“1 Block, 135 Years” is a story of epic change in Brooklyn, told in miniature. By those who’ve lived on MacDonough Street in Bed-Stuy for generations and those who just pulled up to the stoop. From spring through fall, our reporters knocked on every door and hunted through public records to track down and interview more than 65 current and former block residents. The reporters mined Census data, deeds, crime reports, and other public records to look at how Brooklyn’s transformation has fundamentally altered the city’s geography and the lives of the residents who call the borough their home.
The online version of the story (coming later this week) is fully interactive, with a wealth of material you won’t be able to find in the issue, including complete interviews, the many connections between neighbors, memories, and history rendered literally, as digital links — whether those neighbors are brand-new or still prefer the slate sidewalks, which were paved over in 1976.