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NOVEMBER 16, 1912
LIVINGSTON STREET AND ITS CHANGES
Since It Was Widened Five Years zAgo The Street Has Been
Captured By Trade and Its Structural c^ppearance Changed
No other thoroughfare in Brooklyn
has undergone so great a transfor¬
mation during the last decade as Liv¬
ingston street. Twenty-five years ago
it was a good private residence street,
from its beginning at Clinton street lO
its end at Flatbush avenue, Noav, no
private residences remain, except in the
block between Clinton and Court
streets, Avhich block retains all of its
original characteristics. Livingston
street parallels Fulton street on the
south from Boerum place to Nevins
street, a distance of eight blocks, and,
for a distance of one block, it parallels
Flatbush avenue on the south also. In
the hey-day of its fame as a place of
residence Livingston street contained
the homes of many prominent men;
irg of its kind on record, it having cov¬
ered only 60 days. It is pointed to,
even now, as a model condemnation
proceeding. One of the commissioners
was Luke D, Stapleton, who is now a
Justice of the Supreme Court, Second
Department.
Since Livingston street vcas widened
its general transformation has been rapid
and it is fast becoming a fine business
street. Trolley cars going to and from
Flatbush and South Brooklyn now pass
through the street, thus relieving the
congestion in Fulton street, and at the
same time serving the rear entrances of
the department stores with traffic. All
of the modern improvements on the
north side of Livingston street, from
Smith street to Bond street, comprise
remnant of dwelling rows in the wid¬
ened part of Livingston street that are
devoted to dwelling use, except a mere
handful on the north side of the street
between Hanover pl and Nevins street,
A row of old brick English basement
dwellings on the north side of the street,
and west of Elm place, have been cap¬
tured for business uses, although their
structural form has not been altered
yet. The New Montauk Theatre is at
Ihe northwest corner of Livingston street
and Hanover place and it was one of
the early new structures in the thor¬
oughfare.
At 283 Livingston street, in the north
side, one door east of Hanover place,
a new four-story brick and stone build¬
ing is being built, the ground floor and
LIVINGSTON STREET, AT FLATBUSH AV, BROOKLTN,
LIVIXOSTO.-^ STREET, AT BOERUM PLACE, BROOKLYN.
but, as the section of Fulton street, from
Borough Hall to Flatbush avenue be¬
came of greater business importance.
Livingston street gradually changed
from a thoroughfare of fine homes into
one of boarding houses and restaurants.
Subsequently the large department
stores on the south side of Fulton street
were extended through to Livingston
street, and the long line of delivery
wagons backed up to the curb daily for
a distance of several blocks sealed the
future of the street for business purposes-
Finally, a public agitation began for the
widening of Livingston street for the
purpose of relieving the steady accre-
ti< ns to traffic in Fulton street, and,
during 1906 and 1907, the thoroughfare
Avas widened from 70 to 100 feet, 30
feet being taken from the lots, 100 feet
in depth, in the south side of Liv¬
ingston street, from Court street to
Flatbush avenue. The condemnation
proceeding set in operation for the ac¬
quiring of the widened part of this
street was probably the shoftfest proceed-
large extensions to department stores
fronting in Fulton street. The latest
improvement of this kind is now ap¬
proaching completion, being an 8-story
brick and stone fireproof annex, on the
northeast corner of Livingston and Hoyt
streets, to the Fulton street building of
A, I. Namm & Son, and running eas.
OI; Livingston street one-half block.
On the northwest corner of Livingston
and Hoyt streets is a group of four old
frame buildings (two in each street)
which adjoin the department store
biilding of Abraham & Strauss, and it
is very likely that these structures will
eventually be superseded by an addi¬
tion to the firm's building. Another
notable improvement in the north side
of Livingston street is the brick and
granite structure of the Board of Edu¬
cation, between Smith street and Red
Hook lane. The remainder of this block
front is composed of very old 3-story
brick dwellings, except the northwest
corner of Smith street, which is covered
by the Bijou Theatre. They are the l^st
first story to be utilized for business
purposes and the upper two floors for
apartments. The store floor will rent
for $1,500 a year, the first story for
$660 a year, and the apartments for
$30 a month each. At 291 Livingston
street, in the north side and west of
Nevins street, is an old two-story and
basement brick dwelling which is on
the market at $40,000, There is an "L"
20x20, and it opens on an alley that
leads into Hanover place. This dwell¬
ing was not worth more than $10,000
a decade ago. A vacant modern store
at 305 Livingston street, just west of
Nevins street, is for rent at $1,200 a
year.
There is little or no difference in the
rental power of business space in Liv¬
ingston street as between the sides of
the thoroughfare. Saloons produce a
better rental than ordinary lines of
business, rangi^ng from 25 to 50 per
cent, more on the total yearly rental;
and their proprietors obtain longer
lea??? because they go to greater ex-