there must have been at least enough melting to mobilize the magma. However, at sufficiently deep crustal levels, the distinction between metamorphism and crustal melting itself becomes vague. Conditions for crystallization of liquid magma are close enough to those of high-grade metamorphism that

24024-414: Was the general contractor for the building. Numerous contractors provided materials for the building as well, including cut-stone supplier John R. Smith's Son Inc. and brick supplier Hay Walker Brick Co. The eight-story facade is generally constructed of granite on the lowest two stories and limestone above. The building is divided into three sections: a base, shaft, and capital. The two-story base

24180-479: Was the first private school in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn . As of 2010 , 2,000 full-time students and more than 400 part-time students from 80 countries attend the college. St. Francis College has been ranked by The New York Times as one of the more diverse colleges in the United States. The college has also been ranked by both Forbes magazine and U.S. News & World Report as one of

24336-453: Was used in the main office. Two ventilation systems were used: the first floor and basement were ventilated by fans in the basement, while the upper stories were ventilated by a fan on the eighth story. Water from the New York City water supply system was pumped to a rooftop tank that supplied all the building's sinks and drinking fountains, while toilets and emergency standpipes received their water from artesian wells . The building also had

#503496