What Brooklyn looked like in the 1960s: A Photographic Tour

Brooklyn, ever-evolving and ever-resilient, has been the canvas for countless transformations that have influenced the broader tapestry of New York City. The 1960s stood out as a particularly pivotal era, characterized by socio-political movements, creative awakenings, and infrastructural developments. Join us on this retrospective voyage into Brooklyn’s dynamic 1960s.

Civil Rights and Brooklyn’s Role

The 1960s was a decade of profound social upheaval, and Brooklyn was at the heart of the civil rights movement. Protests, sit-ins, and community organizing became common sights in neighborhoods like Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights. Brooklynites, both young and old, rallied behind leaders like Malcolm X, demanding equality, justice, and an end to systemic racism.

The Rise of Brooklyn’s Music Scene

While the civil rights movement played out on the streets, a musical revolution echoed through Brooklyn’s clubs and lounges. From soulful R&B to the nascent sounds of hip-hop, venues like the Fox Theatre hosted a medley of influential acts. This period solidified Brooklyn’s reputation as a hotbed for musical innovation and cultural expression.

Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge: Linking Boroughs

1964 marked the completion of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, an engineering marvel connecting Brooklyn to Staten Island. Beyond its architectural significance, this bridge symbolized Brooklyn’s increasing integration with the broader metropolis, facilitating commerce, travel, and an intermingling of cultures.

The Cultural Mosaic Deepens

Building on its legacy as a sanctuary for immigrants, Brooklyn in the 1960s saw a fresh influx of diverse communities. From Soviet Jews escaping persecution to Caribbean folks bringing their vivacious cultures, this influx further enriched Brooklyn’s cultural quilt. Streets came alive with new festivals, cuisines, and dialects, highlighting Brooklyn’s global allure.

Here are some stunning vintage photos that will take you back to the 1960s in Brooklyn. If this exploration of an iconic era resonates with your spirit, we’d be honored if you’d share this post with fellow history buffs and every New Yorker who takes pride in our city’s rich past.

#1 Brooklyn Waterfront Standstill Due to Anthony Anastasio’s Death, 1963

1 Point

Upvote Downvote

#2 Passengers waiting at the upper-level entrance to the Long Island Rail Road at Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, 1968.

1 Point

Upvote Downvote

#3 Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Heights Branch, 1964.

1 Point

Upvote Downvote

#4 Couple Sunbathing at Coney Island, 1960

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#5 Avenue P and East Second Street, a Brooklyn Melting Pot, 1960

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#6 Allen Gray Hosts “Housewives’ Protective League” in Brooklyn, 1960

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#7 Brooklyn Bridge View, 1961

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#8 Park Slope One Year After the Mid-Air Collision, 1961

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#9 Aerial View of Downtown Brooklyn, 1961

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#10 Construction of Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, 1962

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#11 Boro Park Tobacco Shop Shooting, Detectives Slain in Holdup

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#12 Sunbathers at Beach Captured from High Angle, Brooklyn, 1962

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#13 Building Collapse at 156 Grattan St., Brooklyn

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#14 School Boycott Pickets March Across Brooklyn Bridge

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#15 Brooklyn Street Corner After Harlem Police Shooting, 1964

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#16 Aerial View of Brooklyn Navy Yard, Ordered Closed

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#17 Brooklyn Navy Yard Closure Announced, 1964

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#18 Official Motorcade Crosses Verrazano Narrows Bridge, 1964

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#19 Shipwreck Moored at Gravesend Bay, Brooklyn

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#20 Flatbush Avenue Toward Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower, 1965

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#21 Men Playing Bocce Ball in Brooklyn, 1965

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#22 Ramp to the Brooklyn Bridge Under Construction, 1965

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#23 Traffic Along Flatbush Avenue, Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower, 1965

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#24 Local Residents Jeer at NYPD Patrol Car in Brownsville, 1965

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#25 Cars Parked Outside Brooklyn Properties, 1965

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#26 Brooklyn Rooftops, 1965

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#27 Brooklyn Bridge and Lower Manhattan Skyline

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#28 Marquee for Murray The K’s Easter Show at Brooklyn Fox Theater, 1965

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#29 Main Entrance to Steeplechase Park at Coney Island, 1965

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#30 Brooklyn Crowd Awaits President Lyndon Johnson, 1966

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#31 Brooklyn Bridge View, 1967

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#32 Drag Beauty Contest Competitors on Stage, 1967

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#33 Steve Whitaker and Bill Robinson Visit Children in Brooklyn, 1967

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#34 Pedestrians in Front of World in Wax Musee, Coney Island, 1968

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#35 Men posing for a photo on a crowded Coney Island Beach, Brooklyn, 1968.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#36 Mounted police officers stand in front of an Army and Navy recruiting station at Coney Island, Brooklyn, 1968.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#37 Contestants gather around the ‘Machine Guns’ arcade at Coney Island, Brooklyn, 1968.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#38 Leslie Campbell (Jitu Weusi) and demonstrators block the front steps of JHS 271, Brooklyn.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#39 Vendor sells produce from his pushcart at the Belmont Avenue market, Brooklyn, 1962.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#40 Peter Udell, his wife Joan, and their children Christopher and Jennifer against the Manhattan skyline and Brooklyn Bridge, 1969.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#41 Construction crane of the World Trade Center visible under the Brooklyn Bridge, 1960s.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#42 Detective examines burned-out police car after a night of rioting in Brooklyn, July 1964.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#43 Opening day traffic jam on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge connecting Brooklyn to Staten Island, 1964.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#44 Anna Kelter looks at damage to her store after a night of rioting in Brooklyn, July 21, 1964.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#45 Closing of pushcart market at Saratoga Avenue and Prospect Place, Brooklyn, 1962.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#46 Chrysler New Yorker parked on a salt-covered street in Brooklyn, 1960s.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#47 Sunbathers at a beach in Brooklyn, July 1962.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#48 Brooklyn Bridge, undated.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#49 Policemen confront a group after a night of rioting in Brooklyn, July 21, 1964.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#50 African American woman carried to police patrol wagon during a demonstration in Brooklyn, 1963.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#51 Officers document confiscated items after a night of rioting in Brooklyn, July 22, 1964.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#52 Senator Robert Kennedy discusses school with Ricky Taggart in Brooklyn, 1966.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#53 Parachute Jump at Steeplechase Park in Coney Island, 1960s.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#54 Ken Rice and Stan Brezenoff lead a march from Brooklyn to City Hall, 1964.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#55 Brooklyn Piers #1 & 2 with the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan skyline in the background, April 1959.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#56 Aerial view of piers in Brooklyn, March 22, 1962.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#57 Amusement Park Ride in Coney Island, August 1961.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#58 CORE members in Brooklyn join the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#59 Teens dance the ‘Twist’ outside the Brooklyn Fox Theatre, 1961.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#60 Manhattan’s skyline in darkness, offset by lights at a Brooklyn pier, November 9, 1965.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#61 CORE members in Brooklyn join the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#62 Manhattan’s skyline in darkness, lights at a Brooklyn pier, November 9, 1965.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#63 Senator Robert Kennedy discusses school with Ricky Taggart in Brooklyn.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#64 Rabbi Emmanuel Rackman cuts Challah for Succoth at Brooklyn Museum, 1969.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#65 Amusement Park Ferris Wheel, Coney Island, 1961

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#66 112 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, 1964

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#67 General View of Brooklyn, 1964

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#68 Third Avenue in Brooklyn, 1964

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#69 Intersection of Third Avenue and Pacific Street, Brooklyn, 1964

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#70 99 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, 1964

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#71 Intersection of Livingston Street and Hanover Place, Brooklyn, 1964

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#72 Intersection of Metropolitan Avenue and Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, 1964

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#73 Intersection of Eastern Parkway and Nostrand Avenue, Brooklyn, 1964

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#74 932 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, -1964

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#75 Intersection of Franklin Avenue and Wallabout Street, Brooklyn, 1964

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#76 Intersection of Grove Avenue and Myrtle Avenue, Brooklyn, 1964

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#77 Intersection of Hanson Place and Ashland Place, Brooklyn, 1964

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#78 2319 Nostrand Avenue, Brooklyn, 1964

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#79 Ocean Avenue Between K and L Avenues, Brooklyn, 1964

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#80 Intersection of Thatford Avenue and Riverdale Avenue, Brooklyn, 1964

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#81 Intersection of 86th Street and 19th Avenue, Brooklyn, 1964

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#82 Intersection of Flatbush Avenue and Parkside Avenue, Brooklyn, 1964

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#83 Intersection of Hanson Place and Ashland Place, Brooklyn, 1964

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#84 Intersection of Henry Street and Clark Street, Brooklyn, 1964

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#85 Young Street Racers on Third Avenue, Brooklyn, 1968

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#86 Dodgers-Giants Baseball Game Listeners on a Brooklyn Street, 1960

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#87 Dead Body Found in Car Trunk on 3rd Avenue, Brooklyn, 1962

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#88 Children Flee Police During Bedford-Stuyvesant Race Riot, 1964

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#89 School Drop-Outs Playing Billiards, 1962

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#90 Last Rites Given to Joseph Magnasco on 4th Avenue, Brooklyn, 1961

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#91 Patrolman Plays Basketball with Local Kids, 1962

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#92 Diverse Restaurants on Avenue P and East Second Street, 1960

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#93 Burglary Arrest at Packers Super Market, 1963

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#94 Uncle Identifies Victim Edermilo Molina, 1966

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#95 Brooklyn College Student Arrested During Anti-War Protest, 1967

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#96 Accused Killer George Whitmore Jr. Arraigned, 1964

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#97 Coney Island Beachgoers, 1966

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#98 Governor Nelson Rockefeller Greets Locals, 1960

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#99 Jazz Musician Sonny Rollins on Williamsburg Bridge, 1966

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#100 Park Slope Airplane Crash Scene, 1960

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#101 Senator Robert Kennedy with Children, 1966

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#102 Mob Boss Anthony Anastasio’s Funeral, 1963

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#103 Miss Coney Island Takes a Swim, 1968

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#104 Brooklyn Navy Yard Workers Protest Shutdown, 1964

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#105 Yankees Visit Bedford-Stuyvesant Kids, 1967

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#106 Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Restaurant Crowd, 1961

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#107 Italian-American Family Portrait, 1963-1964

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#108 Student Uses Early Computer at P.S. 244, 1968

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#109 Seminary Students Decorate Sukkah, 1969

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#110 Spencer Memorial Church Members Sing, 1963

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#111 Brownsville Street Market, 1962

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#112 Governor Nelson Rockefeller Eating Hot Dogs at Coney Island, 1960

-1 Points

Upvote Downvote

#113 Crowd During a Political Rally Outside Nathan’s Famous, 1965

-1 Points

Upvote Downvote

#114 Pedestrians in front of World in Wax Musee at Coney Island advertising exhibits like Richard Speck and Nat King Cole, 1968.

-1 Points

Upvote Downvote

#115 7210 New Utrecht Avenue, Brooklyn, 1964

-1 Points

Upvote Downvote

#116 Ebbets Field Auction in Brooklyn, 1960

-1 Points

Upvote Downvote