NYC in July: Day Two--Brooklyn

So, I grabbed a cafe latte and a bagel, then caught a train to Brooklyn. Here is what Joe, the excellent photographer whose work can be seen at Joe's NYC, told me about DUMBO:

Well one of my favorite spots is DUMBO, the area between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges which has a couple of new waterfront parks, the Best Pizza in NYC (Patsy's), some galleries, the incredible JacquesTorres chocolate boutique, and lots more. But best of all, the areaunder the bridges is still undeveloped, ragged, and beautiful. Take theA to and walk toward the water or the F to York and likewise.

I followed his lead and emerged from the train at York and Jay Streets, between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. The area is still very much under construction, providing for many interesting sights, including construction pictures like this one:



and this one:



I was transfixed at the sight of this mystical-looking Brooklyn Bridge:



Likewise, I appreciated the Manhattan Bridge peeping over the buildings:



These are some other views of that bridge that I liked:





Several interesting shops reside between the train station and the water. The first was a Chinese antiquities shop where they have these interesting wall hangings:



I especially liked the darker brown one on the right and am considering purchasing something like that for my office. I found myself inexplicably entranced by this Chairman Mao clock, complete with waving arms of the people, especially after the owner told me the story of Chairman Mao and the guy on the right side of the clock:



I am now the proud owner of the clock. A cool Danish furniture store caught my attention as well. They have interesting displays like this one:



I forged ahead to the water, finding that at first it could only be viewed through chain link fence or from the buildings at the waterfront. How great would it be to have an office here?



But then I found a little surprise. Who knew that Brooklyn has a beach facing Manhattan? Here it is:



I sat on the adjacent pile of rocks for a while and thought deep thoughts while admiring the details surrounding me:



Artists can be found in the lovely park that extends beyond the beach:



This artist gave me permission to take his photograph:



The walking path winds through the park and back to the water:





There is also a beachfront with small rocks, being enjoyed by humans and birds alike:







What is it that makes every little boy instinctively want to throw the small rocks into the water?

The bridges loom large over the park, where many people were chatting on this Saturday morning:









This park even has a charming boardwalk:





I found these doors, found in the building anchoring the Brooklyn Bridge, really interesting and beautiful:









I reluctantly left the relaxed and gracious park and wandered the Dumbo neighborhood for a little while. I could picture myself living in this apartment:



I found a nice urban grocery store, complete with a corner table at which one could sip lemonade and read the paper while watching the world walk by:



While sitting there, my friend Jay and I made plans to meet up in Madison Square Park, where he was scheduled to buy lunch for a friend's nephew. So I jumped back on the train, which turned out to be a blue train running on the orange train's route, leading to me criss-crossing the city for way too long before finally climbing out of the subway and catching a taxi to our meeting place. I'll write more about that next!