Importing of sisal, manila and jute from south Asia and the Far East gave some area streets their names: India Street, Java Street. These raw materials were made into rope, which was in demand from the many shipyards that dominated industry here in the 19th century. Founded in the 1890s, the American Manufacturing Company grew quickly and was the second largest industrial employer in Brooklyn at the turn of the 19th century. After World War II, the now-sprawling yet obsolete facility became a warehouse, Greenpoint Terminal.

Greenpoint Terminal Market fire, May 2006. flickr user MGChan

After the 2005 zoning, preservationists wanted to landmark some of the significant industrial buildings of the complex. Many of its 19 buildings were destroyed or seriously damaged in a suspicious 2006 fire.