This past Sunday afternoon, May 23rd, I went on a fascinating bike tour of the Brooklyn Navy Yard led by Adam Schwartz (scroll down page for his bio) of Urban Oyster.
The only way to explore the Navy Yard is by a bike or bus tour since the site is secured and is only open to employees of businesses on the premises and other authorized visitors.
The Brooklyn Navy Yard (Wikipedia) is located on the East River between the Williamsburg Bridge to the North and the Manhattan Bridge to the south:
The US Navy started to operate on this site on Wallabout Bay in 1806, which continued through its shipbuilding heyday during World War II up until 1966 when the yard was decommissioned. After the Navy ceased operations, the US sold the site to New York City for $1.00 and management was turned over to the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, which runs the Navy Yard for the city.
Today, the Navy Yard is a thriving 300-acre industrial park with a diverse range of more than 200 tenants and 3,500 employees.
In my photo gallery that follows, I started taking pictures of the Navy Yard as I crossed over the Manhattan Bridge into Brooklyn, I took shots during the tour and then took a few more as I crossed over the Williamsburg Bridge back into Manhattan.
One of my favorite parts of the tour was exploring the dry docks used for repairing and building new ships. I have two pictures in the above slideshow of the dry docks and you can also learn more and see photos on these two posts I came across: “Dry Dock #1, Brooklyn Navy Yard” and “Dry-Docked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.“
