About This Item

  • Call NumberOSOS_OH_0236-accs
  • Summary(0:25) Parents coming to Greenpoint from Guyana, South America in 1970 -- (1:08) The Indo-Guyanese community in Greenpoint -- (1:43) A part of history no one talks about -- (2:30) The hard working immigrant groups -- (3:28) The gangs in Greenpoint -- (4:43) Growing up in Greenpoint -- (5:56) Brothers getting into fights -- (7:04) Walking to the five and dime stores at Manhattan Avenue -- (8:17) Favorite places and activities from childhood -- (9:26) Being picked on as kids -- (10:38) The Indian community moving out, and slavic people coming in the 1980s -- (11:34) The dangerous parts -- (13:09) Neighborhood safety increasing around 1997 -- (14:52) The artist community from Williamsburg moving in from around 2005 -- (15:59) Differences between the old-timers and the newcomers -- (16:18) Positive and negative aspects of the changes -- (18:17) The incinerator and the schools -- (20:13) The French Restaurant -- (20:35) Josephs appliance and furniture store -- (22:59) The roller rink and the old cinema -- (24:02) Greenpoint Savings Bank -- (24:40) The red brick building and the green men -- (25:20) The Chinese Restaurant -- (26:24) The importance of a friendly community -- (28:03) The piers on India Street -- (29:16) The fairs and the Mexican community at the end of Manhattan Ave -- (31:03) Old factories and Leviathan Electrical Company.
  • Date2018-09-15
  • Physical Description1 sound file (32 min.) : digital, MP3
  • CreatorBissoondial, Nishi
  • Cite AsBrooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
  • Digital Public Library of AmericaThis item is represented in the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA).
  • Formatsound recording-nonmusical
  • GenreinterviewsMP3
  • NoteAudio interview conducted on September 15, 2018, by Johan Norberg at the Central library. Collected through Our Streets, Our Stories, an oral history project of Brooklyn Public Library. This project is a partnership with Services for Older Adults and the Brooklyn Collection.
  • SubjectGuyanese Americans ; Indian Americans ; Long Island ; Puerto Rico ; Hispanic Americans ; Polish Americans ; Irish Americans ; German Americans ; Italian Americans ; Immigrants ; Gangs--New York (State)--Brooklyn ; Racism ; Creole dialects ; Jiu-jitsu ; Karate ; Kickboxing ; Roller-skating rinks ; McCarren Play Center (New York, N.Y.) ; Gentrification ; Bedford Avenue ; Drugs ; Crime ; Eagle Street ; Incinerators--New York (State)--New York ; Trolley buses ; Cobb, Geoffrey ; Cobblestones ; Stores ; Restaurants ; Piers ; Fairs ; Factories
  • PlaceGreenpoint (New York, N.Y.)Queens (New York, N.Y.)Williamsburg (New York, N.Y.)
  • RightsThis work is covered by a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Users are free to share and adapt the work for non-commercial purposes as long as appropriate credit is given to the source and new material created with this work is shared under the same conditions.
  • TitleOral history interview conducted with Nishi Bissoondial on 2018 September 15.