The Real Deal New York

From the August issue: In Hezekiah Beers Pierrepont’s day, New York City was confined to Lower Manhattan, horse-drawn carriages were the only way to get around and Brooklyn was just some farmland across a river. But Pierrepont, a member of a prominent New York family, saw great potential in that Brooklyn farmland, especially in the Brooklyn Heights lots that he bought up. Thanks to his vision, when a steamboat ferry started running between Manhattan and Brooklyn in 1814, Brooklyn Heights became New York’s first commuter suburb.