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Welcome to "The Hole"
By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 26, 2009
Modified Aug 26, 2009
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 26, 2009
Modified Aug 26, 2009
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When the NY Times wrote about The Hole back in 2004, they said, "It is the closest thing New York has to a border town... an isolated neighborhood that straddles the Brooklyn-Queens line. The five blocks at the junction of Conduit Avenue and Linden Boulevard have all the characteristics of a frontier town in the Old West." Now, years later, Nate Kensinger has visited the almost-ghost town and come back to tell the story with plenty of gorgeous images of the decay. He says, "The Hole is literally a hole. It is 30 feet below grade... sunken down from the busy roads around it. The neighborhood floods often and is only a few feet above the water table, so its homes are 'not incorporated into the city sewer system. They all have cesspools.'"
The Hole is known for its history as a body dumping ground for the mafia. One resident told Kensinger about the development that temporarily housed "200 dead bodies." Such activity dates back to at least 28 years ago, when the "the body of a Bonanno crime family captain" was found there. And since nothing says mafia like horses, that is the 2nd thing the area is known for. Reportedly "it was once populated by vast fields of horses. Many belonged to The Federation of Black Cowboys, who hold an annual rodeo nearby." The horses were "evicted" in 2002.
You can learn more here, but sadly, like Far Rockaway, this unique neighborhood's future is uncertain.
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brooklyn
horses
mafia
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neighborhood
queens
the hole
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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