Hello Brooklyn

I was pretty excited finally getting to know Brooklyn.  We started off in the tacky but gotta love it Coney Island. Trekked for about 45 minutes on the Q-train amidst grey and bleak areas then out of no where a burst of primary colors…. It is something out of the ordinary and very humorous. You kind of feel like you are going to the circus. Freak shows, rides: the famous CYCLONE rollercoaster, aquarium and of course Nathan’s Famous hotdogs all along the boardwalk.  FYI...supposedly, the hotdog was invented by Charles Feltman, he wanted to avoid providing silverware for his customers so he put the frankfurter in a bun (Blue Guide, p.492)

Heading back on the train we made our way to Brooklyn Heights with a detour to the Transit Museum.  It is perfectly located in a subway station. Taking you down memory lane of the progression of the subway system.

Brooklyn Heights a quaint, historic area over looking downtown Manhattan . Historically, it was the site where Washington evacuated 9,500 men after American troops were slaughtered and surrounded by the British in the Battle of Brooklyn. Fishermen rowed back and forth from the Heights to Fulton St. under the disguise of the fog to evacuate all the troops (B.G.,p.467).

And finally what I have been waiting for the Brooklyn Bridge…aaahhhh!  I can see the fascination with this landmark.  Once a world’s greatest wonder and the largest suspension bridge in existence.  Is a symbol of love, determination and perseverance.  


There was resistance toward building the bridge from the Ferry companies.  They feared that they would lose money. SO they bribed the city officials. Until one day when Mother Nature stepped in and the river froze over.  The ferries were stuck in their slips  and the Brooklynites could not get to work. There was an uproar and they demanded that Roehling build the bridge
(Unique New York, Malachy,p. 128).


 Roehling who was in the midst of construction of the bridge passed away, so then his son took over .  He too became sick with Cassions’s disease (the Bends). He watched over the building of the bridge from his Brooklyn Heights home through binoculars and had his wife run over and give the men instruction on building the bridge. Dying before the bridge was completed Mrs. Roehling was the first to cross the bridge.

While strolling along the bridge you see the Statue of Liberty on one side, The Manhattan Bridge on the other, as you are walking you feel the trembling of the cars passing underneath you. People are commuting in either direction on bike or foot, Lovers had  attached pad locks along the bridge scripted with their names. 
Finally making our way to the end of the day at The South Street Sea Port .