Red Hook, Brooklyn
Encyclopedia
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
borough
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 6
Brooklyn Community Board 6
Brooklyn Community Board 6 is a local governmental body in the New York City borough of Brooklyn that encompasses the neighborhoods of Red Hook, Carroll Gardens, Park Slope, Gowanus, and Cobble Hill...
. It is also the location where the transatlantic liner, the , docks in New York City.
History
According to Henry Stiles' A History of the City of Brooklyn, Red Hook has been part of the Town of Brooklyn since it was organized in the 1600s. It is named for the red clay soil and the point of land projecting into the Upper New York BayUpper New York Bay
Upper New York Bay, or Upper Bay, is the traditional heart of the Port of New York and New Jersey, and often called New York Harbor. It is enclosed by the New York City boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Staten Island and the Hudson County, New Jersey municipalities of Jersey City and Bayonne.It...
. The village was settled by Dutch colonists of New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. It later became New York City....
in 1636, and named Roode Hoek. In Dutch "Hoek" means "point" or "corner" and not the English hook (i.e., not something curved or bent). The actual "hoek" of Red Hook was a point on an island that stuck out into Upper New York Bay at today's Dikeman Street west of Ferris Street. In the 1880s to the present time, people who live in the Eastern area of Red Hook refer to their neighborhood as "The Point". Today, the area is home to about 11,000 people.
During the Battle of Brooklyn (Long Island), a fort was constructed on the "hoek" called "Fort Defiance". It is shown on a map called "a Map of the Environs of Brooklyn" drawn in 1780 by a loyalist engineer named George S. Sproule.
According to Robert Roberts' 1980 book New York's Forts in the Revolution, General Israel Putnam came to New York on April 4, 1776 to assess the state of its defenses and strengthen them. Among the works initiated were forts on Governor's Island and Red Hook, facing the bay. On April 10, one thousand Continentals took possession of both points and began constructing Fort Defiance which mounted one three pounder cannon and four eighteen pounders. The cannons were to be fired over the tops of the fort's walls. During May, Washington described it as "small but exceedingly strong". On July 5, General Nathanael Greene called it "a post of vast importance", and three days later, Col. Varnum's regiment joined its garrison.
The Sproule map shows that Fort Defiance complex actually consisted of three redoubts on a small island connected by trenches, with an earthwork on the island’s south side to defend against a landing. The entire earthwork was about sixteen hundred feet long and covered the entire island. The three redoubts covered an area about four hundred by eight hundred feet. The two principal earthworks were about one hundred fifty by one hundred seventy-five feet, and the tertiary one was about seventy-five by one hundred.
According to Stiles, on July 12, the British frigates Rose and Phoenix and the schooner Tyrol ran the gauntlet past Defiance and the stronger Governor's Island works without firing a shot, and got all the way to Tappan Zee, the widest part of the Hudson River. They stayed there for over a month, beating off harassing attacks, and finally returned to Staten Island on August 18.
It would appear that gunfire from Fort Defiance did damage to the British ships. Samuel Shaw wrote to his parents on July 15:
General Howe has arrived with the army from Halifax, which is encamped on Staten Island. On Friday, two ships and three tenders, taking advantage of a brisk gale and strong current, ran by our batteries, up the North River where they at present remain. By deserters we learn that they sustained considerable damage, being hulled in many places, and very much hurt in their rigging. So great was their hurry, that they would not stay to return our salute, though it was given with much cordiality and warmth; which they seemed very sensible of, notwithstanding their distance, which was nearly two miles.
Almost the entire New York Metropolitan area was under British military occupation from the end of 1776 until November 23, 1783 when they evacuated the city.
The Sproule and Ratzer maps show that Red Hook was a low-lying area full of tidal mill ponds created by the Dutch. In 1839 the City of Brooklyn published a plan to create streets, which included filling in all of the ponds and other low-lying areas.
Stiles points out that in the 1840s, entrepreneurs began to build ports as the "offloading end" of the Erie Canal. These included the Atlantic, Erie and Brooklyn Basins. By the 1920s, they made Red Hook the busiest freight port in the world, but this ended in the 1960s with the advent of containerization. In the 1930s, the area was poor, and the site of the current Red Hook Houses was the site of a shack city for the homeless, called a "Hooverville".
Rapeleye Street in Red Hook commemorates the beginnings of one of New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. It later became New York City....
's earliest families, the Rapelje clan, descended from the first European child born in the new Dutch settlement in the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
, Sarah Rapelje
Sarah Rapelje
Sarah Rapelje, or Rapelie or Rapalje or Rapalye was the first white female of European parentage born in New Netherland, according to the New Netherland Project, a private effort to document New York's early Dutch history. Rapelje was first married to Norwegian emigrant Hans Hansen Bergen, who...
. Stiles states that she was born near Wallabout Bay, which later became the site of the New York (Brooklyn) Naval Shipyard. A couple of decades after the birth of his daughter Sarah, Joris Jansen Rapelje
Joris Jansen Rapelje
Joris Jansen Rapelje was a member of the Council of Twelve Men in the Dutch West India Company colony of New Netherland...
removed to Brooklyn, where he was one of the Council of twelve men
Council of twelve men
The Council of Twelve Men was a group of 12 men chosen on 29 August 1641 by the residents of New Amsterdam to advise the Director of New Netherland, Willem Kieft, on relations with the Native Americans due to the murder of Claes Swits. Although the council was not permanent, it was the first...
, and where he was soon joined by son-in-law Hans Hansen Bergen
Hans Hansen Bergen
Hans Hansen Bergen was one of the earliest settlers of the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, and one of the few from Scandinavia. He was a native of Bergen, Norway...
. Rapelye Street in Red Hook is named for Rapelje and his descendants, who lived in Brooklyn for centuries.
In the 1990s LIFE
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
named Red Hook as one of the "worst" neighborhoods in the United States and as "the crack
Crack cocaine
Crack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. It may also be termed rock, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; it is the most addictive form of cocaine. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers...
capital of America." Patrick Daly, the Principal of P.S. 15, was killed in 1992, in the crossfire of a drug-related shooting while looking for a pupil who had left his school. The school was later renamed the Patrick Daly school after the beloved principal. Red Hook is the site of the NYCHA Red Hook Houses, the largest public housing
Public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...
development in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, which accommodates roughly 5,000 residents. Red Hook's current eclectic mix of living artists and industrial businesses create a neighborhood coined "Residustrial" in 2008 by artist and resident John P. Missale. Red Hook also contains several parks, including Red Hook Park
Red Hook Park
Red Hook Park and Recreation Area is a public park in the New York City borough of Brooklyn located in the Red Hook neighborhood. The park contains a paved path, benches, a flagpole with a yardarm, a drinking fountain, handball courts, softball fields, a soccer and football field, a track and...
.
Location
Red Hook is part of the area known as South BrooklynSouth Brooklyn
South Brooklyn is a region or composite neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, encompassing areas of Cobble Hill, Red Hook, Gowanus, Park Slope, and Boerum Hill. Thus it is roughly encompassed by Brooklyn Community Board 6, which in turn approximates the southern half of the 18th...
. This name is derived from the original City of Brooklyn which ended at 60th Street. In the 1950s anything south of Atlantic Avenue was considered South Brooklyn, and the names "Red Hook" and "South Brooklyn" were applied also to today's Carroll Gardens and Gowanus. It is a peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
between Buttermilk Channel
Buttermilk Channel
In New York City, Buttermilk Channel is a small tidal strait in Upper New York Bay, approximately one mile long and one-fourth of a mile wide , separating Governors Island from Brooklyn....
, Gowanus Bay and Gowanus Canal
Gowanus Canal
The Gowanus Canal, also known as the Gowanus Creek Canal, is a canal in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, geographically on the westernmost portion of Long Island...
at the southern edge of Downtown Brooklyn
Downtown Brooklyn
Downtown Brooklyn is the third largest central business district in New York City , and is located in the northwestern section of the borough of Brooklyn...
. Red Hook is the only part of New York City that has a full frontal view of the Statue of Liberty
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886...
, which was oriented to face France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, the country which donated the statue to the United States following the centennial of the United States.
Transportation
SubwayNew York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...
service in the area is sparse. The closest subway stops are along the IND Culver Line
IND Culver Line
The IND Culver Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway, extending from Downtown Brooklyn south to Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, United States...
( trains), at either Carroll Street
Carroll Street (IND Culver Line)
Carroll Street is a local station on the IND Culver Line of the New York City Subway, located in the neighborhood of Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, at Carroll and Smith Streets. It is served by the F and G trains at all times....
or Smith–Ninth Streets stations. Bus service is popular. The B61 bus route provides service from near the Fairway grocery store, through Erie Basin/Ikea Plaza, to Van Brunt St and then northward, through the Columbia Street Waterfront District and terminates in Downtown Brooklyn
Downtown Brooklyn
Downtown Brooklyn is the third largest central business district in New York City , and is located in the northwestern section of the borough of Brooklyn...
. It also connects with the Culver Line's Smith–Ninth Streets station.
Red Hook is connected to Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
by the vehicles-only Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel
Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel
Interstate 478s entire length consists of the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel and its approaches. Its south end is at Interstate 278, and its north end is at NY 9A ....
, whose toll
Toll tunnel
A toll tunnel is a special road tunnel whose construction and/or maintenance costs are in part recouped through a toll charged for passing through it. In some instances, tolls have been removed after retirement of the toll revenue bonds issued to raise funds for construction and/or operation of the...
plaza and approaches separate it from Carroll Gardens
Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
Carroll Gardens is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, USA. The area is named for Charles Carroll, a revolutionary war veteran who was also the only Roman Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence...
to the north.
In the spring of 2006, the new Carnival Cruise Lines
Carnival Cruise Lines
Carnival Cruise Lines is a British-American owned cruise line, based in Doral, Florida, a suburb of Miami in the United States. Originally an independent company founded in 1972 by Ted Arison, the company is now one of eleven cruise ship brands owned and operated by Carnival Corporation & plc...
Terminal, more formally the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal
Brooklyn Cruise Terminal
The Brooklyn Cruise Terminal is one of three terminals for ocean-going cruise ships in the metropolitan New York City area. The terminal is located at Red Hook Pier 12, which forms the south side of the Atlantic Basin at Pioneer and Imlay Streets in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, New York. The...
, opened at Pier 12 at Pioneer Street, bringing additional tourists.
The Red Hook Container Terminal
Red Hook Container Terminal
The Red Hook Marine Terminal is an intermodal freight transport facility that includes a container terminal located on the Upper New York Bay in the Port of New York and New Jersey. The maritime facility in Red Hook section of Brooklyn, New York handles container ships and bulk cargo...
is one of four such facilities in the Port of New York and New Jersey
Port of New York and New Jersey
The Port of New York and New Jersey comprises the waterways in the estuary of the New York-Newark metropolitan area with a port district encompassing an approximate area within a radius of the Statue of Liberty National Monument...
and is the only maritime facility in Brooklyn to handle container ship
Container ship
Container ships are cargo ships that carry all of their load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. They form a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport.-History:...
s.
Water ferry service, operated by New York Water Taxi
New York Water Taxi
New York Water Taxi is a water taxi service based in Red Hook, Brooklyn offering commuter and sightseeing service mainly to points along the East River and Hudson River...
, runs between IKEA and Pier 11 in Lower Manhattan. When this free service was first introduced, it proved to be popular with local residents, causing changes in the operating policy to favor IKEA shoppers.
Under the current schedule, the ferry runs from Monday to Friday, every 40 minutes from 2 p.m., $5 for one way. On Saturday and Sunday, it runs free of charge, every 20 minutes from 11 a.m.
Ikea provides a complimentary shuttle that runs to Smith and 9th, 4th and 9th and Borough Hall subway stations from 3pm to 9pm daily, Monday through Friday every half hour, and Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 9pm every 20 minutes. Non-shoppers are also found to use this service.
IKEA in Red Hook
IKEA
IKEA is a privately held, international home products company that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture such as beds and desks, appliances and home accessories. The company is the world's largest furniture retailer...
store (346,000 square feet) that opened on June 18, 2008 near the Gowanus Expressway.
The building of IKEA was controversial as it replaced a 19th-century dry dock
Dry dock
A drydock is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform...
at 40°40′19.2"N 74°0′47.5"W which was still in use. Residents cited concerns including traffic congestion
Traffic congestion
Traffic congestion is a condition on road networks that occurs as use increases, and is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. The most common example is the physical use of roads by vehicles. When traffic demand is great enough that the interaction...
, an decrease in property values and destruction of this transit-oriented
Transit-oriented development
A transit-oriented development is a mixed-use residential or commercial area designed to maximize access to public transport, and often incorporates features to encourage transit ridership...
neighborhood and historically significant buildings in the area.
Brooklyn artist Greg Lindquist
Greg Lindquist
Greg Lindquist is an American artist , living and working in New York City.-Biography:Greg Lindquist was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, graduated from Emsley A...
(b.1979) exhibited a group of paintings in February 2008 in New York City that depicted the IKEA site in process, juxtaposing the maritime decay with the new construction.
A report from New York City Economic Development Corporation
New York City Economic Development Corporation
New York City Economic Development Corporation is a non-profit local development corporation that promotes economic growth across New York City's five boroughs. It is the City's official Economic development corporation, charged with using the City's assets to drive growth, create jobs, and...
announced the findings and recommendations of its Maritime Support Services Location Study. The study found that New York City needs eight more dry docks. According to the report, it will cost 1 billion dollars to replace the one IKEA is using as a parking lot. No schedule for replacement was announced.
In addition, IKEA and its contractor demolished Civil War era buildings and exposed the community to asbestos. IKEA's contractor was found to be in "violation for not having filed asbestos work, failing to monitor the air, not posting any warnings, failure to construct decontamination protections before disturbing the asbestos-containing materials, and doing nothing to protect and decontaminate the material, as well as the workers and building waste."
A once free ferry service for shoppers from Manhattan proved more popular than expected.
Events
- The Red Hook Waterfront Arts Festival
The Red Hook Waterfront Arts Festival is an annual summer kick-off held in Louis J. Valentino, Jr. Park & Pier featuring dance, music, and spoken-word poetry. Dance Theatre Etcetera, the producers of the event, concentrate local resources for residents and bring in community partners with activities for the whole family.
- Sunday's at Sunny's
A reading series held the first Sunday of every month, co-sponsored by Sunny's Bar and the independent bookstore
Independent bookstore
An independent bookstore is a retail bookstore which is independently owned.-Literary and countercultural history:Author events at independent bookstores sometimes take the role of literary salons. The bookstores themselves, "have historically supported and cultivated the work of independent...
Bookcourt, and co-ordinated by writer Gabriel Cohen. This popular event celebrated its seventh anniversary on June 7, 2009.
- Red Hook Crit
An annual, unsanctioned bicycle race that takes place at night on track bikes
Track bicycle
A track bicycle or track bike is a bicycle optimized for racing at a velodrome or outdoor track. Unlike road bicycles, the track bike is a fixed-gear bicycle and so has a single gear and neither freewheel nor brakes. Tires are narrow and inflated to high pressure to reduce rolling resistance...
. It began as a underground event but has grown to become "what is possibly the country's coolest bike race."
People associated with Red Hook
- Carmelo AnthonyCarmelo AnthonyCarmelo Kiyan Anthony , nicknamed "Melo", is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the New York Knicks in the National Basketball Association...
- Busta RhymesBusta RhymesTrevor Tahiem Smith, Jr., better known by his stage name Busta Rhymes ,Smith is an American rapper, producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the alias Busta Rhymes after NFL wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes...
- Al CaponeAl CaponeAlphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
- Crazy Joe Gallo
- Harlan EllisonHarlan EllisonHarlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...
's book Memos from PurgatoryMemos from PurgatoryMemos from Purgatory is Harlan Ellison's account of his experience with kid gangs when he joined one to research them for his first novel, Web of the City...
is about the author infiltrating a gang in Red Hook. - H. P. LovecraftH. P. LovecraftHoward Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
- James McBrideJames McBride (writer)James McBride is an American writer and musician whose compositions have been recorded by a variety of other musicians.-Early life:McBride's father, the late Rev. Andrew D...
- Norman MailerNorman MailerNorman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S...
- Greg O’Connell, community developer
- Sarah RapeljeSarah RapeljeSarah Rapelje, or Rapelie or Rapalje or Rapalye was the first white female of European parentage born in New Netherland, according to the New Netherland Project, a private effort to document New York's early Dutch history. Rapelje was first married to Norwegian emigrant Hans Hansen Bergen, who...
, for whose family Brooklyn's Rapelye Street is named - Hell RazahHell RazahHell Razah is an American rapper, best known as a member of Sunz of Man, an early affiliate of the Wu-Tang Clan...
, rapper, member of hip-hop group Sunz of ManSunz of ManSunz of Man is a Wu-Tang Clan affiliated group that currently consists of Prodigal Sunn, Hell Razah, 60 Second Assassin, Shabazz the Disciple and Killah Priest. The group's first incarnation also included 7th Ambassador and Supreme... - Matty RichMatty RichMatty Rich, born Matthew Statisfield Richardson , is a film director and screenwriter who broke into the film world with the 1991 film Straight Out of Brooklyn which was financed by credit cards and donations. Rich also plays a major character in the film...
, director of movies Straight Out of BrooklynStraight Out of BrooklynStraight Out of Brooklyn is an 1991 independent film directed by Matty Rich in his directorial debut. The film is a gritty story about Dennis , an African-American teen living in a housing project with his sister, mother and abusive, alcoholic father...
and The InkwellThe InkwellThe Inkwell is a 1994 romantic comedy/drama film, directed by Matty Rich. This movie stars Larenz Tate, Joe Morton, Suzzanne Douglass, Glynn Turman, and Vanessa Bell Calloway... - Shabazz the DiscipleShabazz the DiscipleShabazz the Disciple or Scientific Shabazz, is a rapper from the Red Hook Houses of Red Hook, Brooklyn. He is an original member of the Sunz of Man and Da Last Future.- Biography :...
, rapper, member of hip-hop group Sunz of ManSunz of ManSunz of Man is a Wu-Tang Clan affiliated group that currently consists of Prodigal Sunn, Hell Razah, 60 Second Assassin, Shabazz the Disciple and Killah Priest. The group's first incarnation also included 7th Ambassador and Supreme... - Peter SteelePeter SteelePeter Thomas Ratajczyk , better known by his stage name Peter Steele, was the lead singer, bassist, and composer for the gothic metal band Type O Negative...
, member of Type O NegativeType O NegativeType O Negative was a gothic metal band from Brooklyn, New York City. The band also incorporated elements of doom metal and thrash metal. Their dramatic lyrical emphasis on themes of romance, depression, and death resulted in the nickname "The Drab Four"... - TazTazzPeter Senerchia is a retired American professional wrestler and current color commentator best known by his ring name Tazz, originally Tazmaniac and later shortened to simply Taz...
, real name Peter Senerchia, professional wrestler who currently performs for Total Nonstop Action WrestlingTotal Nonstop Action WrestlingTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...
. - Dustin YellinDustin YellinDustin Yellin is a contemporary artist living in New York. Yellin’s artworks are based on an accumulative process of painting and collaging on multiple layers of glass, creating three-dimensional forms. Yellin began this accumulative process on layers of resin and has transitioned to laminated...
In popular culture
- The events depicted in the film On the WaterfrontOn the WaterfrontOn the Waterfront is a 1954 American drama film about union violence and corruption among longshoremen. The film was directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg. It stars Marlon Brando, Rod Steiger, Eva Marie Saint, Lee J. Cobb and Karl Malden. The soundtrack score was composed by Leonard...
took place in Red Hook. This is considered one of Marlon Brando's greatest roles when he says "I could have been a [boxing] contender, instead of a bum, which is what I am." - Red Hook is the first dance battle that takes place in the film Step Up 3D, in the lead up to the World Jam Competition.
- Red Hook was the setting for the H. P. LovecraftH. P. LovecraftHoward Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
1927 story "The Horror at Red HookThe Horror at Red Hook"The Horror at Red Hook" is a short story written by H. P. Lovecraft. Written on August 1–2, 1925, it was first published in the January 1927 issue of Weird Tales.-Inspiration:...
". - In Thomas WolfeThomas WolfeThomas Clayton Wolfe was a major American novelist of the early 20th century.Wolfe wrote four lengthy novels, plus many short stories, dramatic works and novellas. He is known for mixing highly original, poetic, rhapsodic, and impressionistic prose with autobiographical writing...
's short story "Only the Dead Know Brooklyn", the narrator, Wolfe himself, rides the subway at night and is warned by someone he meets to not walk around in Red Hook. It is written in transliterated circa 1936 Brooklynese. - The area was used as the setting for Arthur MillerArthur MillerArthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
's 1955 play A View from the BridgeA View from the BridgeA View from the Bridge is a play by American playwright Arthur Miller that was first staged on September 29, 1955 as a one-act verse drama with A Memory of Two Mondays at the Coronet Theatre on Broadway. The play was unsuccessful and Miller subsequently revised the play to contain two acts; this...
. - Pier 41 at 204 Van Dyke Street was used as the setting of a bar scene in the 2005 Will SmithWill SmithWillard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
film, HitchHitch (film)Hitch is a 2005 romantic comedy film directed by Andy Tennant and starring Will Smith. The film, which was written by Kevin Bisch, co-stars Eva Mendes, Kevin James, and Amber Valletta. Smith plays a professional matchmaker who makes a living teaching men how to woo women...
. - The cast of The Real World: BrooklynThe Real World: BrooklynThe Real World: Brooklyn is the twenty-first season of MTV's reality television series The Real World, which focuses on a group of diverse strangers living together for several months in a different city each season, as cameras document their lives and interpersonal relationships...
, MTVMTVMTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's reality television series The Real WorldThe Real WorldThe Real World is a reality television program on MTV originally produced by Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray. First broadcast in 1992, the show, which was inspired by the 1973 PBS documentary series An American Family, is the longest-running program in MTV history and one of the...
, resided at Pier 41. - Red Hook is the birthplace of "Joey", the title character of the Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
song from the album, Desire. - Red Hook is the birthplace and sometimes current resident of Steve RogersSteve RogersSteve, Steven, or Stephen Rogers may refer to:*Steve Rogers , the best known alter-ego of Marvel Comics character Captain America*Steve Rogers , English actor and screenwriter...
, also known as Captain AmericaCaptain AmericaCaptain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
. - Professional wrestler TazTazzPeter Senerchia is a retired American professional wrestler and current color commentator best known by his ring name Tazz, originally Tazmaniac and later shortened to simply Taz...
is said to be from the "Red Hook section of Brooklyn, New York". - "The Red Hook" is the name of a cocktail created at Milk & HoneyMilk & Honey (bar)Milk & Honey is an award-winning cocktail bar in Soho, London and the Lower East Side, Manhattan . The London branch is operated as a private members' club, although non-members can visit before 11pm with a prior reservation .- House Rules :...
. - Red Hook figures prominently in Gabriel Cohen's 2001 crime novel Red Hook, nominated for the Edgar award for Best First Novel.
- Red Hook is the setting of the similarly titled Reggie NadelsonReggie NadelsonReggie Nadelson is an American novelist, known for writing mystery novels.She was born and raised in Greenwich Village in Manhattan, New York...
2005 crime novel Red HookRed Hook-Places:*Red Hook, Brooklyn, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York City, USA*Red Hook, New York, a town in Dutchess county in the State of New York, USA*Red Hook , New York, a village in the Town of Red Hook, New York, USA...
. - The 1991 independent and award-winning film Straight Out of BrooklynStraight Out of BrooklynStraight Out of Brooklyn is an 1991 independent film directed by Matty Rich in his directorial debut. The film is a gritty story about Dennis , an African-American teen living in a housing project with his sister, mother and abusive, alcoholic father...
is set in the Red Hook Housing Projects. - The 2008 independent documentary film A Hole in a Fence by D.W. Young chronicles the changing fortunes of Red Hook.
- Red Hook appears in Bill Murray's movie Quick ChangeQuick ChangeQuick Change is a 1990 comedy film starring Bill Murray, who also co-directed with the film's screenwriter Howard Franklin. Geena Davis, Randy Quaid, and Jason Robards co-star. Other cast members include Tony Shalhoub, Stanley Tucci, Phil Hartman, Victor Argo, Kurtwood Smith, Bob Elliott, and...
as the neighborhood in which the robbers get lost and witness two men on bikes apparently having some sort of chivalric fight over honor with garden tools. - Red Hook was the setting for the 1989 film, Last Exit to Brooklyn.
- A neighborhood based on Red Hook appears in Grand Theft Auto IVGrand Theft Auto IVGrand Theft Auto IV is a 2008 open world action video game published by Rockstar Games, and developed by British games developer Rockstar North. It has been released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles, and for the Windows operating system...
, under the name "East Hook". - Red Hook is the setting for the book Memos from PurgatoryMemos from PurgatoryMemos from Purgatory is Harlan Ellison's account of his experience with kid gangs when he joined one to research them for his first novel, Web of the City...
by Harlan EllisonHarlan EllisonHarlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...
. The book was once considered to be one of Kurt VonnegutKurt VonnegutKurt Vonnegut, Jr. was a 20th century American writer. His works such as Cat's Cradle , Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions blend satire, gallows humor and science fiction. He was known for his humanist beliefs and was honorary president of the American Humanist Association.-Early...
's all-time favorites. - In Cassandra Clare's book City of AshesCity of AshesCity of Ashes is the second installment in The Mortal Instruments series, a young adult urban fantasy series set in New York written by Cassandra Clare. The first four books of the series have been published, with two left...
the main characters drive to this beach as a way to get to Valentine's ship. - In the 1997 film Cop LandCop LandCop Land is a 1997 American drama film written and directed by James Mangold. It features an ensemble cast including Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel and Ray Liotta.-Plot:...
, after a white NYPD officer kills two African AmericanAfrican AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
motorists who he thought were firing on him, the other officers back him up referring to an incident in Red Hook where the officer saved some children as a means of spin control against a possible grand jury investigation. - The protagonist of the 2011 film The Adjustment BureauThe Adjustment BureauThe Adjustment Bureau is a 2011 American fantasy romantic thriller film loosely based on the Philip K. Dick short story, "Adjustment Team". The film was written and directed by George Nolfi and stars Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. The cast also includes Anthony Mackie, John Slattery, Michael Kelly,...
grew up in Red Hook.