DUMBO & Vinegar Hill, Brooklyn

DUMBO (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass) and adjacent Vinegar Hill lie east of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Spectacular views abound of the bridge, especially a shot I took on Washington St. (at Water St.) showing the Empire State Building framed by the columns of the bridge.
Nearby, at the Brooklyn Bridge park, it is hard not to see brides & grooms posing for photos. Heading towards Vinegar Hill, there is a fabulous mural on Water St. (at Jay St.).

Vinegar Hill is very quiet, with tree lined cobble stone streets comprised of 1860s Belgian bricks. The neighborhood is named after a battle of Irish Independence, since the local population was largely Irish in the 1800s.

Rounding the corner from Evans St. onto Little St., is a breathtaking Navy Yard commandant's mansion, in the Federal style, known as Quarters A, possibly built in 1806 by Charles Bulfinch (architect of the U.S. Capital). The National Register of Historic Places application is on the web at http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/74001252.pdf and http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Photos/74001252.pdf and indicates Bulfinch designed the house in association with John McComb, Jr. All the nails are handmade of wrought iron. The most noted resident (1841-1843) was Commodore Matthew C. Perry, who lived in the house 10 years prior to his opening of Japan. I have a brass and glass encased mantel clock that was believed to be on Perry's ship to Japan. You can see an abandoned 1950s Studebaker behind the gates. This house was forfeited by the Navy in 1966 when the yard was decommissioned, but, uniquely was sold to a private individual. The balance of the Yard was acquired by the City of New York for one dollar.