Solidarity with Greenpoint

Eye On Real Estate: Exploring Monsignor McGolrick Park

August 23, 2017 By Lore Croghan Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Because we wanted to see this landmarked shelter pavilion in Monsignor McGolrick Park, we visited the park and the blocks surrounding it two days before the murder of George Carroll. Eagle photos by Lore Croghan

Share this:

We are offering these photos as a way to say we stand with Greenpoint in protest against senseless violence.

On Friday, Aug. 18, a Greenpoint resident named George Carroll was murdered near Monsignor McGolrick Park.

We are outraged by the savage slaying of Carroll, who had recently moved to the neighborhood with his wife, Christina Romero Carroll.

By complete coincidence, just two days before his murder, when we took one of our weekly Brooklyn neighborhood strolls, the spot we decided to visit was the area around Monsignor McGolrick Park.

We picked it out because we wanted to see the century-old shelter pavilion that is located in the park.

It is a crescent-shaped, columned arcade that was designed by Helmle & Huberty, an architecture firm that was a big deal back in the day.

When the city Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the shelter pavilion as a landmark in 1966, the designation report about it likened its design to that of the Grand Trianon at Versailles.

The shelter pavilion is lovely. On the day of our visit, it was a gathering place for numerous moms, caregivers and little kids.

The nine-acre park, with its tall trees, was an inviting green space.

On the blocks around the park, old-fashioned houses were eye-pleasers. We spent a happy afternoon taking lots of photos.

Monitor Street was especially picturesque. Two days later, that’s where George Carroll was murdered.

Stained-glass windows and a statue of Pope John Paul II

We found another especially picturesque spot on Russell Street, on the block bordering Monsignor McGolrick Park. The former Lutheran Church of the Messiah, which is on that block, was constructed in 1908. Its stained-glass windows are a thing of beauty.

The building is currently used by the Park Church Co-op.

We also were charmed by a house of worship a couple blocks away – St. Stanislaus Kostka Roman Catholic Church at 607 Humboldt St.

Outside its rectory, there’s a statue of the late Pope John Paul II. It commemorates a visit he made to the church in 1969. At that time, he was the Cardinal Archbishop of Krakow, Poland.

On numerous blocks near Monsignor McGolrick Park, houses painted in Easter-egg pastels or vibrant red hues drew our eye.

When we stood on the sidewalk on the corner of Nassau Avenue and North Henry Street, we caught a glimpse of the World Trade Center. When we looked in the opposite direction, we caught a glimpse of the handsome new Kosciuszko Bridge.

Oh Greenpoint, we’re so sad now about George Carroll, and so angry on behalf of all your law-abiding residents.