107 Columbia Heights Brooklyn, New York, USA

[The Librarian]

107 Columbia Heights Brooklyn, New York, USA

What memories do you have of this building?

[Joan Kennedy]

In the 1980's and 90's, my husband and I used to take groups (25) of JWs to New York (50 at a time) to visit Bethel.  Our highlight of the trip was to escort any who wanted to go to meeting Sunday morning to the KH in the 107 building.  There would be visitors from all over the world,  along with various members of the governing body and their wives.  While escorting the groups through the various buildings, we would run over to the 107 to visit with  Russell Kurzen who was at the front desk.  When we went to Europe on the Arosa Star in 1955, we met him, along with many other "old timers", and it was always encouraging to renew our friendship with him.

[Carmen Erwin]

It must have been a wonderful experience !??

[DLL]

I was invited to Bethel in the fall of 1971.  I arrived on a rainy Sunday, October 10 and unloaded right in front of 107.  I had never been east of Milwaukee WI; grew up in rural areas of southeastern Minnesota, so needless to say this was quite an experience for a 20 year old kid. Right away I was so impressed with the beautiful gardens.  I recall in November there were still roses in bloom - a great contrast to the frozen wastelands of the north where I grew up.  The gardens were a real oasis to us.  I was assigned to live in room 750 in 107 with another brother who had served almost 4 years.  This was a corner room on the corner of Columbia Heights and Orange Street that was high enough to look out into the harbor and see Manhattan, etc.  He left Bethel and I went to the Towers Hotel for a few months where lots of new boys lived - the Society was only leasing 3 or 4 floors there at the time. Then my overseer in the factory invited me to room with him back in 107 - this time room 950.  I remember meeting Maxwell and Irma Friend in the 107 elevator.  They were very gracious. Brother Friend said in his heavy accent "We work so hard at Bethel and have so much to do that we also sleep 60 miles per hour at night."  The commissary was in the basement of 107 and I loved all the tunnels especially when the weather was bad.  The Monday night WT study was held in the 107 Kingdom Hall and broadcast on TV in various dining rooms.  I still remember going early and meeting older single brothers of the anointed who were often there early as well and loved to visit and tell their stories of decades past.

[JW Insider]

Met some of my very best friends in this building. I went to the Kingdom Hall here (1976-1980), and had the 'Book Study' down the block at the brownstone of a Witness family. (They also had a house in the Hamptons, where I learned to water ski. I met some great friends of theirs through whom I even met my wife!!) 

Although I had a beautiful room in the corner of the Towers Hotel, I decided to move down to the room next door to the Gilead Library on the 3rd floor. Most of the floor was reserved for Gilead Students, and this was a great group to study with. I often spent nearly the entire night in the Gilead Library, so this new room was perfect. Another brother had also given me 24 access to his office library which was just one floor away downstairs. (I'm still the kind of nerd who dreams of living in a library.)

Another memory is the one night that the Hotel Margaret, next door, burned down in a 5-alarm blaze when the weather was so cold that the firetrucks tried to spray it with water but ended up spraying it with "snow." I was on the third floor, but some of the windows on the first and second floor (Service Department) were either broken or had holes in them from melting.

[Queen Esther]

Thanks for your very interesting and alive story !