Brooklyn

Brooklyn Heights

             

There is a lot more to New York City than the island of Manhattan. New York’s other boroughs have fascinating neighborhoods with strong, unique personalities, tons of history and lots of flavor.

Brooklyn the County of Kings

Brooklyn Facts. It is the 4th largest city in the U.S. 96.9 sq. miles area.  Kings County named after King Charles II.

Brooklyn’s cultural influence can be said to have had an almost global cultural influence. Brooklyn has left its powerful imprint in literature, art, Hollywood, television, Broadway, politics, business and influenced generations through its many larger then life Brooklyn personalities that have cut a broad swath throughout the world. Brooklyn gave birth to the powerfully contemplative poetry of W.H. Auden, the raciness of Mae West, the beauty of Rita Hayworth, gangsters Al Capone and Bugsy Seigal, the seminal works of Norman Mailer, Arthur Miller and Joseph Heller, the humor of Henny Youngman, Buddy Hackett, Phil Silvers, Jimmy Durante and others.  Musical maestros from Brooklyn include George & Ira Gershwin, Tupac Shakur, Carole King, Lena Horne, and Clive Davis.  Brooklyn natives have traveled far and wide bringing with them a passion and a depth of feeling for interaction with the world around them. Brooklynites are sophisticated observers and very able doers.

   Those that were born in or lived in Brooklyn include Mae West, Woody Allen, Barbara Streisand, Al Capone, Vince Lombardi, Moe Howard of The Three Stooges, Jackie Gleason, Rita Hayworth, Barbara Stanwyck, Mickey Rooney, Carole King, Lena Horne, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Carl Sagan, Michael Jordan, Jerry Seinfeld, George & Ira Gershwin, Zero Mostel, Vanessa Williams, Ken Burns, Wolfman Jack, Mel Brooks, Eddie Murphy, Harry Nilsson, Eli Wallach, Tupac Shakur, Buddy Rich, Harvey Fierstein, Lenny Kravitz, Mary Tyler Moore, Jack Lord, Richard Dreyfuss, David Geffen, Tony Danza, Neil Diamond, Joe Torre, Joan Rivers, Gabe Kaplan, Rudolph Giuliani,  Bugsy Seigel, Bobby Fischer, Lil Kim, Aaron Copland, Lou Reed, Steve Rubell, Mike Tyson, Jay-Z, Larry King, Will Eisner, Jimmy Durante, Adelaide Hall, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lauen Bacall, Harry Chapin, Clive Davis, Alan Dershowitz, Harry Houdini, Harvey Keitel, Spike Lee, Norman Mailer, Peter Max, Arthur Miller, “Cousin” Bruce Morrow, Floyd Patterson, Max Roach, John Saxon, Beverly Sills, Mickey Spillane, Gene Tierney, Randy Weston, Brenda Vaccaro, Shelly Winters, Henny Youngman, Buddy Hackett, Phil Silvers, Vitas Gerulaitis, Priscilla Presley, Erich Segal, Pete Hamill, Susan Brownmiller, Shirley Chisholm  Joseph Papp, Allen Funt, Danny Kaye, “Professor” Irwin Corey,  Clara Bow, Marion Davies, Bernard Malamud, Walt Whitman, Joseph Heller, Sandy Koufax, Notorious B.I.G., W.H. Auden, Man Ray, andThomas Wolfe, to name a few.  

   Brooklyn has always had a hard to pin down special quality that has allowed for many kinds of creations and creators to be nurtured here. The bridges that span New York City’s harbor speak of the period when Manhattan became more solidly connected with Brooklyn, its very independent neighbor. The busy harbor where the Hudson and the East River mingle, teems with vessels of all kinds both local and foreign; reminding one of the water’s link with a world beyond these restless city streets. From the privileged view of the Brooklyn Heights promenade through the river’s bend at Red Hook along the pathways under the Verrazano Bridge through the beaches of Coney Island; the rivers and Atlantic Ocean anchor Brooklyn’s borders barely containing it’s energies at the water’s edge.  

  Each Brooklyn neighborhood has certain distinct qualities that come through as one walks through them block by block. In South Brooklyn and Red Hook a remnant of the rugged nautical atmosphere still hangs in the air close to the old docks. The infamous Gowanus Canal now somewhat cleaner is undergoing transformation from being a keeper of morbid secrets to an arts colony. Sunset Park has given birth to one of the newest enclaves of Chinese immigrants and with it a second Chinatown, though a little roomier than its city cousin. The Ocean Parkway area and Borough Park have one of the largest populations of Jewish orthodox and Jewish people from Russia. East New York, once one of the “hardest” neighborhoods on the planet is changing too with new homeowners planting roots. Park Slope that bastion of enlightened yuppies is mobbed with baby strollers and the politically correct hipsters. Crown Heights, Flatbush, Bay Ridge, Canarsie, Flatlands, Gravesend, Sheepshead Bay, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Midwood, Ditmas Park, Rockaway, Cobble Hill, Vinegar Hill, all have an atmosphere that is uniquely their very own.  

  Brooklyn is deep. Brooklyn keeps changing. It would take several lifetimes and a great deal of wherewithal to get to know all of Brooklyn, there are not many that do.  

By A.Q. Zarak, New York City, 2005ã

      Brooklyn Attractions, Information & History

 

Coney Island Museum and Events. On the world famous Boardwalk. http://www.coneyisland.com/

Prospect Park. http://www.prospectpark.org/

Prospect Park Zoo. http://nyzoosandaquarium.com/5719118

Hogar Collection Art Gallery. In artsy Williamsburg. http://www.hogarcollection.com/

Jacques Torres Chocolate. Just below the Brooklyn Bridge.  http://mrchocolate.com/

The Wykoff House Association. The oldest house in Brooklyn, built in 1652. http://www.wyckoffassociation.org/

PortSide NewYork www.portsidenewyork.org

The Waterfront Museum in Red Hook. http://www.waterfrontmuseum.org/

The New York Transit Museum. http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/mta/museum/general.htm

Leffert Homestead in Prospect Park. One of Brooklyn’s oldest Dutch Houses. http://www.historichousetrust.org/museum.php?msmid=6

DUMBO; Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. http://www.southbrooklyn.net/dumbo.html

Gowanus Dredgers Canal Canoe Club. Like Venice without the tourists. http://www.gowanuscanal.org/

Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. http://www.bbg.org/

Pacific Island Travel Brooklyn Webpage.

Click here: http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/north_america/eastern_usa/newyork/nyc_brooklyn.html

Brooklyn Stories. Tour of Brooklyn landmarks. http://www.brooklyn.net/bklyn_stories_01.html

The Brooklyn Cyclones Baseball Team. Information and season schedule. http://www.brooklyncyclones.com/

Astroland. NYC’s largest amusement park. http://www.astroland.com/  

Brooklyn Public Library Information Resources. http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/index.jsp

Go Brooklyn. Brooklyn Paper’s guide to Brooklyn. http://www.go-brooklyn.com/

The Brooklyn Rail. News about Brooklyn Arts, politics and culture. http://www.thebrooklynrail.org/

Greenpoint Trivia. http://www.greenpt.com/gptrivan.htm

Brooklyn Heights Residents by Name & Occupation in the 1800’s.

 http://www.bklyn-genealogy-info.com/Directory/Bk.Hgts.Dir.html

Saint Francis College. http://www.stfranciscollege.edu/

Brooklyn Information and Culture. Good general Brooklyn information. http://www.briconline.org/default.asp

Brooklyn.net, a flavorful take on the borough.  http://www.brooklyn.net/index.html

Brooklyn .01. Brooklyn photographer. http://www.subterrain.com/brook01.html

Metaphor Contemporary Art Gallery. On Atlantic Avenue. http://www.metaphorcontemporaryart.com/

Lunarbase Art Gallery. In Williamsburg. http://www.lunarbaseart.com/map_direction.htm

D.U.M.B.O. Arts Center. Under the bridges. http://www.dumboartscenter.org/

Ch’i   Art Gallery. In Williamsburg. http://www.qianartspace.com/About%20Ch'i.htm

Figureworks Art Gallery. In Williamsburg. http://www.figureworks.com/

The Brooklyn Board.  Brooklyn nostalgia group. http://brooklynboard.com/home.html

Lost Brooklyn. Blog about interesting Brooklyn places. http://www.disassociate.com/lost_wholeframe_photos.html