Most Historic Events of 2012

This past year in Brooklyn has brought the borough some big stories, events that have changed us.

We have participated in a major election, survived a hurricane that brought historic damage to the city and even the grand opening of the Barclays Center.

Today, Patch wants to take the time to reflect on this year and bring you the most historic events of 2012.

Presidential Election 2012 

Standing in crowds outside of schools and libraries, local voters were frustrated and, in some cases, confused but undeterred to participate in the 2012 Election on Tuesday, Nov. 6.

Brooklyn Patch had its reporters in Carroll Gardens report on Election Day’s Confusion, in Park Slope we found Voters Waiting in Long Lines at P.S. 282 and in Prospect Heights it might have been Election Day, but for many residents, providing relief for victims of Superstorm Sandy was the dominant concern.

And when the polls closed, and President Obama won, Brooklyn rejoiced.

Superstorm Sandy

On Oct. 29, Superstorm Sandy hit New York City. And with it’s devastating winds, flood waters and power outages, Brooklyn was hit hard.

We saw historic flooding in Red Hook, long lines at gas stations during the shortage, two people died in Ditmas Park after getting hit by a tree and the subways were shut down for days.

On the MTA website, Chairman Joseph Lhota wrote: 

“The New York City subway system is 108 years old, but it has never faced a disaster as devastating as what we experienced last night. Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on our entire transportation system, in every borough and county of the region.”

Barclays Center Opens

On Sept. 28, after nine years of being a construction pit, a site of contention and protest from the community, an inevitable arena drenched in planning from the NYPD and city government and a place of anticipation, Barclays Center opened with rapper and Brooklyn Nets minority owner Jay-Z’s sold-out show.

Although this day signified how the "Battle For Brooklyn" is over, opponents of developer Forest City Ratner fired one last volley prior to Jay-Z's opening night concert.

Space Shuttle Enterprise Flies Over Brooklyn

Back in April, Brooklynites gathered by the hundreds to see the retired space shuttle Enterprise fly over New York City at the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.

“The American dream of going to space has died,” said Tom Zombek, who is a member of the Metropolitan Wargamers of New York while taking pictures of the shuttle as it flew past. “Today symbolizes that.”

Olympians from Brooklyn

Fighting to Make History

Back in February we reported about how for the first time in history, women’s boxing joined the elite cadre of competitive sports in the 2012 Olympic games.

It seems hardly plausible to have taken this long for the Olympics to welcome women into the sporting event, particularly since men have boxed in the Olympics from the time the ancient Greeks first adopted the sport more than 2,000 years ago. 

But this year, Alica Ashley from Bed-Stuy led the first-ever group of 24 American women boxers who competed for spots on the 2012 Olympic team.

Fort Greene’s Lia Neal, a 17-year-old swimmer, brought Brooklyn to prominence when she qualified for the London games this summer by finishing fourth in the 100-meter freestyle, which put her on the relay team.

And don’t forget about Park Slope’s own Race Imboden. Words like “prodigy” and “Olympian” are frequently used to describe Imboden, a 19-year-old Park Slope resident who was ranked number one in the country and ranked fifth in the world for fencing before the Olympics. He is the youngest top-ranked fencer on the planet.