It's late to ask, I realize, but: my wife and I will be in Brooklyn for the next three or four days. Without children. Hooray! Our plan is to sleep in, and eat, and read. And maybe shop. And then sleep in some more. Aaah ...
Any suggestions about sites to see? Places to eat or drink? Out-of-the-way treasures they don't tell you about in the guide books? Share.
(As I'll be in Brooklyn, without internet access, I won't be working. So all you contributors, if you have questions, contact Kate at [ksheppard]at[grist]dot[org].)
Gourmet’s conscience, Gopnik on cookbooks, and other tasty morsels
Lester Brown and I, diavlogging
Comments
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amazingdrx Posted 9:09 pm
04 Apr 2007
http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog
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Stephanie Ogburn Posted 10:28 pm
04 Apr 2007
Stephanie
http://www.stephaniepaigeogburn.com
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Laurence Aurbach Posted 10:44 pm
04 Apr 2007
http://pedshed.net
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jbosank Posted 12:31 am
05 Apr 2007
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EthanHeitner Posted 1:20 am
05 Apr 2007
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Erik Hoffner Posted 2:14 am
05 Apr 2007
The Orion Grassroots Network: 1000+ grassroots groups working for conservation & more
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caniscandida Posted 2:21 am
05 Apr 2007
I love downtown Brooklyn, and Brooklyn Heights. But being a Manhattan person, plus a lover of the movie "Moonstruck," perhaps I am prejudiced. I think the homes in that area are among the most beautiful in all America.
On the other hand, the yearning for Manhattan by Brooklynites in "Saturday Night Fever" is pathetic. I never liked that movie, except for Yvonne Elliman's "If I Can't Have You." But I guess I always was a sucker for Mary Magdalene...
It is not at all snobbish to say that East Coast museums have remarkable collections, with stuff that you do not see on the Other Coast. (LA and thereabouts, Malibu and Pasidena, have wonderful stuff. But that is hardly Seattle's neighborhood, no?) The Brooklyn Museum has a fantastic collection of ancient Egyptian and Middle Eastern art, which does not occupy too much floor space.
If you have time and can come into Manhattan, as wonderful as the Metropolitan Museum and the Museum of Modern Art are, I would recommend the Cloisters, the very artificial but gorgeous reproduction of a French monastery, over the centuries, with lots of treasures. It is unique in North America. It takes a while to get there from Brooklyn, but the ride is itself educational.
Consider also the American Museum of Natural History. Having been once upon a time a volunteer "fossil explainer" in the vertebrate paleontology collection, I love the fourth floor, and the way evolution is presented there. As someone from the PacNW, you might appreciate the huge Haida canoe, and the classic hall of North West Indian Art and Anthropology, at least for a quick walk-through, to see how we East-Coast people have always looked at your part of the world.
The Hall of Biodiversity, opposite the Hall of Marine Life (i.e. where the whale is hanging), offers fascinating information and resources on various biodiversity-related issues. FYI, the central reproduction of a piece of a tropical African forest is said to have been inhabited by rats already before it was officially installed. Not surprising. I never noticed them. Anyway, they just add to the urban richness.
The Planetarium, part of the AMNH, is an amazing piece of architecture, and a brilliant educational tool. It is mostly a huge glass cube, containing a very large white sphere. A walkway runs around the sphere, along which it is re-interpreted, step by step, to represent everything from the entire universe (umm?) to the outermost electron shell of the hydrogen atom. Neil de Grasse Tyson and I agree that that is brilliant.
And sure, walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, and go to ground zero. I hate recommending that as a tourist destination. But the way the winds were blowing, that beautiful September morning, Brooklyn was the borough most affected by the burning and the destruction, after Manhattan itself.
And if you have time, you are most welcome to come up here, to the Upper West Side. You can come to church with us. In case you did not know, this is kind of a special weekend for some of us Christians.
Chickens are our cousins!
So are other sensitive animals!
Enough is enough!
No more factory farms!
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Kate Sheppard Posted 3:22 am
05 Apr 2007
Kate Sheppard
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caniscandida Posted 4:00 am
05 Apr 2007
Chickens are our cousins!
So are other sensitive animals!
Enough is enough!
No more factory farms!
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Laurence Aurbach Posted 4:35 am
05 Apr 2007
There's been lots of action lately about proposed street improvements in Park Slope. Streetsblog has been covering the story.
http://pedshed.net
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Phila Posted 5:43 am
05 Apr 2007
Don't know if you like classical music at all, but Bargemusic is nice...chamber music performed in a barge moored at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, with a glass wall facing Manhattan. I enjoyed going even when I didn't care for the composers.
The Museum of the Moving Image is fun, too (it's in Astoria, though).
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Samuel Fromartz Posted 6:22 am
05 Apr 2007
Or take Court Street towards Cobble Hill. For Middle Eastern nibbles stop at Sahadi on Atlantic Ave., an incredible grocery store. For great fare check out the restaurants nearby on Smith St. (Just ask how to get to these streets) or keep going up Court St. and check out the restaurants there. If you really like to walk, you can keep going and end up in Park Slope. It ain't far but check out a map to get directions. If you do that much, it will be all day.
Or Walk across the bridge, then hop on the 2 or 3 train at Borough Hall and go a few stops and get off at Grand Army Plaza, right next to Park Slope and Prospect Park.
Samuel Fromartz
Author
Organic Inc: Natural Foods and How They Grew (Harcourt, 2006)
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b e r n a r d o Posted 6:25 am
05 Apr 2007
Brooklyn Museum holds a First Saturday event.
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/visit/first_saturdays.php
If you get to Brooklyn Heights, you might want to check out DUMBO which used to be an industrial area below Brooklyn Heights. From here you could walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and enjoy a bridge that seems to have been built with the pedestrian in mind.
http://www.forgotten-ny.com/STREET%20SCENES/DUMBO/dumbo.h ...
Some good places for a drink or food in Dumbo area include:
ReBar http://www.retreatnyc.com/ ( started buy a guy who left Wall Street to pursue his dream of creating a restaurant )
Grimaldi's Pizzeria http://www.grimaldis.com/ ( considered one of NYC's best, can have a line of 20 people at times )
SuperFine ( goes for local and organic ingredients )
http://nymag.com/nymetro/food/reviews/underground/5390/
If in Brooklyn Heights, visit the promenade which overlooks NY Harbor and Lower Manhattan. The promenade is above a Robert Moses expressway which split the neighborhood from the waterfront, an example of his neighborhood altering roadways that he placed in other parts of NYC.
http://www.pps.org/great_public_spaces/one?public_place_i ...
Looking down from the Promenade you could see the piers that will be transformed into a park project with underwriting for maintenance coming from luxury condos and a hotel which will abut the main entrances of the park. Some in the local community are unhappy that the original plan for a park without housing has been altered. Also, the current plan has lost ameneties such as an amphitheater and pool and gained vital recreational elements such as a marina. In defense of the plan for condos underwriting maintenance, it is noted that other parks in NYC often suffer for lack of upkeep and this model ( which has been dubbed Brooklyn Bridge Park Backyard ) will allow for cash flow and will not take away funds that could go to parks in needier areas. Nonetheless, the advocates of the condos in park agenda are deeply intertwined with NYC elites who have tolerated politicians who grossly underfund the parks in NYC. Here are websites of critics and advocates of the current plan for Brooklyn Bridge Park (Project). http://www.parkdefense.org/ &
http://www.brooklynbridgepark.org/
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caniscandida Posted 9:06 am
05 Apr 2007
I know nothing about the Bargemusic, but I assume that is swell as well, if Phila recommends it.
Chickens are our cousins!
So are other sensitive animals!
Enough is enough!
No more factory farms!
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Stephanie Ogburn Posted 5:39 pm
05 Apr 2007
Stephanie
http://www.stephaniepaigeogburn.com
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Emily Gertz Posted 4:01 am
06 Apr 2007
Fine and modestly priced eats and drinks at Cafe Steinhof on 7th and 14th St. Incredible cupcakes at Two Little Red Hens (or Ladybird, if they've completed the name change) Bakery, on 8th Ave near 11th St.
Court St. and Smith St. in Carroll Gardens, Fort Greene generally - also good shopping and eating.
Have a great vacation, and wave if you walk by!
OneAtlantic: Environmental News & Views for the Atlantic Coast
http://www.oneatlantic.net
emily [at] oneatlantic [dot] net
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caniscandida Posted 4:10 am
06 Apr 2007
Chickens are our cousins!
So are other sensitive animals!
Enough is enough!
No more factory farms!
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caniscandida Posted 4:15 am
06 Apr 2007
Anyway, I just want to express my gratitude to Emily, and to everyone who has given specific Brooklyn recommendations. As an out-of-towner myself -- i.e., I live on the Upper West Side -- , I am keeping notes!
As I have written more than once in Gristmill, Brooklyn is the greatest, and culturally the most influential, city in America.
All you people who actually live there, are very fortunate.
Chickens are our cousins!
So are other sensitive animals!
Enough is enough!
No more factory farms!
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