We return to Brooklyn–just about 20 blocks east of the “lacteal orgy” that occurred 14 years earlier in Bedford–for another delightful cat tale that took place on Halloween on Pitkin Avenue in Brownsville. No tricks, only some treats (including some interesting facts about how Pitkin Avenue came about–a group of “Wheelmen” get most of the credit).

When a fire broke out on Halloween at 1632-1640 Pitkin Avenue in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, a mama cat was not about to let the firemen ignore her box of kittens.

On Halloween Day, 1921, a fire broke out in the Holland Millinery Shop at 1636 Pitkin Avenue in Brownsville, Brooklyn. According to news reports, the fire was the result of a gas explosion.

Engine Company No. 233, Engine Company No. 283, and Truck No. 123 were three of the many fire companies that responded to the three-alarm fire. While the firemen rushed into the building, police officers ordered everyone to evacuate the row of tenement houses across the street. Reserve police officers from the nearby Brownsville police station were also called in to hold back the crowd.

One of the firemen who entered the building was Walter Smith of Engine Company No. 233 (aka, the Fightin’ 33rd). He was working on the second floor when he felt something persistently rubbing against his foot. The smoke was too thick to see, so he bent down to feel what was rubbing him.

To Smith’s surprise, it was a cat with a box of four kittens. Apparently, she had dragged the box away from the flames, but she could not get the box down the stairs without spilling its precious contents. Somehow she knew to get the fireman’s attention.

Engine 233 was organized as Engine 33 at 242 Hull Street in 1893. The company's motto was "To Hull and Back." It was renamed Engine 133 in 1899 and then Engine 233 in 1913 (which is when this photo was taken). The firehouse and building to the right is still standing; today there is an empty lot to the left of the firehouse. Photo: NYCFire.net
Engine 233 was organized as Engine 33 at 242 Hull Street in 1893. The company’s motto was “To Hull and Back.” It was renamed Engine 133 in 1899 and then Engine 233 in 1913 (which is when this photo was taken). The firehouse and building to the right is still standing; today there is an empty lot to the left of the firehouse. Photo: NYCFire.net
 Engine Company 233 was relocated to 25 Rockaway Avenue in June 1987. The old firehouse on Hull Avenue was set on fire a few times after that, but it has since been restored and is now a small co-op apartment.
Engine Company 233 was relocated to 25 Rockaway Avenue in June 1987. The old firehouse on Hull Avenue was set on fire a few times after that, but it has since been restored and is now a small co-op apartment.

Fireman Smith rescued the mother cat and her four kittens. He was badly injured in the fire (he was cut by falling glass), as were firemen Ernest Withers and Henry Cooper, who were both overcome by gas fumes. There was no further news on the cat and her kittens, so hopefully they all survived.

The Pitkin Avenue cat story made the national news. This headline appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
The Pitkin Avenue cat story made the national news. This headline appeared in the Los Angeles Times.

The fire–which was later determined to be an act of arson–destroyed all the buildings from 1632 to 1640 Pitkin Avenue, which, in addition to the hat shop, included the Keene Furniture Store, Sachs Furniture Company, Parkway Bakery and Lunchroom, Tolk Business School, and a commercial branch of the telephone company. Damage was estimated at $100,000.

A Brief History of Pitkin Avenue
John R. Pitkin
John R. Pitkin

Pitkin Avenue is named for John R. Pitkin, a New England merchant and real estate speculator who came to the town of New Lots (formerly New Lotts of Midwout, then New Lotts of Flatbush) in 1835. His plan was to construct a ship canal extending from Jamaica Bay to New Lots on the Brooklyn-Queens County border; Pitkin believed this new port of entry would be a rival to New York City.

Pitkin and his real estate partner–his brother-in-law, George W. Thrall–purchased the Wyckoff, Stoothoff, and Van Sindern farms near the old William Howard estate, which was located on the old King’s Highway (right about where present-day Broadway meets Fulton Street, near the Alabama Avenue train station).

The Howard estate comprised about four acres of land and a tavern called Howard's Halfway House (or The Rising Star Tavern). The tavern was constructed in 1715 by William Howard, who had purchased two "draught-lots" in 1699 from Francis Way, who was one of the eight original settlers to acquire property in the "New Lotts of Flatbush" in 1684. The Howard estate was sold at auction in 1867 for $21,000 to Henry R. Pierson, president of the Brooklyn City Railroad Company. The BRT built an extensive car depot and shops on the land.
The Howard estate comprised about four acres of land and a tavern called Howard’s Halfway House (or The Rising Star Tavern). The tavern was constructed in 1715 by William Howard. Howard had purchased two “draught-lots” in 1699 from Francis Way, who was one of the eight original settlers to acquire property in the “New Lotts of Flatbush” in 1684. The Howard estate was sold at auction in 1867 for $21,000 to Henry R. Pierson, president of the Brooklyn City Railroad Company. The BRT built an extensive car depot and shops on the land.

Pitkin and Thrall had the land surveyed and laid out streets and building lots, which were sold for $10 to $25 each. The men named their new development the Village of East New York, claiming it would become the eastern part of New York City.

On the map from 1859, Pitkin Avenue is called Broadway.
On the map from 1859, Pitkin Avenue is called Broadway.

To help attract buyers, Pitkin published maps and a prospectus. He also published the area’s first newspaper, The Mechanic (the office for the newspaper was located in a three-story stone building at the corner of Atlantic and Pennsylvania Avenues).

Pitkin also set up a shoe factory on Liberty Avenue, called the East New York Boot and Shoe Manufactory Company of New York. His workmen (the company employed about 100 people) constructed small cottages around the shop in the area of Pennsylvania and New York Avenues.

The dream didn’t last long. The Panic of 1837 forced Pitkin to shut down his shop and either return some of the land to its original owners or sell it at reduced prices. Pitkin retained a small section between Wyckoff (today’s Wyona Street) and Alabama Avenues, which is where his businesses had been located.

is 1874 map of East New York shows the small section of land that John Pitkin retained following the Panic of 1837. At this time, all of the roads were dirt roads, including main thoroughfares such as Broadway, Blake, and Union Avenues.
This 1874 map of East New York shows the small section of land that John Pitkin retained following the Panic of 1837. At this time, all of the roads were dirt roads, including main thoroughfares such as Broadway, Blake, and Union Avenues.

One of the men who purchased property in the new village was William H. Suydam, who was a justice of the peace of Kings County. In 1858, he parceled his 30-acre property into 262 lots (a map of which was filed in 1860), and provided simple two- to four-room homes for workers living in the area.

When Suydam ran out of funding and failed to pay his mortgages, his land was auctioned off to Charles S. Brown of Esopus, New York, who paid $12,000 for the property. Brown subdivided this land and an adjoining parcel and marketed the $50 lots to Jews who lived in the congested tenements of the Lower East Side. He set up two rows of houses in the fields just west of Manhattan Crossing (today’s Broadway Junction, bounded by Fulton Street, Eastern Parkway, and Broadway).

The original settlement at Brownsville comprised two rows of cottages in the fields just west of today's Broadway Junction train station -- probably right around area bounded by Fulton Avenue, Broadway, and Eastern Parkway.
The original settlement at Brownsville comprised two rows of cottages in the fields just west of today’s Broadway Junction train station — probably right around area bounded by Fulton Avenue, Broadway, and Eastern Parkway.

By 1883, there were about 250 cottages in Brownsville (or Brown’s Village), most of them constructed by Charles R. Miller to accommodate factory workers who continued to work in Manhattan. The community, which also had a few shops, was surrounded by meadows and a dairy farm. At this time, the unpaved Pitkin Avenue (Broadway) served as a significant commercial thoroughfare for supplying the working-class residents with meat and vegetables, clothing, furniture, and more.

Pitkin Avenue: A Good Road for Wheelmen
Timothy L. Woodruff, Park Commissioner, Brooklyn

In the mid 1890s, several “Wheelmen” from the many New York bicycle clubs proposed creating a system of cycle roadways dedicated to the cyclists who wanted to traverse Brooklyn on safe roads. The proposal led to the creation of the Good Roads Association of Brooklyn. The group was championed by Brooklyn Park Commissioner Timothy L. Woodruff, who was also an avid cyclist.

At this time, the Eastern Parkway ended abruptly at a hill at the Brooklyn city line near Ralph Avenue, making the descent to the continuing dirt road (Broadway) treacherous for cyclists who wanted to ride toward East New York or Queens County. The men originally proposed improving Glenmore Avenue, since a part of that roadway had already been paved, but it was then decided to improve Eastern Parkway from Ralph Avenue to Stone Avenue.

Cycling was all the rage during this era. There was even a New York Division, American League of Wheelmen, which published a cyclists' road map of New York in 1893, complete with details of every macadamized road suitable for cycling.
Cycling was all the rage during this era. There was even a New York Division, American League of Wheelmen, which published a cyclists’ road map of New York in 1893, complete with details of macadamized roads suitable for cycling.

In addition to extending the Eastern Parkway northwest to Ridgewood Park (then home to the Brooklyn Bridegrooms baseball team, now called Highland Park), the plan was to macadamize the road from Howard Avenue to Stone Avenue (now Mother Gaston Boulevard). Thus, the old Broadway became an extension of the Eastern Parkway.

At Stone Avenue, the cycle path would head north one block to Glenmore Avenue, which was also being extended. The path then headed east again on Glenmore to Endsfield Avenue (Eldert Lane); then along Liberty Avenue into Queens County.  

This map, published in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on December 13, 1896, shows the proposed system of cycle roadways that would allow the Wheelmen and "Bloomer Girls" to ride their bikes safely between parks and across Brooklyn.
This map, published in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on December 13, 1896, shows the proposed system of cycle roadways that would allow the Wheelmen and “Bloomer Girls” to ride their bikes safely between parks and across Brooklyn. In addition to the Eastern Parkway extension, the proposal also called for extending Rockaway Avenue to Carnarsie Park.

The first part of the new cycle path system was celebrated with a grand parade on June 27, 1896, organized by the Good Roads Association, with Park Commissioner Woodruff as Grand Marshall. The New York Times reported that at least 10,000 Wheelmen and Bloomer Girls and 100,000 spectators took part in the celebration.

The Long Island Wheelmen, pictured here in 1883, were one of the many organized cycling groups that took part in the grand parade to celebrate the new system of cycle paths.
The Long Island Wheelmen, pictured here in 1883, were one of the many organized cycling groups that took part in the grand parade to celebrate the new system of cycle paths. NYPL digital collections

In May 1897, the City Council passed an ordinance changing the name of the newly extended portion of Eastern Parkway to Pitkin Avenue. Under this ordinance, the street was widened from 50 feet to about 82 feet.

Ordinance changing the name to Pitkin Avenue. Brooklyn Standard Union, June 27, 2897
Brooklyn Standard Union, June 27, 2897

The widening of the road created quite a stir, as only some residents were paid well for their property when the city took it over, while others were told the money appropriated for this purpose had run out.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 
October 25, 1898 
Fencing sidewalks on Pitkin Avenue
Brooklyn Daily Eagle,
October 25, 1898

Some residents along Pitkin Avenue–including those with property near Bristol and Chester Streets, where the cat saved her kittens in 1921–fenced off the sidewalks in front of their house in protest. This forced pedestrians to share the macadamized roadway with the “hundreds of cyclists” who were “passing continually.”

The city suggested that these residents should simply be happy to “donate” their land to the city in exchange for the improvements made to the old dirt road.

This 1898 was created one year after Eastern Parkway was renamed Pitkin Avenue east of Howard Avenue. The area was still sparsely developed, although there was one factory in the area (pink) and a cluster of frame houses (yellow) at Bristol and Chester Streets. Many of these residents protested the widening of the avenue when the city took over their land fronting the roadway.
This map was created one year after Eastern Parkway was renamed Pitkin Avenue east of Howard Avenue. The area was still sparsely developed, although there was one factory in the area (pink) and a cluster of frame houses (yellow) at Bristol and Chester Streets. Many of these residents protested the widening of the avenue when the city took over their land fronting the roadway.
This map published in 1905 add notes about the streets which were now paved. Note that at this time, 1632-1640 Pitkin Avenue, where our fire-cat tale took place, have not yet been constructed (noted by my red circle on the far right). The majority of the surrounding buildings were frame structures with brick or stone foundations (yellow/pink) at this time.
This map published in 1905 add notes about the streets which were now paved. Note that at this time, the buildings at 1632-1640 Pitkin Avenue, where our fire-cat tale took place, have not yet been constructed (noted by my red circle on the far right). The majority of the surrounding buildings were frame structures with brick or stone foundations (yellow/pink) at this time.
Today, 1632-1640 Pitkin Avenue is occupied by several shops. Incidentally, in 2003, a five-alarm fire that burned for more than 12 hours left one firefighter critically injured when he got lost in the thick smoke in the cellar of the Foot Locker store at 1636 Pitkin Avenue. Six stores were badly damaged in the blaze. There was no report of any rescued cats or kittens.
Today, 1632-1640 Pitkin Avenue is occupied by several shops. Incidentally, in 2003, a five-alarm fire that burned for more than 12 hours left one firefighter critically injured when he got lost in the thick smoke in the cellar of the Foot Locker store at 1636 Pitkin Avenue. Six stores were badly damaged in the blaze. There was no report of any rescued cats or kittens.