Craig and Sal Go Global

New York City, Part 1 - Brooklyn

July 23, 2012

Some cities grow on you over time, while others you fall in love with instantly. New York City charmed us as soon as we arrived. It’s overwhelming how much there is to do in New York and we packed our seven days here to the brim. While we did our best to explore a variety of the city’s places and sights, we could easily have spent much more time here. It was hard to decide how to write about such a full-on week. To keep our posts from being too long, we’ve split up our time in New York into three parts – on Brooklyn, Midtown Manhattan and Lower Manhattan. This post is about our time in Brooklyn.

IMG_2376 We stayed in Brooklyn throughout our time in New York. Brooklyn is the most populous borough of the city, with 2.5 million people. The borough is very culturally diverse, with only around a third of the population being “non-Hispanic whites” – there are large numbers of African American, Hispanic and Asian people. Many of the signs are even bilingual (Spanish and English). A significant Jewish Orthodox community and Russian community are also here in Brooklyn.

For the first half of our visit, we stayed with the cousin of a good friend in a beautiful suburb near Prospect Park (thanks Claire and Alice). In a stroke of good luck, we arrived the day before the annual free concert in the park by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. The night ended with a fireworks display.

IMG_2179

Brooklyn has some beautiful old neighbourhoods. We loved walking around Brooklyn Heights, one of the priciest suburbs in New York, where a townhouse will set you back at least a couple of million US dollars. Many of the houses are “Brownstones” – large, stately rowhouses built in the mid-late 19th century.

In stark contrast to Brooklyn Heights, we went to Coney Island on the coast of Brooklyn. It had all the faded tackiness that we expected!

For the last half of our trip we stayed in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The area we were staying in had a quirky feel - it’s an old industrial district that is being gradually taken over by artists and hipsters. It was interesting to be somewhere a bit grungier, having seen mostly upscale Brooklyn suburbs. One nearby street had heaps of cool cafes and bars where we found this incredible dessert:

[![IMG_2729](23-3.jpg)](http://www.flickr.com/photos/craigandsal/7588203480/ "IMG_2729 by Craig and Sal, on Flickr")
Our best friend in New York was our 7-day unlimited farecard for the New York Subway. The subway system is extensive, (reasonably) easy to use and cheap – easily the best public transport we’ve come across so far. The subway allowed us to explore many different areas of the city and let us fit a lot into a day. There is a lot of busking and begging on the subway. In one day we were twice treated to a “dance show” where some young men performed an athletic hip-hop routine using the handrails of the subway car.
[![IMG_2582](23-4.jpg)](http://www.flickr.com/photos/craigandsal/7580081314/ "IMG_2582 by Craig and Sal, on Flickr")
[![IMG_2578](23-5.jpg)](http://www.flickr.com/photos/craigandsal/7580274746/ "IMG_2578 by Craig and Sal, on Flickr") On a couple of occasions we shared a station with some unwelcome residents! New Yorkers are stereotyped to have a bit of an attitude – brash, rude and a bit in-your-face. By and large we found this not to be true – people were as helpful and courteous as in any other large city. We did have one entertaining encounter though – having got onto a subway platform just as a train arrived, Craig asked someone “Excuse me, is this a local or express service?” and got the response “Get outta my face and read the damn signs!” In our next post, we’ll talk about Midtown Manhattan – the entertainment district and home of Broadway.

Comments from WordPress

  • Lesley Lesley 2012-07-23T23:27:56Z

    Now I looove the look of that dessert!! Lxx

Craig and Sally

Written by Craig Drayton and Sally Robertson