Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Macchu Picchu
Peru • 10 days, 9 nights
Peru: Machu Picchu & the Last Incan Bridges
from
Central Asia yurt night stars
Uzbekistan • 15 days, 14 nights
Central Asia Road Trip: Backroads & Bazaars
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Al Jazirah Al Hamra Heritage Village
Complejo Cultural Fábrica Imbabura
Guptill's Arena
In this deceptively simple dish, top-quality ingredients are paramount.
Kor Panich
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
In this deceptively simple dish, top-quality ingredients are paramount.
Kor Panich
Customize your bowl with sliced pork, pork balls, fish cake, and offal.
Rung Rueang
Pasties are an Upper Michigan tradition dating back to mining days.
Lehto’s Pasties
Stock up on picnic supplies with a side of history.
Horton Bay General Store
Take some of Michigan’s produce home with you.
American Spoon
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Podcast: Finding ‘The Great Gatsby’ in Louisville
Here’s which treats you can safely lug home without risking a fine.
Dear Atlas: What International Food Can I Legally Bring Into the U.S.?
Cely’s map is not only accurate, but captures the unique characteristics of Congaree’s trees and waterways.
How One Biologist Drew a Hyper-Accurate, Ranger-Approved Map of Congaree National Park
Though they’re protected inside the park, wolves can be killed when they cross its borders.
Wolves Have a Bad Reputation. One Yellowstone Naturalist Is Trying to Fix It.

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States New York State New York City Brooklyn Pratt's Steam Whistle Christmas
Pratt's Steam Whistle Christmas is permanently closed.

This entry remains in the Atlas as a record of its history, but it is no longer accessible to visitors.

Pratt's Steam Whistle Christmas

Steam out your ears for New Year's Eve.

Brooklyn, New York

Added By
Oliver Hong
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
  Allison Meier/Atlas Obscura
  Allison Meier/Atlas Obscura
  Allison Meier/Atlas Obscura
  Allison Meier/Atlas Obscura
  Allison Meier/Atlas Obscura
  Allison Meier/Atlas Obscura
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Please note that the last steam whistles event was on January 31, 2014. Below is information from when it was still in practice.

Every year on New Year's Eve, Conrad Milster sets up his collection of steam whistles at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Pipes crisscross the lawn ultimately linking up to Pratt's remarkable steam-powered electric generator.

The sound these whistles produce is truly awesome. The steam-engulfed blasts vibrate through your very being before echoing off the surrounding buildings for several seconds. Visually, they are also spectacular.

An amazing display from a different era, with each blast, an enormous cloud of steam explodes from each whistle, engulfing passers-by. While Conrad Milster's collection of whistles is remarkable in and of itself (his collection includes locomotive and riverboat whistles as well as one utterly seismic whistle from the SS Normandie), the steam-powered generator that runs it is truly amazing.

It is the longest continuously operating, privately-owned, steam-powered electrical generating plant in the country and it is a thing of beauty. You can take a tour of the generator at any time of year and talk to Conrad Milster, its chief engineer about steam power and his whistles.

2014 was the last year for the New Year's Eve ceremony. 

Related Tags

Inventions Music Retro Tech Holidays Rites And Rituals

Community Contributors

Added By

Oliver Hong

Edited By

littlebrumble, Rachel, Molly McBride Jacobson, Allison

  • littlebrumble
  • Rachel
  • Molly McBride Jacobson
  • Allison

Published

February 28, 2012

Updated

January 7, 2015

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Pratt's Steam Whistle Christmas
200 Willoughby Avenue
Brooklyn, New York, 11205
United States
40.691275, -73.964762
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

La Salle Hall

Brooklyn, New York

miles away

Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument

Brooklyn, New York

miles away

Naval Cemetery Landscape

Brooklyn, New York

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Brooklyn

Brooklyn

New York

Places 241
Stories 45

Nearby Places

La Salle Hall

Brooklyn, New York

miles away

Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument

Brooklyn, New York

miles away

Naval Cemetery Landscape

Brooklyn, New York

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Brooklyn

Brooklyn

New York

Places 241
Stories 45

Related Stories and Lists

Last Midnight of the Steam Whistles

retro-tech

By Allison Meier

Related Places

  • Dover, Delaware

    Johnson Victrola Museum

    Museum houses an impressive display of the origin and artistry from the now-quaint invention's history.

  • Replica of the 7-foot telescope Herschel used to discover Uranus.

    Bath, England

    Herschel Museum of Astronomy

    Eighteenth-century home, where Herschel discovered the planet Uranus.

  • The exhibit.

    North Adams, Massachusetts

    Gunnar Schonbeck Exhibit

    More than 200 unconventional musical instruments that anyone can play.

  • le téléscaphe in the 60s

    Marseille, France

    Le Téléscaphe

    For a brief time in 1960s France, families could climb into a tiny submarine and be pulled along an underwater journey.

  • South San Francisco, California

    Wind Harp

    A large instrument played by the wind.

  • Dearborn, Michigan

    Edison's Last Breath

    A sealed test tube said to hold Thomas Edison's dying breath was given to the inventor's friend and mentee, Henry Ford.

  • Gävlebocken 2018

    Gävle, Sweden

    Gävlebocken

    If there is one thing you don't want to be in Sweden during Christmas, it's a Yule Goat.

  • The swing at the end of the world

    Banos, Ecuador

    Swing at the End of the World

    A swing to dangle you off the very edge.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.