Brooklyn clothesline noun any looped lanyard and pulley system US The term evokes pulleyed clotheslines strung outside apartments or houses.
You may hear the astronauts talking to Mission Control at Houston about a “Brooklyn clothesline.” They will be discussing a backup system of ropes and pulleys used to transport film to and from Skylab’s huge telescope. — Vidette(Indiana)Messenger, p. 25, 20 June 1972