All along the watchtower

A very large dawn redwood on Willow Street in Brooklyn Heights shed many of its cones this weekend during Saturday’s strong winds. The three Federal Style houses (155, 157, & 159 Willow) next to the tree -- which is set in an intriguing garden next to a very fetching carriage house -- are noted by a historic plaque. Two of the houses have their dormers still; but 159 looks like it had an added story at some point. They are slightly askew from the Willow St. line because they were built to Love Lane's angle; that byway once extended this far west but now only runs between Henry and Hicks. The plaque goes on to say that that the glass pavers in the walkway of 157 once lit a tunnel that led to a carriage house. The AIA Guide dismisses the notion that this was part of an Underground Railroad operation.

But doesn't Brooklyn Heights, set up on its bluff, seem like it should be riddled with mysterious tunnels? For instance, all those Jehovah's Witless zombies. I'm sure they're being bred deep in the bowels of the earth there.