Brooklyn’s Forgotten Army Terminal

I departed from Brooklyn Army Terminal twice. Once in 1952 as an Air Firce dependant along with my mother and brother, going by troop ship to South Hampton England where we were met by my father who was stationed on England.. Then again in 1964 as a young private in the US Army heading for Germany. Oddly, the troop ship that I sailed the North Atlantic in 1964 was the same one my mom, brother and I sailed on in 1952.

Most people don’t know there are huge data centers in there. I’ve gone at night and it’s a bit creepy walking through the central atrium at midnight. Feels like your being watched. Anyway it is a really cool building

You didn't mention that it was also used by the Post Office Department in the late 60s and very early 70s. There were thousands of Postal workers working out of there at that time. My husband was one of them.

You drew a line from 1st avenue in Manhattan into Brooklyn. Brooklyn has its own 1st avenue and it intersects 58th street at the Army Terminal. A line of job seekers extending up 1st avenue in Brooklyn is possible. A line extending into Manhattan seems implausible.

I have been repairing equipment at that location on and off since the '80's. The changes over the last 40 years have been remarkable . I still like to spend time in the Atrium whenever I'm there.

Thanks for this! After drafted, I served as an MP there in the late 1960s.

I’ve been in one of those warehouses owned by the NYC BOE. I was in awe at the large floor space and all the old stuff they saved in there.

During the 1970s the US Customs Service operated a special tactical unit out of the 7th floor. The building was largely unused. There were stories of ghosts and groups of hidden people living within the vast spaces. Never saw any, but heard periodic screams when working at night. Glad to see the structure back in use.

My Great Aunt worked as a clerk-typist at the Brooklyn Army Terminal for many years. My Dad (her nephew) came home from Korea there in 1951. She typed his discharge papers!

In May of 1957 we passed through Brooklyn Army Terminal to board the SS General Hodges to go to Europe. I was 12 then. I did not see much, we came on a bus from Fort Hamilton. We were on the bus on families that had dogs. Straight to wharf-side, but I remember the archway. Thanks for the memories.

My Grandmother and Great Aunt worked there during the war. That is where they met. One day my future Great aunt met my Grandfather while hitchhiking from the Catskills. To thank him she invited him to a party. He brought his brother (my Great uncle). That party is where my Great Aunt met my Great Uncle and my Grandfather met my grandmother. Without this building.....I might not be here. Thank you for sharing the history of it.

Im from brooklyn and grew up not far from here and even alot of nyers dont know this place exists. With ems i used to go in there all the time years ago. We used to drop patients off at the dialysis office. Then wed go to one of the retaurants there that had great food and walk around passed the train. Its an old interesting place with alot of history. Thank you for the video.

Its so good to see that this mammoth of a complex is still used today while also being taken care of and updated! Its too often these days that we see these incredible buildings just left behind once its original purpose is no longer. Great video!

I remember about 20 years ago I had to go there to pickup more boxes of traffic summonses to bring back to my precinct in the NYPD. Apparently there is a quartermaster section there at the terminal. I had to go to one of the upper floors in the building and was required to take a man operated freight elevator. Guy looked like he started working there when the building was first built. Upon boarding the elevator I noticed that every square inch of wall space was occupied by a clock. Clocks of all types, shapes and sizes were ticking away. Pendulums swinging, mechanisms wurring, all keeping the exact time. All inside this one freight elevator. The operator in a full throwback style uniform that included a "bell hop" style cap politely asked where I needed to go. Upon exiting the elevator my experience did not get any less creepy. The floor I ended up on was absolutely dead quiet, near dark and deserted. The expanse of floorspace and seemingly infinite aisles of supplies were staggering. Now for me to find the boxes I needed I could only think that I was in the last scene from the movie "Raiders of the lost ark".

So weird..I was just here for the first time 3 weeks ago. I was in awe that I never had even heard about this place. And now you drop a video..wild.

WOW! Glad to see that we are reusing and appreciating our great Historical Infrastructure👍

Living in NYC it's a blast being able to visit places like this. Speaking of which, have you thought about doing a piece on the nearby "Industry City," formerly Bush Terminal? From a grungy warehouse facility it's now a high-tech hub for IT businesses - & it has a pretty good food court, and a great comics shop that got priced out of Manhattan.

What a great big architectural place and such a an interesting history! Ryan, you find some great little know, but historically important places to make videos of !

My mother worked there during world war 2 as a secretary for the army, she remembers when FDR came by during the war to visit the army terminal

No where near the scale but in the Binghamton NY area there is a large project of saving the old Endicott Johnson buildings. Many of the original area homes were built by the company. Many local parks, swimming pools, a golf course, 6 carousel rides. All back in the 20s-30s. All for their workers. Some of the large shoe factories that were almost collapsing are now being refurbished and being used again. Now they are considered to be liberty factory locations. As I said it's not as popular but it's almost forgotten even in the area if you ever want to do a video on it I can try and help. An hour or so away is a interesting very large army warehouse facility that was mindbogglingly large when I went in it. Called "the holding point" in Horseheads Ny. Not too far from newtons battlefield park and sullivans march.