{"id":959,"date":"2006-04-11T11:01:03","date_gmt":"2006-04-11T19:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2006\/04\/jehovahs_witnesses_tastefully_dim_comfortably_dumbo.html"},"modified":"2006-04-11T11:01:03","modified_gmt":"2006-04-11T19:01:03","slug":"jehovahs_witnes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/archives\/2006\/04\/jehovahs_witnes.html","title":{"rendered":"Jehovah’s Witnesses: Tastefully Dim, Comfortably Dumb(o)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brooklyn Paper talks its way into the Watchtower (.pdf)<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Jehovah’s Witnesses make up 11 percent of the Brooklyn Heights population; their Watchtower turrets define the borough for people making their first trip over the Brooklyn Bridge; their 33 properties are omnipresent in the Heights and DUMBO.<\/p>\n

When they’re not out preaching or “spreading the good news,” as Witnesses call it, they hole up in an enormous Brooklyn complex — vast in size and function.<\/p>\n

Think of anything one might need in modern society –lawyers, dentists, engineers, architects, painters, plumbers, electricians, a gym, swimming pool, pharmacy, cafeteria, laundry facility. You name it, they’ve got it.<\/p>\n

. . .<\/p>\n

Not only does the Watchtower have everything, it’s also great place to acquire new job skills. Hemmelgarn, for example, is learning public relations, and his wife, who had no hair-cutting skills before coming to Brooklyn, now works in the barbershop.<\/p>\n

The building at 25 Columbia Heights is the brain — or soul — of the Witnesses’ worldwide operations. It sits like a behemoth across from the Hillside Park dog run. A bridge connects its two sand-colored buildings.<\/p>\n

Given that it’s a world unto itself, it’s not surprising that the building feels like another country — the Midwest. People are friendly. They greet each other with a smile and hello. Their gentle voices are marked with inflections from outside the tri-state area.<\/p>\n

The carpeted Watchtower lobby, lit with recessed lighting, is tastefully dim. Rob the “official greeter,” stands behind a long counter. Kitschy biblical scenes painted by Witnesses decorate the walls. The place feels like the illegitimate child of a Marriot hotel and a hospital for the ill-at-soul.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Dana, this is dripping<\/em> with condescension!)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Brooklyn Paper talks its way into the Watchtower (.pdf): Jehovah’s Witnesses make up 11 percent of the Brooklyn Heights population; their Watchtower turrets define the borough for people making their first trip over the Brooklyn Bridge; their 33 properties are omnipresent in the Heights and DUMBO. When they’re not out preaching or “spreading the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-brooklyn","category-sliding_into_the_abyss_of_elitism_pretentiousness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/959\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}