environmental

Once upon a time, Williamsburg and Greenpoint were divided by a rather large creek and surrounding marshland - as seen below in an 1833 map of the Village of Williamsburgh. The creek was originally called Norman Kill, after one Dirck de Noorman, or Dirk the Norseman – the first European settler in this part of Brooklyn. Later renamed Bushwick Creek, this waterway was at one point navigable by boat as far inland as Grand and Rodney.