Journal Entry 2 - 6/10/14

Starting in Penn Station we hopped on the F train heading to Brooklyn. It was a long
train ride in about an hour. Once we arrived I learned the Dutch were the first
settlers. The name derived from the Dutch providence of Breuckelen (eny). This is
also during the American Revolution where the Battle of Brooklyn was fought, Kings
County. I also learned that Brooklyn is one of the most populous boroughs in N.Y. In
1883 the Brooklyn Bridge was complete 9 (eny). In addition in 1903 the Manhattan
bridge and in 1909 the Manhattan bridge which resulted in the consolidation of N.Y.
In the 1920s there was a trend of upper middle class and middle class moving into
suburbia, which caused the neighborhood to turn undesirable. Remarkably the area
has made a huge turn around making Brooklyn a desirable place to live.

Onward we walk to Coney Island the home of the cyclone rollercoaster. The British
named it Coney Island a translation of rabbit. (Eny). I have never been to this area
before and was surprised at my findings. I didnt expect to see such a clean area.
Heavily populated with a Jewish culture, many school trips walked the streets. The
people all seemed to be having a good time walking the boardwalk and eating the
many food choices available. The scene from the boardwalk was beautiful and it
reminded me very much of Atlantic City. I walked around the block for a glimpse of
all the rides, storefronts and housing. I was shocked to see how close the homes
was the amusement park, I would imagine it would be noisy and full of lights in the
evening hours and a beautiful view at the same time. I sat down with my fellow
nursing peers and enjoyed a corn dog and fries from the original Nathans Hot Dog
store. It was tasty and the atmosphere was a pleasure.

Back on the train we arrive in Brooklyn Heights going down the stairs at
Schermerhorn Street and Boerum Place to enter the Transit Museum. The museum
was refurbished in 1930s and opened in 1976 (eny). A history of how the NYC
mass transit evolved. I enjoyed this part of the tour, learning about how weather
was a main drive for an underground subway system. It was cool to see how steam
engines transferred to electric. I also enjoyed walking from car to car and
identifying the changes to the cars to meet the needs of the people. The old cars had
old fashion spinning fans, wicker seats with mostly walking space, handles over
head. The thing I enjoyed most was looking up at the advertisements. I saw things I
remembered from my past and the evolution of marketing at products I still use
today. Everything except the seats seemed much more sturdy then todays cars and
had a lot of character compared to today. I loved the turn styles very classy.

We got back to the surface and walked a few blocks to the Brooklyn Borough Hall.
This once was the original city hall, known as the oldest public building in Brooklyn,
(eny). We admired the Neoclassical building, which represents that America is
every-mans home.

We continued walking the streets of Brooklyn admiring the brownstone and spoke
about gentrification of this area. The prices of these homes are in the millions. We
stopped at the Church of St. Ann and the Holy Trinity and compared the
architectural differences between the art deco design verses the neoclassical gothic.
We entered the old Brooklyn Trust Company Building now Chase Bank. It was a
scene out of the movies with its marble and brass decor all around. The ceiling was
just beautifully designed in an Italian Renaissance style (eny).

Continuing onto Montaview Street, the shopping area of this neighborhood. We
stopped at the Brooklyn Historical Society. The Historical Society building designed
by George Post represents a renaissance revival style (eny). The sculptures on the
building feature Columbus, and Ben Franklin. We also saw some new architectural
building known as Federal style.

Passing through the Montague Terrace the place where George Washington and his
generals made the decision to ship across the river to Manhattan. We walk to
Brooklyn Park and admire the view. We can see parks, and homes over looking the
water. We enter the section of Brooklyn near the Bridge known as Dumbo where
we get to see a beautiful restored Carousel built in 1922 (eny). We entered an area
that allowed a view of all three bridges and people placed locks on the fences to
celebrate there love.

We stopped at this great ice shop that had interesting flavors. I had a large cone
with one scoop of wicked flavor (a chocolate ice cream with anchote chiles mixed in)
and a scoop of vanilla to tone down the heat. It was delicious.

The last part of the trip was this great walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. The
Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge was complete in 1883 by the Roebling family
(eny). This is the oldest suspension bridge in the USA. Many workers developed
Caissons illness during its production leaving many disabled and dead. It was a
lovely walk over the bridge. I couldnt believe how many people were walking over
it and commuting via bike to and from. After I walked across I headed to the subway
and then to Penn Station.