Brooklyn, Journal Day 2

When I think of Brooklyn, I think about the BQE.  I live in Queens.  I am afraid of going to Brooklyn because of the traffic and terrible road condition on BQE.  If I take the train, it'll take me at least two hours to get there.  I really don't like to go to Brooklyn unless absolutely I have to.  I have my best friend since junior high who lives in Brooklyn.  I visit her less than every 2 years.  I treat her as if she lives in another country.  However, taking a tour to get to know Brooklyn in a group setting will be an exception.

Due to the weather advisory of the heat wave, I got all ready for the day.  I was prepared to sweat and get tanned.  The first stop was Brighten Beach and Coney Island.  As we getting closer to the Beach, the subway got more crowdy with people carrying cooling boxes, beach umbrellas, beach towels, and more.  It was a really nice beach day.  I guess Brighten Beach received the most visitors today so far in this year since it was the first heat wave of the year and there was no school today for the public schools due to Brooklyn Queens Day.  Most people were in their bathing suits ready for a cool dip in water.  I was strolling down the boardwalk checking out all the people and the shops on the beach. One of the students said to me that she was surprised that Coney Island did not become one of the most expensive place for leisure time and shopping center for all the name brand goods since it is such a nice place in the "City of Brooklyn."  Ironically, this is probably one of the most fun and inexpensive place for a lot of people from Brooklyn and other boroughs.  I can see there is a huge portion of black and Hispanic population among the visitors here on the beach.  A large portion of them including adults and kids are obese.  As we know, obesity nowadays means low income and poor education.  If this population takes a big portion of the visitors, you can figure out why Coney Island is not an expensive place.  Maybe we should blame on Coney Island being he birth place of hot dogs (BG 492)? 

I don't swim and I am afraid of the roller coaster rides.  I decided to sit down and enjoy my lunch on the boardwalk.  The raw clams and the breeze on the beach were so delicious! I was surprised the heat wave was very tolerable and felt nice on the beach.  After a relaxing and enjoyable lunch, we headed to the New York Transit Museum.

This is the largest museum of public transportation history in the US.  It contains a comprehensive collection of thousands of items tracking the cultural, social, and technological history of public transportation in the New York metropolitan area.  It was interesting to see all the exhibits of trains, buses, bridges and tunnels.  I liked the tokens, the turnstiles and the historical trains.  I loved the subway art pieces that shows local cultural stories, small and big, personal and shared, remembered and lost in time.  It was also very interesting to know that the first vending machines were placed in elevated subway stations dispensing gum for a penny in 1888.  The first vending machines for tokens were installed in 1954, one year after token was introduced.  (The above information was found on museum flier and museum exhibits.)

After leaving the museum, we walked through Brooklyn Heights.  The neighborhood is largely composed of block after block of picturesque rowhouses and a few mansions.  It looks very similar to Manhattan residential area.  A great range of architectural styles are found here, including a few Federal-style houses from the early 19th century, brick Greek Revival and Gothic Revival houses, and Italianate brownstone houses (www.brooklynhts.org).

Next we walked in to the Brooklyn Historical Society.  It was founded in 1863 as the Long Island Historical Society.  The society maintains a library, a museum, and an educational center preserving and encouraging the study of Brooklyn history and culture (BG 472).  The staff in the society were very nice and helpful to us.  Their structured tour hinted us of the professionalism and the protection of the Brooklyn history.

Our tour of the day ended on walking through the Brooklyn Bridge.  This bridge is the first steel-wired suspension bridges in the US.  It was constructed in 1883, connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn onver East River.  It's original name was East River Bridge.  It was officially named Brooklyn Bridge in 1915.  It is a National Historical Landmark, and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark (http://www.history.com/).  It has both pedestrian and viehcular access. 

It was such an honor to walk through this National Landmark.  I should also be the one who remembers this experience the most since I got yelled at by a biker by walking in the bicycle lane on the bridge.  I thought it was awful not to label the pedestrian and bicycle lane since the bikers are so protective and offensive about their rights to bike freely on the bridge.  Other than that, I had good experience walking through the bridge.  The heat wave seems did not bother us much.  Although everyone sweated like crazy, it was really doable and good exercise for us.  Each of us should take this chance to loose 10 lbs by the end of his class.  This should be the goal of our class.

journal day 1

The first day experience was very good except I was so tired afterwards.  I am a mother of two school kids and working full time.  I still have to prepare dinner and night time rituals for the kids after the long day.  It was a lot.  However, It was all worth it to find out so much about Queens, the borough I have lived all the time since I came to the US in 1997.

Queens is the most diverse county with 48% of foreign born population in New York and in the US by far.  It is the second most populated borough in New York City (BG, 493).  The 7 train I have been using all the time from Flushing Main Street to the Time Square is called the "International Express" since it travels through many different ethnic communities (BG, 493).   I take Jackie Robinson Parkway to Ridgewood where my husband's stores are located, and I always see the huge cemetary alone the parkway.  I did not know it is referred to as the "terminal moraine" due to the 1851 law prohibited further burial in Manhattan due to space limitation (BG, 493).  These are only some facts related to my daily life in Queens.  There are many other interesting facts to learn about Queens that I found out by this class's tours.

I have taken my kids to Corona Park Hall of Science and Flushing Park to see the annual Draggon Boat Festivals.  I just found out now that Flushing Park was once a dump ground and it was built for the world's fair in 1939-40 (BG, 497).  I can see the Unisphere in Corona Park every time I pass by LIE or Van Wyck Parkway.  Now I know it is was also built for the first world's fair and it states the theme of "Man's achievements of a shrinking globe in an expanding universe" (BG, 497).  I didn't even know the Panorama and the water shed existed before this class.  The Panorama is a miniature 3D map of the five boroughs.  It shows almost every single building and roads of the boroughs.  It is an amazing creation of human being.

The Museum of the Moving Art in Astoria changed my view towards Museums. To be honest, the setup was too contemporary to be a museum according to my mind set.   I would not think it is the biggest tourist attractions in Queens as it was referred to in the Blue Guide Book.  I have not much interest in Hollywood stars.  I checked out the equipments used in the past to make movies, and how the masks were made for the actors/actresses.  I do like to see all the old TV sets from the begginning of TV years.  That was the most I enjoyed from the museum. It makes sense for the museum and some film making studios to be in Astoria since Astoria was the center of film making industry before WW II (BG, 499).

I love the 5 Pointz place.  This place looks bizzard and a little scary to me.  I would not go there by myself.  However, It is such an artistic place!  I can't believe these aerosol artists have no formal/professional training can do such a wonderful job.  It is a unique place for these natural born artists to show their talent, interests, and freely express their wild imagination. 

 

I like natural and peaceful sites.  I enjoyed the water front city view in Long Island City.  The sun was setting 



when we got there.  I loved the picture I cought below.  It really shows this artistic yet urban neighborhood.  The park we were in is a historical site of the old transporation system.  I like the way the partial railroad tracks and those loading docks were saved.  It's hard to find such a modern living space with live history visibly attached to it.  It is a beautiful place for us to end the class tour and relax before going back home.