By the numbers: The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Brooklyn holdings

From the April issue: In 1969, the Jehovah’s Witnesses made their presence in Brooklyn Heights known with 10 blazing red letters: WATCHTOWER. After buying a massive pharmaceutical manufacturing plant for $3 million, the Witnesses installed the electric sign atop the roof. It quickly became a landmark — visible from the Brooklyn Bridge and from across the river in Manhattan. “The public now knows that this group of buildings belongs to the Watchtower Society,” wrote the Witnesses’ then-president Nathan Knorr, referencing the group’s official name. Now the Witnesses have reported agreed to sell their iconic headquarters — which sits at 25-30 Columbia Heights – along with a large Dumbo development site for $700 million to Kushner Companies, RFR Realty and LIVWRK. [more]