Author Archives: Aisel Omerbashi

02. The Whiskey Wars That Left Brooklyn in Ruins

Based on the reading I noticed that Brooklyn distilleries issue was very important to the merchants of vinegar hill and to the government as well. This caused several wars between them when the government raised their taxes, closed and destroyed their illegal activities. The corruption somehow always finds the way through by bribing revenue officials and infiltrating into the government institutions. Even nowadays this corrupted activities still exist but they are very well hidden from the public, and people find out about this stuff after centuries in history books. This issue became harder to get rid of after the Brooklyn distilleries expanded a lot and became a huge method of income. After the distilleries stopped completely their activity vinegar factories popped up, and maybe that’s why the area got the name Vinegar Hill since it is located in a hill as well.

01. The reflection on the borough of Brooklyn and its neighborhoods Vinegar Hill, Downtown and Dumbo.

After the readings I found out that Brooklyn has so much history to offer by reading, but most interesting by visiting its neighborhoods and feel the past. It amazing how they have been able to keep this historic areas untouched until now days like Vinegar Hill neighborhood. I can’t say the same about Dumbo and Downtown Brooklyn since they have been modernized and very expensive, but some part of this neighborhoods are kept the same old way. One of the things that surprised me about Brooklyn was that it’s the second most densely populated boroughs not just in New York State, but in whole United States. Another surprising thing to me was that the name Breuckelen (Brooklyn) came from a Dutch farmer in 1646. Can’t wait to learn more about Brooklyn and looks like this class will do this in details.