Summer NYC trip: PART DEUX

Alright, without further delay here are the details.

August 3rd, 2007: Our first evening at The Chelsea Lodge was a bit of a long one. The accommodations were comfortable, but for whatever reason we could not sleep. As this problem did not carry over into the following evenings, I write it off to the excitement of the trip, and getting used to a new place. It wasn’t the first time that I had problems catching some Zs on the first night of a vacation away.

Kate and I got ready and munched on some of our cookies that we purchased the night before to hold us off until lunch.

We eventually got around to heading out into a hot summer day. We boarded the metro and took the “L train” to Bedford Avenue in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Williamsburg was really embellished upon heavily by lonely planet. It is considered NYC’s “hipster” neighborhood, affordable, slightly off the beaten path (If possible in NYC) and a busy clash of cultures and art. Williamsburg supposadely is the home of a couple great indie rock bands of the past couple years, including Interpol, and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

I must say Williamsburg made me question if I have any “hipster” credentials at all. When Kate described what tour guides had written I was really into the idea of it exploring it, but honestly I did not know what I was getting into. It made me feel like a yuppie.

Williamsburg reminded me of my old neighborhood in Lowell. It was a clash of industrial and residential that wasn’t in the least bit attractive, but rather had an air of depression. For the most part, noone was strolling around on the streets. The area considered to be the nicest part, or the “hip” section of Williamsburg looked like a bunch of abandoned warehouses, the occasional construction site, and every once in a while an out of place “luxury condo” tower. There were few store fronts, and at least half of those that existed were boarded up. The other half consisted of your token greasy spoon pizza joints, liquor stores, pawn shops, western union, and sketchy bars not unlike the “Molly K’s” that I once lived adjacent to. In addition, the suggestion of the “artist community” was occasionally noted in some artist studios, usually decorated with graffiti (which wasn’t even good graffiti, rather crudely spray painted names hastily produced). There were a couple of clothing stores which I suspect were a individual designer’s exclusive show room. Frequently there were lots surrounded by razor edged barbed wire fences. Some of these looked like actual “secure parking” areas, while I think others were chop shops, much like the one near me on Middlesex St. in Lowell. The most common theme in Williamsburg was that it was a complete cesspool. There was garbage absolutely everywhere. If the garbage wasn’t matted down on the street or collecting in culverts and beneath overpasses, it was stacked, overflowing beyond the boundaries of trash cans. There were frequent industrial sized dumpsters that blocked off part of the sidewalks. Gutting buildings seemed to be the number one employment opportunity in Williamsburg. Each block had at least one demolition operation in progress. (as an additional note of amusement, or horror, note that the Wikipedia article says that Williamsburg was once deemed the most "toxic" neighborhood in America).

In the “nice” section of Williamsburg, known as Greenpoint, a large Moorish looking church called “The Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Our Lord” sat on the edge of a small overgrown city park. At this early point in the day, it was the first slightly interesting attraction, so I took a picture.

Occasionally I would see a sandwich shop or café that was hidden in an old decaying building. One unique eatery was a Fried Chicken diner called Pies N Thighs that had café tables set up in an adjacent alley. There were no other businesses on the block, and it was located nearly underneath an overpass heading towards the Williamsburg bridge. The location was one especially blooming with trash and tags spray painted where ever there was an available surface. We passed by this just prior to arriving at the second feature of interest in Williamsburg, “Grand Ferry Park”. Grand Ferry Park was described as having good city views, which it did. However this park was about the size of my parents yard, and the grass was burnt where it wasn’t overgrown. It was at the end of a short dead end road, and was wedged between two abandoned factories which were essentially industrial waste lands. Check out the link for some additional pictures of Grand Ferry Park. On the plus side there was a working water fountain there which didn’t taste too much like copper. There was an older couple, young seniors I’d guess, who apparently also had followed their lonely planet guide to this wonderful oasis (sarcasm intended). From here we walked to Broadway St. which actually was fairly lively, and pretty unique looking. The subway was elevated above the street, and store fronts tended to be decorated in bright yellows and pastels. The neighborhood seemed primarily Latino, however I would say there was a strong Asian population as well. We walked down this road for several blocks before picking up the “G train”.

Once on the G train we headed to Bergen St. station which led us to the Cobble Hill and Crown Heights area. Kate wanted to check out a park which was located near the Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights. We had a little bit of a problem orienting ourselves coming off the metro and ended up heading down a street in the wrong direction for a few blocks. This ultimately proved beneficial because we ended up finding a children’s playground that had these water jets which we cooled down in. Kate was knocking small children out of her way so she could cool down (just kidding). We did eventually find the park which lonely planet described as a place where “couples read to each other in the morning”. I think someone was a bit creative there, but it was a nice little green space anyway. Following a brief break, we walked about a mile east on Atlantic avenue through the Cobble Hill neighborhood. These two neighborhoods were very pleasant, and seemed very livable. They were composed primarily of brownstones, and there was an abundance of restaurants and bars.... food and drink, priorities. Ironically, I don't have pictures of Broadway in Williamsburg, or the two nice Brooklyn neighborhoods that we saw in the early afternoon.

Just prior to arriving at our metro stop there was a mosque service getting out, and the streets were mobbed with bearded men.

We boarded the subway, and headed out on the last leg of our Brooklyn tour. I’m going to continue this tomorrow, as it is getting a bit late: Coming soon, NYC part three “Coney Island”.