This past Thursday, we took visitors from the Fort Greene Park Conservancy on a special tour of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The tour group included historic preservationists, a retired Army general, children of former Navy Yard workers, and people who were just plain curious about the sights behind the imposing gates along Flushing Avenue. This was one of the most enthusiastic and well-informed groups we have had on the tour, and I think I learned as much from them as (I hope) they learned from me. The tour was followed by a wonderful reception hosted by Ruth Goldstein of the Park Conservancy. The event was featured in the New York Times blog The Local on Friday. 

The Fort Greene Park Conservancy works to repair and restore historic Fort Greene Park. Last year was the centennial of the Fort Greene Prison Ship Martyrs Monument, one of the most prominent features of the park - an event marking that occasion last fall was one of the first tours that Urban Oyster ever gave, and we look forward to working with the Conservancy and its members in the future. The Martyrs Monument commemorates the more than 11,000 people who died aboard British prison ships moored in New York harbor during the Revolutionary War. One of the most notorious of these ships was the Prison Ship Jersey, which was moored in Wallabout Bay, the current site of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. You can learn more about the Fort Greene Park Conservancy at their website, and we encourage people to visit the Martyrs Monument.

Of course, tours would not be possible if it weren't for the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation initiating them and forming a partnership with the Brooklyn Historical Society, who brought us on board to manage the tours. 

Our next Navy Yard tour will take place Sunday, September 13th at 1:30pm - tickets are still available, so book them now!
 


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