Astral Apartments

Astral Apartments is a large residential building in Greenpoint that occupies an entire block on Franklin Street, built with decorative brick and terra cotta materials. The structure features five arched entrances made of brownstone and displays detailed architectural craftsmanship throughout its facade.

Charles Pratt built this structure in 1885 to house workers from his Astral Oil Works, inspired by London's Peabody Apartments model. The project was pioneering for its time, showing a new approach to worker housing during the rapid industrial growth of the era.

The building was more than just housing for workers when it opened. It contained a public library, a kindergarten, and a settlement house that set new standards for worker support in industrial New York.

The building sits at Franklin Street between Java and India Streets and is easy to view from the outside since it takes up an entire block. The area is accessible by public transportation, and the building works well as part of a walking tour of historic Greenpoint, though visitors can only see it from the street as it remains a residential property.

The roofline includes inward-facing decorative grotesques that are hard to spot from street level. At the center of the building sits a three-story tall arched recess in Queen Anne style that gives the structure a distinctive architectural feature.

Location: Brooklyn

Inception: 1885

Architects: Lamb and Rich

Address: 184 Franklin Street

GPS coordinates: 40.73167,-73.95778

Latest update: December 8, 2025 21:03