Residents of Red Hook, Brooklyn lazily stroll along the cobble stone streets, absorbing this isolated community’s eclectic mix of artists and blue-collar workers. The abandoned buildings remind them of the neighborhood’s maritime past, while an enormous blue and yellow department store rises up along the waterfront.
However, like every promising future, there’s a troubled past.
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| Public School 15 principal, Patrick Daly, was gunned down during Red Hook’s slump. |
Sixteen years ago, Patrick Daly, principal of Public School 15, headed into the Red Hook Houses, a public housing project, in search of a nine-year-old student who left the school after a fight with another pupil. Daly, a revered and beloved principal, was killed when he walked into the crossfire of a gun battle.
It was a senseless act of violence, but Daly’s death drew national attention and the spotlight of scrutiny highlighted the perils of a community infested with drugs and guns.
“It was a really bad time,” said Maureen McNeil, former Red Hook resident and author of Red Hook Stories. “When the shooting occurred we were all in shock. It was as though someone knocked the wind out of the entire community.”
While Daly’s murder marked the beginning of change for the neighborhood, it’s Red Hook’s tough past that made the area what it is today – close to perfection.
Located on the southwestern tip of Brooklyn, Red Hook’s natural location helped the area earn its spot as one of the nation’s busiest ports.
By 1950, Red Hook’s population neared 21,000 people, many of whom lived in the Red Hook Houses, which were built in 1938 to accommodate the growing number of longshoremen and their families. Notorious gangster, Al Capone, started his criminal life in the houses, where it’s rumored he earned the nickname “Scarface.”
However, the thriving working class neighborhood soon became the victim of technology. Between the late 1950s and 1960s, break-bulk shipping – goods, packed into boxes, were physically removed by longshoremen from ships – was phased out by the introduction of cranes. To make matters worse, industries abandoned Red Hook as ports moved across the harbor to New Jersey. This resulted in the loss of jobs. With thousands of unemployed workers, the community’s desolate geography aided in the area’s spiral into another economically unstable, crime-ridden area of New York City.
Two years before Patrick Daly was killed, Red Hook was in turmoil. Unemployment was high, which led to poverty, buildings were abandoned, and drug use and violence soared. Life magazine called it “the crack capital of America” and ranked it among the ten worst neighborhoods.
Today, the community is a tranquil mix of long retired dockworkers and young newcomers. The cobbled streets of Red Hook and various abandoned buildings are the few remnants of the community’s troubled past. And, the only fighting taking place these days involves words over the preservation of a forgotten waterfront.
Reflections On Red Hook’s Dark Past
Despite its seedy past, Red Hook is a community loved by both current and former residents. Maureen McNeil lived in Red Hook throughout its troubled period, but did not view it as a bad neighborhood. Despite residing in Manhattan’s Financial District, McNeil often often returns to her old playground. Her ties to the community are ones that can never be broken. During a recent interview, McNeil spoke about her experiences living in a neighborhood on the decline.
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| Former Red Hook resident, Maureen McNeil, discusses the ups and downs of the changing community. |
McNeil talks about the murder of Patrick Daly
Red Hook receives negative media attention after Daly’s death
Learning from the past