Subject: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Well, I've mentioned "TAKE THE HIGH ROAD - SECOND EDITION: A Primer for the Independent Traveler" (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V...) and I realized that, since we are discussing walking cities, one of the walking tours of New York City areas outlined in the book would likely be new for any who visit my fair city.

Jeff

Brooklyn, New York, USA

There is a walking tour which covers many of the places discussed in this piece following afterwards

After documenting cities in over 100 countries, it suddenly dawned on me that I hadn’t taken the time to discuss the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, my fair city.

Well, that should be easy, I thought – after all, I’ve lived here my whole life (well, at least the half of my life that I didn’t spend traveling 😊). Well, it turns out not so easy. Not only is Brooklyn (by population) the fourth largest city in the country (if it seceded from NYC), but its complex geography of demographic diversity, based on its being the recipient of immigrants since the days when Dutch was spoken here.

Before we get to the good stuff, Newark Airport, is the most awkward and expensive (due to both distance, tolls and crossing state lines) of NYC’s three airports for us. Uber came to the rescue, but finding the designated location is a bit confusing. (Arrivals is on the second floor. When you leave the secure area, head all the way to the left to a pair of glass-doored elevators. Take one down to the first floor, walk out the door of the terminal, cross the road to the divider and head to the right to the signs indicating “Uber” – about 20 yards past the Lyft ones). Both JFK and LaGuardia airports have flat-rate taxi fares to Manhattan.

In 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was opened connecting the cities of Brooklyn to New York City replacing the Fulton Ferry – previously the only means to cross between the two islands. Brooklyn had an advantage of having a large population which could feed the factories of Manhattan and the disadvantage of using artesian well water which tasted of sulphur. NYC had fresh spring water feeding their water supply. Originally, Brooklyn was a separate city from New York City. It had its own City Hall (now Borough Hall), its own opera house, the Brooklyn Academy of Music (now known as BAM), its own “central park” – Prospect Park and its own world-class museum being constructed – the Brooklyn Museum, whose construction was aborted at only a quarter of its originally planned size when the two cities combined.

The Williamsburg Bridge was completed in 1903 and the Manhattan Bridge in 1909. Both could carry subway trains which made it convenient for those living in Manhattan’s crowded slums to move to Brooklyn as well as Brooklyn’s population to easily reach Manhattan’s factories.

As national groups of immigrants spawn children who become educated, they are geographically replaced by new cadres from elsewhere in the world. Bay Ridge used to be largely Norwegian, but today it is Arabic and Mexican. Bensonhurst has largely transitioned from Italian to Chinese and Brighten Beach and Manhattan Beach (yes, in Brooklyn) have become largely populated by those originating in various former Soviet Republics. In each of these cases, the banks, newspapers, local shops and restaurants are reflections of those found “back home” rather than those traditionally found in the US.

Neighborhoods are generally defined by a single street and you can literally cross the street from Mexico to Lebanon, walk a few blocks and cross into Shanghai. For a “foodie” there is no place like this in the world as the local restaurants are generally inexpensive and authentic – as there are virtually no tourists and the locals demand food exactly as prepared back in the “old country”. Similarly, items typically only found “back home” are stocked in the ethnic supermarkets and grocery stores as well as in shops selling items we travelers would be tempted to call souvenirs, but to the locals are simply the products they have grown used to before coming to the US. So, knowing where the boundaries of the neighborhoods lay is important to experience this phenomenon.

A few of the current ethnic concentrations:

Bushwick, Brownsville, East New York Caribbean
Williamsburg, Boro Park, Crown Heights Hasidic Jews
Northern Bay Ridge, Cobble Hill Arabs
Sunset Park, Gravesend, Bensonhurst Chinese
Gravesend Syrian Jews
Gravesend, Homecrest, Midwood European Jews
Bay Ridge, Gravesend Mexican
Brighten Beach, Manhattan Beach, Sheepshead Bay Russian/Ukrainian, etc.
Flatbush, Brighton Beach Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi
Greenpoint Polish
Dumbo, West Greenpoint/Williamsburg, Park Slope Yuppie cool kids

The list could go on and on – basically listing groups from nearly every country in the world.

Brooklyn’s unique sights/sites fall into a number of major categories. One of the most unique genres could loosely be called “parks”.

First and foremost, would be Prospect Park. Designed and constructed over a thirty-year period (1865-1895) by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, the masterminds behind Central Park, Prospect Park, on the site of the Revolutionary War’s Battle of Brooklyn, was transformed into a premiere destination for Brooklyn visitors and residents alike. They used their experience to create a far more interesting environment than Central Park. Its zoo is now modernized into habitats and no longer has its old-fashioned menagerie of lions, tigers, bears and so on in their tiny cages. The park also contains the LeFrak Center Ice Skating Rink at Lakeside.

Just north of the park, Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch (reminiscent of the Arc de Triumph in Paris) was constructed on “Grand Army Plaza” commemorating the Union Army which participated in the US Civil War. The City Planners created a star of major “Parkways” radiating from this point which (more or less) included Eastern Parkway, Ocean Parkway (both of which had lawns and pedestrian esplanades/bridal paths running their length) and Flatbush Avenue. Facing the Grand Army Plaza is the Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Library – an architectural masterpiece in its own right.


Across Flatbush Avenue from Prospect Park is the magnificent Brooklyn Botanic Gardens which includes one of the US’s oldest and most ornate Japanese gardens.

Adjacent to the Botanic Gardens is the magnificent Brooklyn Museum. If it wasn’t for the fact that NYC was also home to the larger Metropolitan Museum of Art, it is likely that the Brooklyn Museum would be its primary Art Museum – and should be on every art-lover’s must-see list.

A few blocks from Prospect Park to the west (south of the interesting Park Slope
area) is The Green-Wood Cemetery. Brooklyn has been home to thousands of famous celebrities. While it has a number of huge cemeteries, Green-Wood Cemetery is to Brooklyn what Père Lachaise Cemetery is to Paris. The list of “must-see” graves includes those of Leonard Bernstein, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Boss Tweed, DeWitt Clinton, Elias Howe, Peter Cooper and Horace Greeley to name a small handful.

Heading north, up Flatbush Avenue towards the Manhattan Bridge, we see the modernistic Barclays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets basketball team and venue for concerts. Just north of the Barclays Center is the Brooklyn Academy of music and downtown Brooklyn’s Fulton Street commercial area. A block or two further brings you to Brooklyn Technical High School (the building with the massive radio antenna on its roof). This massive high school of 6,000 students (which I was lucky enough to attend in my youth) is the largest, and likely the best, STEM (science/technology/engineering/math) schools in the nation.

Across Dekalb Avenue, on the north side of the school, is Fort Greene Park, a burial place used by the British during the Revolutionary War to inter American captives who dies while kept in prison ships. Heading along Dekalb Avenue and crossing Flatbush Avenue (back onto Fulton Street) will let you peruse the renovated commercial district of downtown Brooklyn (in part, created out of the massive theatres of the past) and continue on to the multi-denominational Brooklyn Tabernacle (at 17 Smith Street on Fulton Mall).

Nearby, at 99 Schermerhorn St, is the New York Transit Museum which shows off the amazing history of NYC’s mass transit system.

The popular Brooklyn Heights neighborhood is west of there. Along the western edge of the neighborhood is the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, a park constructed over the double level Brooklyn-Queens expressway and which offers incredible harbor views.

From there, it’s a short walk to the pedestrian entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge and the opportunity to walk across this amazing structure all the way to Manhattan (make sure to take a camera).

Back on the Brooklyn side, head down towards the Hudson River to the neighborhood of Dumbo (Down under the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridge Overpass). This residential district made out of old warehouses and commercial buildings is known for incredible views. Walk along the waterfront and you’ll find Jane's Carousel, St. Ann's Warehouse and the Empire Fulton Ferry stop of the water taxis which play the harbor and river.

Well, that’s the north end of Brooklyn; now let’s head south.

Few think of New York City as a beach resort, but for well over a century, Coney Island and its adjacent Brighton Beach have been exactly that. Lined with its Riegelmann Boardwalk, in pre-air conditioning days, when both the temperature the humidity got high on weekends or holidays, over a million people would show up to take a dip in the water. While the beach was a few miles long and the sand about 100 meters between the Boardwalk and the water, a million people creates quite a crowd and you could walk from the boardwalk to the water, on people’s beach blankets, without having to touch the hot sand with your feet.

Along the Boardwalk (at about West 8th Street) is the New York Aquarium. While far from being Sea World, it is a decent aquarium and worth a visit if you are already in the neighborhood.

In the old days, Coney Island was known for its multiple vast amusement parks. There is a vestige of one called Luna Park which still contains the vintage “Wonder Wheel” (a Ferris Wheel) where half the cars are movable on rails and simulate the cars swinging off the wheel as it turns. The “Parachute Jump” is no longer in use, but has been retained as a symbol of the past. The “Cyclone” an antique wooden roller coaster is still scaring the daylights out of the young a block from the beach. Also nearby is the original location of Nathan’s a VERY informal restaurant known for its hot dogs and all things fast-food (prices are now higher than I remember from my youth).

Some other notable places to search out include:
Brooklyn Children's Museum (145 Brooklyn Ave.) Fantastic for kids
Brooklyn Brewery (79 N 11th Street) Tours and tasting of some of the best US beers
Dyker Heights Christmas Lights (1072 80th Street) The most incredible (seasonal)

For some real unusual places, peek at the ones listed here:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/t...
https://www.atlasobscura.com/t...;
Walking, Bus, Subway tour of Brooklyn (NYC Tour 1)

NOTE: NYC has recently installed panels to allow most credit cards with a “chip” (or their OMNY phone app) to be used to pay at all subway stations and on buses. The phone app (or for now, the still existing Metrocards) can be used for “time” fares (one day or one month)

NYC Subway Map: http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/...

Brooklyn Bus Map: http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/...

While the following information on “Metro Cards” is still in effect, NYC’s transit system – both buses and subway system – now accepts tap-type credit cards as well as payment though the “OmniNY” mobile phone app.

Pick up a 7-day Metro Card at the beginning of your trip. If you are only staying a couple of days, it is probably cost effective to put $10 or $20 on a Metro Card (you get a bonus either way) and keep refilling it at the vending machines in the stations on an “as-needed” basis. These are available at all subway stations either at change booths (cash only) or in vending machines which take cash and credit/debit cards These will give access to all the public busses and subway systems. The one-week cards cannot be used again at the same subway station or the same bus route for at least 18 minutes. The pre-loaded cards will give you a free transfer from the subway to a bus within two hours of first use.

Be aware that there are Chinese, Arabic and Pizza lunches pointed out (as well as a couple of desert places), so you’ll either have to be selective, and eat small portions in each or gorge yourself throughout the day.

This is going to be very abbreviated because Brooklyn is huge (and as a standalone city would be the fourth largest in the US)

1) Take the DOWNTOWN A or C train from 8th Ave and 14th Street near Meat Packing district to Chamber Street

2) Walk east down Chamber St. through the Tribeca neighborhood to City Hall (where the Mayor has his office). The court houses that you pass as you continue walking past Broadway were banks until they were wiped out during the stock market crash of 1929 and the subsequent bank closures through 1931. The huge building with the gold statue on top directly ahead of you is the NYC Municipal Building and houses administrative offices. The modern building that you can see through the archway in the Municipal Building is the New York Police Department headquarters.

3) At the end of Chamber Street, as you make a right turn around the back of City Hall, ask a cop (there will be no shortage of them around there – if you cannot find one, the entrance is directly across the street “Park Row”) where the pedestrian entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge is. Walk across the bridge (a little under two kilometers) and make sure you have film in your camera – the walk will take about half an hour. Remember to look at the views of Manhattan over your shoulder (It is actually nicer to walk the bridge towards Manhattan, but I figured you would be too tired in the afternoon).

4) 1. Take the first exit off the Brooklyn Bridge pedestrian walkway. Note: There are two pedestrian exits when walking across the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan to Brooklyn. The first exit is the most direct route to DUMBO.

2. Take the path off the pedestrian walkway that bears to the left and slightly downhill as you face Brooklyn.

3. Follow the path to a small stairway . Go down the stairs to an underpass on Washington Street. The Washington Street underpass is about two blocks from Front Street in the heart of DUMBO.

4. Turn left and head down hill, toward the East River and Manhattan skyline. When you cross under the highway overhead, you will see the industrial buildings, shops and restaurants of DUMBO.

5) Look at the walking directions here: https://maps.google.com/maps?i...

Notice Jacques Torres Chocolate Shop on Water Street to the left of the “B”. This is a world class place and a great place to stop for a hot (or frozen) chocolate and a piece of dark chocolate/almond bark. Across the street is a decent French bakery named Almondine which makes pretty good almond/chocolate croissants and cappuccino (the chocolate place is a better choice, but you might stop here anyway for its clean toilet). Continue down Water Street past the Chocolate shop, passing some ugly warehouses until you see a passageway to the right. This will take you to some of the most fantastic views of Manhattan. There is an antique carousel there if you are feeling like a kid again. Walk to the water and make a right walking under the Brooklyn Bridge and you’ll find a small beach on the river.

Walking in the other direction will take you past the “River Café” (owned by the same people as the “Water Club” in Manhattan and famous for the view and small/expensive portions like their sibling). There is a good ice cream shop in the old ferry building just past the restaurant (but you may want to hold off as the deserts will be better latter on). Continue to walk along the shore (passing a Water Taxi terminal where you can take a boat back to Manhattan) and into “Brooklyn Bridge Park. This is a brand new (still under construction) park which features a pool, canoeing, fishing and other cool stuff. Up above you is an historical neighborhood (Brooklyn Heights) which would be worthwhile walking through next time you are in the neighborhood.

After you’ve had your fill of the park, backtrack to the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory and make a right up Cadman Plaza. You will pass a fairly famous pizza place named Grimaldi’s on your left. If it is empty, you can try their pizza, but if there is a line, just pass it by as there will be another chance at a great pizza (maybe better than here ) latter on. Since it is a fairly long (partly uphill) walk, I’d recommend jumping on the B25 bus at the bus stop between Everit St. and Elizabeth St. Tell the driver that you want to transfer to the B41 bus towards Flatbush Avenue and he’ll let you off about five minutes later at Tillary Street (and hopefully point you towards the proper bus stop). While taking the subway would be faster, the bus ride might be more interesting.

Take the B41 bus to “Grand Army Plaza”. This is Brooklyn’s competitor to the Arc de Triumph and the large boulevards radiating from the plaza were going to be its Champs Elyse according to the original plan (derailed when Brooklyn joined NYC in 1900).
The Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch, a Civil War memorial designed by
John H. Duncan with sculptures by Frederick MacMonnies, stands at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn. The arch was built between 1889-92, commemorating Union forces that died in the Civil War. MacMonnies's huge quadriga sculpture on top was installed in 1898, and the two groups on the south pedestals representing the Army and Navy were added in 1901. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported on the arrival of the sculpture in this article: "Quadriga is here" (August 15, 1898).
The Grand Army of the Republic was a private veterans' association of former Union soldiers and sailors, founded in 1866. The organization disbanded in 1956, after the death of the last surviving Civil War veteran.

Touching the south side of the plaza are Prospect Park (designed by the same team who had previously built Manhattan’s Central Park, but improved on the design here), a large botanic garden with arguably the best Japanese garden in the US and the Brooklyn Museum, a world class institution – mainly art and anthropology. The large building in front of the arch is the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. The entranceway to Prospect Park is directly across from the Arch and taking a couple of minutes to walk inside might be fun.

OK, back to work. Walk back up Flatbush Avenue in the direction you came down, past the fountain and across Sterling Place (important to cross this street so you do not take the wrong subway). The station you are looking for is going to have indication signage for the “B” and “Q” trains and will be at the intersection of Carlton Avenue, 7th Avenue and Flatbush Avenue. Go to the platform heading “Downtown” or Towards Brighton Beach/Coney Island (opposite direction from Manhattan). Take whichever train comes first (the “B” is the express, but there will only be a few minutes difference, at worst, if you catch the “Q”. Take the train all the way to the Brighton Beach stop (as a reminder, it is the stop after Sheepshead Bay and will be about 15-20 minute ride).

Walk down the station steps. You want to be on the north-west corner of the rather large intersection (diagonally across from the large Chase bank branch (and more or less in front of a Walgreen’s pharmacy (Has a big red sign). You should walk towards Brighton 7th Street (if you see Coney Island Avenue, you’re heading in the wrong direction).

Keep walking (total distance will be about 1/2km) and keep your eyes open. Most people will be speaking Russian, the signage in the stores will be Russian and the food in the supermarkets (walk into a couple and browse around) will be Russian. Walk until you get to a very broad street named Ocean Parkway (this actually extends as far as Prospect Park and was part of Brooklyn’s original “grand plan”).

Do not cross Ocean Parkway, but instead, cross Brighton Beach Avenue by making a left and walking along Ocean Parkway. A couple of blocks further, you will see a ramp/stairs up to the Boardwalk which runs along the more than 5km of beach which makes up Brighton Beach and Coney Island Beach (actually one seamless beach). Make a right turn and take a walk along the Boardwalk. While the weather will likely be cool in October, visualize a million bodies on the beach on a hot summer weekend day. Ahead of you will be the Parachute Drop tower. When I was a kid, this was an amusement park ride (moved here from the 1939 NYC World’s Fair) which would drop people sitting on parachute supported seats. It shut down in the 1960’s I think, but has been refurbished as an iconic symbol.

There is a minor league baseball stadium next to it and, with the exception of the pretty cool “Wonder Wheel” (a Ferris wheel designed to have some of the cars swing out on rails as it turns), all of the rides are pretty lame now as the old (supreme) amusement parks all closed or burned decades ago. There’s a very good aquarium here as well.

There is a long pier, used by people fishing for fun, named Steeplechase Pier (Steeplechase was the name of one of the legacy amusement parks in the “old days”) as well. There is a famous hotdog stand a block inland from the named Nathan’s (dates from the early 1900’s and is the flagship of a chain of them), but I think we can do a bit better for lunch than a sausage. We are going to walk past the NY Aquarium (worth seeing on the next trip – better in the summer when they bring out the dolphins, but we have still got a lot of ground to cover) all the way to just past the Wonder Wheel and we’ll make a right at Stillwell Avenue.

About a block from the Boardwalk, across the street from Nathan’s, we’ll find the Coney Island subway station (actually elevated above ground). Also, if it is still running in October (It is closed for the winter), to your right is the “Cyclone” one of the old time wooden roller coasters – and certainly worthy of a ride.

Be aware that this is not the greatest neighborhood in the city so it important to keep aware of the people around you – but we are only walking a few blocks.

Now’s when we’ll have that great pizza (or at least very good and pretty convenient). We will walk past the left hand side of the station crossing Mermaid Avenue to the next street – Neptune Avenue (not crossing it) and make a left turn. A block and a half later, on the left, at 1524 Neptune Avenue is a place called Totonno’s which looks like a bit of a dive, but makes good pizza.

Now walk back to the nearby train station you passed when you walked from the boardwalk.
There are a lot of different trains which congregate here, so we have to be careful to take the “N” train (towards Manhattan – no choice as it is the end of the line).

Now we are going to see how the patchwork of neighborhoods can make small distance seem worlds apart in Brooklyn.

Take the train to the 8th Avenue station (in Brooklyn – the stop after Fort Hamilton Parkway and about a fifteen minute ride). Walk down 8th avenue in the direction where the cross-street numbers decrease (north). You will find yourself in a neighborhood (Sunset Park) which, other than architectural details, is similar to what you might expect in Hong Kong or China. If you are in the mood for good dim sum (or ordering off of a menu), there is a good restaurant named Pacificana on the second floor of a building located at 813 55th Street (corner of 8th Avenue and a few blocks from the station).

If you feel like trying something else for lunch instead, head back to the subway station and continue on the Manhattan bound train one more stop to 59th Street. Now, cross to the opposite platform and take the “R” AWAY from Manhattan (towards 95th street) for two stops to 77th Street. You will come up above ground on 4th Avenue. Ask someone which direction is 3rd Avenue and walk to 7523 3rd Avenue (corner of 75th Street) to a Middle Eastern (technically Palestinian) restaurant named Tanoreen. My recommendation is to order a number of appetizers rather than main courses (what is known as a mezza). I can recommend most of them (but not their falafel which for some reason they tend to ruin). Make a point to try their muhammara – a roasted red pepper and walnut paste. Rather than have desert there, cross 3rd Avenue and walk back to 7612 3rd Avenue to the Omonia Café – a very good Greek pastry shop and order one of their deserts (and maybe a Greek coffee – same as Turkish coffee, but do not call it Turkish in this establishment).

Another option is to take the train three stops (instead of two) and get off at 86th Street (and 4th Avenue). There is a local high fashion discount department store here named Century 21 (closed during the COVID crisis, so check if re-opened), but we are heading to 8221 3rd Avenue (between 83rd and 82nd Streets) to Le Sajj, NYC’s best Lebanese restaurant (closed Mondays). This reasonably priced restaurant will make you feel like you’re in Beirut. All their food is great, but they have a couple of salad platters for two which are worth trying. Incidentally the Bay Root grocery store is a couple of blocks further up the street.

After you finish eating, at Tanoreen, cross 3rd avenue and continue walking past 4th Avenue to 5th Avenue (or simply walk a few blocks further up 5th Avenue, towards lower numbered streets, from Le Sajj). For a few blocks in either direction on 5th Avenue, you will find dozens of Arabic (mainly Lebanese and Syrian) grocery stores, jewelers, restaurants and a couple of good French pastry shops and so on. Though we are not going to go quite that far, once you cross 65th Street, 5th Avenue becomes almost entirely Hispanic (with an emphasis on Mexican) if you feel like some pretty authentic Mexican food.

Now we’ll walk back to 77th or 86th Street and 4th Avenue and duck back into the subway. We’ll take the “R” train UPTOWN (towards Manhattan) to 36th Street (5 or 6 short stops) and change to the “D” train heading back towards Coney Island (DOWNTOWN, so means changing platforms again). Take the “D” train four stops to 55 Street. You will be on 13th Avenue in the neighborhood of Borough Park.

Walk a few blocks up 13th Avenue through one of NYC’s Hassidic Jewish communities. While there are a few others which are somewhat more “intense” the point to this exercise is that, with the exception of the Russian neighborhood, all of the ethnic communities we are visiting are within a circle of about three kilometers. Walk into one of the bakeries (Weiss, for example, at 13th Avenue and 50th street) and ask for “a quarter pound of cheese ruggelukh” (phonetic, rather than usual spelling) and you’ll end up with a handful of very tasty small (and relatively unique) pastries.

Our last food/neighborhood stop. Get back on the same direction that you were heading (“D” train towards Coney Island) and head another two stops to the 71st Street station. We are heading to the corner of 70th Street and 18th Avenue (you will get out of the train somewhere between 15th and 16th Avenues, so it is a couple of block walk. This neighborhood is Bensonhurst (which was featured in the movie Saturday Night Fever).

We are heading to the Villabate Alba southern (Sicilian and Neapolitan) Italian pastry shop (at 7001 18th Avenue) that is nothing short of extraordinary (the famous Ferrara’s pastry shop on Grand Street in Little Italy only wishes their pastries were as good as in this shop). This is a neighborhood place where you have to take a number and wait on line. While the cannoli’s are filled while you wait, this is the place to get gelato and Italian ices better than you can imagine (and the reason that I told you to wait for when we passed by the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory a million hours ago). They also have good espresso/cappuccino. Walking a couple of blocks up 18th Avenue (I think between 71st and 72nd Streets) brings us to a small, but fantastic store selling Italian products.

OK, I guess all good things come to an end and it is time to head back to the Meat Packing District. We head back to the “D” train and this time take it UPTOWN towards Manhattan. We pick it up at 71st Street near 16thAvenue. We are going to take it all the way to the West 4th Street/Washington Square station in Manhattan and then change to the “A”, “C” or “E” trains (any will do) heading uptown (will have to change platforms) for one stop to 14th Street and 8th Avenue at which point you’ll come up for a well-deserved rest 