Reviews

Brooklyn by Name: How the Neighborhoods, Streets, Parks, Bridges, and More Got Their Names by Leonard Benardo, Jennifer Weiss

kbrsuperstar's review

3.0

More of a reference book than anything else -- and honestly, I'm not 100% sure where some of these neighborhoods are -- but a fun (if esoteric) read. And it confirmed my notion that Putnam Ave in Bed-Stuy was named for my great(x7)-uncle, Israel Putnam!

carmenghia's review against another edition

4.0

I read this at work this week. As you can guess, most stuff in Brooklyn is named for real estate peeps, Revolutionary war heroes and politicians, and Anglicized Dutch words, but it's nice to know for sure what the backstory is.