Brooklyn, You’re OK

 “I like the island Manhattan
Smoke in your pipe and put that in!”
– Stephen Sondheim, West Side Story
(cut him some slack, there’s not a lot that rhymes with Manhattan, okay?)

If you know me at all, you know the disdain I have for Brooklyn.  Not PEOPLE FROM Brooklyn.  Remember, I was a bridge-and-tunnel for two years, remember?  So I empathize with the terrible public transportation.  But my own visits to Brooklyn have always resulted in one of four outcomes:

1.  Get lost
2.  Get drunk
3.  Get accosted
4.  Be disappointed
(sometimes all at the same time.  Take THAT rhyme, Sondheim!)
Barbed wire, empty lots, and garbage.  Oh yeah.  That’s the Brooklyn I know and fear.

So when a friend and I decided we should see more of the city, I surprised myself by suggesting Brooklyn.  She is more of an adventurer than I, and from what I could tell, she had actually had some GOOD experiences in Brooklyn (is that even a thing?).  Who better as a guide, then?

We decided to walk across the Willamsburg Bridge, with hopes of ending up in Williamsburg.  It’s a fairly pretty bridge, and then..

Oh yeah.  That’s my Brooklyn!  Always classy.  But what’s this?

A glimmer of hope in my least favourite borough?  Can it be?

It can!  Williamsburg has some really pretty educational graffiti.  Like this one, that shows us that robots worship carnations.

And that biking can be good for the environment, AND good for found-object art!

And this one, that shows us that…dolphins rape people.  Huh.

And in Brooklyn, the seasons all blur together.  We kept seeing discarded pumpkins, all over the place, more so even than discarded Christmas trees, which one might expect.  Like this:

And there are some really pretty buildings, like this one with copper trim and a weathervane.  It was hard to get a good photo, and we decided to take a ride down to Park Slope.

Park Slope is THE BOMB!  They have tons of really cute stores, like this one:

Where you can buy cool stuff like THIS:

And best part!  It’s for education!  Check it out!

Remember my fond love for Grand Army Plaza?  Well, they have one in Park Slope, too, but it has an arch!

And it’s right across from the Brooklyn Public Library, adorned with gold hieroglyphics and symbols!

All that Brooklyn made me hungry…!  Oh look!  Ample Hills Creamery (yes, for Walt Whitman!)

Literally, you guys, LITERALLY the BEST ice cream I have ever eaten.  It had M&Ms and pretzels and potato chips and candy and OH YEAH FRESH-MADE ICE CREAM not to mention oooh the colors…!

So Brooklyn, you’re not Manhattan, but I’ll allow you to stay.  You’re a’ight. 


Comments

7 responses to “Brooklyn, You’re OK”

  1. You know…I have literally NEVER wanted to live in New York City until precisely this moment. Because of your post. Yeah. That's the power of this blog.

    I want to go to that superhero store!!!

    1. Awww that is SUCH a compliment! There's different stores in cities all over the U.S., it's a store that sells weird items and the proceeds go to a charity that provides free tutoring. Check it out! http://www.superherosupplies.com/

  2. Hahaha! This post made me crack up! I've only been to New York City once, and I traveled through a teeny tiny bit of Brooklyn. But after seeing this post, I think it looks cute! And scary! And yummy!

    PS- I adore your blog. Seriously.

    xo
    katie

    katiediditt.blogspot.com

    1. Haha thank you! I think cute, scary, and yummy are the perfect adjectives for Brooklyn! And I've been following you for a while, so that is quite the compliment!

  3. I have a friend who lives near that copper house and I walk down that particular street just to look at it because I think it's so pretty.

    1. I know! It's so random and awesome! My photo doesn't even do it justice. But I love that neighborhood!

  4. Brooklyn sounds amazing. Wow.

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