The Brooklyn Navy Yard wall (which the NY Post confusingly refers to as Brooklyn's version of the Berlin Wall) is coming down... well, at least enough of it to make way for the new ShopRite! Sigh.
The Bloomberg administration has brokered a deal to bring the supermarket to the area, an addition that has been discussed in the past and has been met with both cheers and rally cries. To include the market in the historic grounds, most of the Admiral's Row houses will be torn down, as will a section (at Flushing Avenue and Navy Street) of the 12-foot-high brick walls that have long guarded the area. Ground will be broken in early 2012 for the 55,000-square-foot supermarket, which will come with 30,000-square-feet of other retail space and 125,000 square feet of industrial space. All in all the development will bring 500 permanent jobs to the area in 2013, and Councilwoman Letitia James declares, "I can't wait until that wall is demolished." Double sigh.
Before all that happens, however, here's a look back at the Brooklyn Navy Yard circa December 1941, through the camera lens of a LIFE magazine photographer.
