New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-02-24
IT rs SOUTH, NOT EAST.
THE TRUE RELATION OF BROOKLYN TO
NEW-YORK.
WHAT Az EXAMINATION OF A MAP CONSTRUCTED
ON ACCEPTED PRINCIPLES DIscLoSES-
THE EASTERN DISTRICT PAL

Fable M1SNOMER.
II IS proverbial that strangers have no end OF
difficulty in making their way about Brooklyn ana
il IS an equally wc-establishcd fact that many
residents Of the city. who have been such perhaps
for years have little conco ption of the topography
Of the town In sense 1t is undoubtedly true that
geographically speaking Brooklyn is without form
and void. This Is due chiefly to the crcumst ance
that II is composed of dozen different towns and
villages. more less. each having Independent
centre from which its streets radiated. and that
the city as whole. except in certain parts. never
had any laying out: The contrary. like Topsy. 1t
, simply 'crowed."
The lower part Of the principal thoroughfare or
Brooklyn. Fulton-st.. is said to have followed the
lines of prehistoric cowpath. and the upper part
OF this street cuts long diago through the
city. with other streets parallel 20 1t only on the
south side. For more than mile from Fulton
/ Ferry not single street crosses Futon-st. and
holds the same name on both sides Of It. The first
street to do this IS Navy-st.: and near the point
where 1t inersects Fulton-st. there DIVORCES from
the latter another considerable thoroughfarc Flat
bush-ave. TO which not single street runs par
alle until The old town of Flatbush is reached
With such state of things in the heart of old
Brooklyn II is not in the least surprising that
who examines the map of Brooklyn for the first time
reaches the conclusion that il is a hodge -podge
which II IS beyond the power of the human mind
to clear up and give consistency to- That impress
about the city. even If he carries map with him
and strives diligently TO follow some definite cew
in this modern labyrinth.
One of the of confusion 20 people studying
maps of Brooklyn has been that until recently no
map available in which the good old rule
followed. that the top of the map was toward the
north the bottom south the right hand and
the left hand west. For some reason it has been
thought desirable to skew" the city around more
less, with the result that clear geographic ideas
regarding the city have been exceedingly hard to
come at
A map is available. however which discloses
Brooklyn in rs true relation itself and also to the
city of New-York. This latter. It is safe to say.
is something which not one Brookynite in thou
sand has any clear idea Of The common
ception on both sides of the river unquestionably
( Is that Brooklyn Hes to the east of New-York: and
/ it has beer suggested that in case OF annexation
simplicity in street nomenclature might he most
easily secured by attaching the letters "E. D."
(meanng Eastern District Eastern Dvison) to
all mail matter intended for what is Brooklyn
It perfectly plain. though. that such designation
would be false and improper.
! As a matter OF fact nine tenths-perhaps II would
be a approxima ton TO the truth to say nine
teen-twentieths-of Brooklyn lies. not to the east
! of the metropolis, but south Of II. The southern
most point of NewYork is. of course. the Battery.
Draw a line east and west through the tip Of Man
haitian Island Now south of that line there are TO
be found in Brooklyn a small bit Of the First Ward
the whole OF the Second Ward, about half of the
| Fifth Ward the whole of the Thirteenth, Four
teenthI Fifteenth. Sixteenth. Seventeenth. Eight
eenth ard Nineteenth wards. about two-hrds Of the
Twenty -seventh Ward and the small northern cor
ner of the Twenty-eghth Ward Looking at the
map OF Brooklyn when placed IN true juXtaposition
to its big neighbor, II odd that tho wards com
prising old Williamsburg could ever have been
called the Eastern District of the city. With the
| Seventeenth Ward (GrcenpoinO they comprise the
| northernmost portion OF Brooklyn. Greenpoint IL
| the northern extremity OF Brooklyn. and Its north
edge lies almost exactly due east from Bellevue
Hospital. East TwentysiXth-st.. NewYork
| The real eastern district of Brooklyn Is the
| Twenty-sixth Ward or the old town Of New Lots.
which has been part Of the city almost exactly
years. The wards. the Thrtieth, Thirty first
and Thirtysecond form the southern part Of Brook
| Ign: and II is not unnteresting to observe that
NOrtons Point, the extreme western end of Concy
Island lies directly south of the Battery. while the
shore of the Narrows along which the Shore Drive
way is TO run. extends in places more than "A mile
and half west Of a line drawn between the Battery
and the Point.
Few of the streets Of Brooklyn conform exactly
TO the points of the compass, though many OF them
closely approximate thereto: sufficiently so. at all
| events to enable the residents TO keep things
straight and TO enable the rising generation TO
| come up with correct ideas Of directions" The
Ocean Parkway, for example. runs nearly north
and south. and the same is true OF Washington
| most nearly in alignment with the cardinal pon IS
| are Washington. Adams and their neghhOrs on the
east, although they all trend little TO the north
east and the southwest Of north and south line