Things Remembered: Brooklyn

Under the guise of "Things Remembered," I will be curating various perspectives of different places, ideas, and concepts through people whom have lived and experienced them firsthand; be that person myself or someone else.

This first segment is a concise and to the point exposé of Brooklyn via social advocate and artist, Michael Stewart; he also happens to be my cousin.  Michael was born and raised in Washington, D.C. but lived, worked, and studied post-graduately New York City.

I interviewed Mike on just some general interest situations on what his urban experience has been like moving between the American Northeast, South, and Mid-Atlantic.  Here's what he had to say:


Me: What do you think of Brooklyn holistically?

Mike: It's a cool place to visit.


Me: You were raised in Washington, DC.  You attended university in Greensboro, NC.  You attended graduate school and worked a few years in and around the Brooklyn and New York City area.  How was your experience living there different from the other cities that you have also resided in?

Mike: Living in DC is natural for me.  Greensboro was hard for me to adjust to because it wasn't much I could identify with coming from a more aggressive urban culture.  Greensboro had a slower pace which gave me some peace and comfort.  I never thought about living in New York until I experienced the fast pace of the city [when I came for school].

Me: Even coming from DC, NY was a definite lifestyle adjustment for you.


Me: What was your favorite part of the Brooklyn?  Why?

Mike: I like Bed-Stuy and Clinton Hills.  I like the block layouts, restaurants, culture and entertainment, etc.  For me, each neighborhood has its own culture.  I like how Bed-Stuy has/had a strong African-American presence.  It reminds/reminded me of DC.


Me: Last question; would you move back to Brooklyn?

Mike: Only for the right job and salary.

Lunch in '67 Burger

Fort Greene street scene

Neighborhood essentials

Check out this short video shot and edited by yours truly while Mike was in town for a quick weekend:

Things Remembered pt 1 Brooklyn from Keilon L. on Vimeo.

Urban Exploration Day: Lower Manhattan to Staten

The day started with a trip to the National 9/11 Museum to see how the city and country has "respectfully" memorialized those who were lost during the tragic events on September 11, 2001. This was a free day sponsored by Conde Nast.  However, as in the spirit of all things free in New York City, it was first come, first served.  Upon arrival, Amanda and I were greeted to the news that the free tickets for admission were all spent and then that purchase tickets were sold out through Saturday; this was a Wednesday (typical in NYC for all things new and shiny).  After a few choice photo ops, we figured that  we'd try our luck at some other cultural explorations.

After a twisting and winding walk through the Financial District, we stopped to take in the site of the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Customs House.  Housed inside of this National Historic structure is also the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of the American Indian (why they're called Indians is still bewildering to me and will be apart of a later rant). I personally did not enjoy much about this museum nor its location.  This is not to take a jab at the Native American culture; however, to me, the museum felt to be in very poor taste from the exhibits, to the historical location, and to a number of architectural details of the building.  I personally did not enjoy the visit, but check out my high/low-lights:

Beautiful symmetry in the main hall

Amanda taking it all in

Peering around corners

I didn't care for...

The exhibition's language..."beasts that talk"

Architectural details

Asia is contemplative...America is alert...Europe is majestic...Africa is asleep.

Moving along though...to mid-afternoon...

Still in lower Manhattan, and finding that we still had an entire day of beautiful weather ahead of us, I decided that we should really be tourists and hop on the Staten Island Ferry.  The ferry service runs 24 hours and day and is completely free.  It's a hit with tourists for that reason and because it offers some truly unparalleled views of lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, Jersey City and the New York Harbour in general.  The trip is about 15 to 20 minutes and is a perfect way to beat the heat--the breeze is nice and so are the libations that are available for the after work crowd or just the casual day drinkers parched from waiting every half hour to board.

Check out a few shots from aboard the John F. Kennedy ferry:

New York vs. New Jersey (so close but yet so far)

Amanda enjoying the breeze

Lower Manhattan

The obligatory tourist shot (first time seeing the front of the Statue of Liberty)

Upon arriving on Staten Island, we were faced with the question of, "what do we do now?"  In our typical urban exploration we hit the pavement to take in the sights, sounds, and diverse terrains of the borough.  Visually Staten Island looks like a conglomeration of working class neighborhoods with differing levels of diversity and affluence.  It does not have that central downtown area that you find in Brooklyn and Manhattan or even Flushing, Queens to a certain extent.  The terrain is harsh and unforgiving, with very steep hills not fit for biking up (I learned that the hard way later) and hills not safe for riding down without adequate braking mechanisms dotting the interior of the landscape.  Despite the density as is the case in all boroughs of New York City, Staten Island offers a much more "suburbanized" lifestyle, especially on the far side of the island than any other borough.

After a stop in a Stapleton neighborhood public park we decided to venture to the other side of the island via the (mostly) free Staten Island Railroad, a subway styled partially elevated heavy rail line that cuts clear across the island from one waterfront to the other at Totenville station.

Less crowded streets in Staten

Catching a breather in the park

 

Skies over Stapleton

Pause to change trains...

Upon arrival at our final destination...

Totenville Station

We met the sunset over New Jersey

Had to do it for the 'gram

Something like picture perfect

Sailing seashells by the seashore...

As the sun made it's departure, so did we...a day well done.  Until next time...Adieu!

Unfiltered Sunshine

"Love is life and life is living" - Debra Laws

I personally believe that living doesn't constitute having every handed to you on a platter, nor does it even constitute having access to an abundance of material things or resources.  I believe that living is about taking in the environment of the moments that we experience each day. There's art and beauty in straying off of the normal beaten path.

With the advent and popularity of Google maps where you can walk down in any street in any major city and everybody having a blog focusing on every subject (this one included), there appears to be the idea that everything is right at your fingertips. This may be true but the experience takes a bit more work.

A break from the normal routine

Hurry up and wait.

After a long day at work, I decided to take the long way home and with that take in some views of the city that I never get to see.  Also, a bit of street art is always appreciated.  One beautiful thing about New York is that art is almost always a block away, or in this case, every step of the way.  This trek took Lizton and I across the Williamsburg Bridge.  This bridge connects the popular Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan to Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood which is probably one of the most talked about neighborhoods in the city as of late.  These two hoods are known for the concentrations of creative young people, artists, and hipsters alike.  The bridge displays the character of the people which it connects.

The city is always watching

Thank you city of New York providing daily inspiration.  Live!

- Esoteric

Free Weekend Things To Do in NYC courtesy of Complex Magazine

Every week (I believe) Complex Magazine (do they still do the actual print magazine?? *shrugs*) online releases a guide to "The Coolest Free Things to Do in NYC This Weekend"

Albeit one day after payday and rent was due this past week as suggested by the preface of the Complex list, I paid rent two weeks early so funds for leisure are disposable at this time (pardon me while I pat myself on the back). I peeped this list Saturday morning around 10:30am so with Friday lost I challenged Amanda to help me fill up our weekend schedule and tackle remainder the list of things to do that were available for Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday @ 2pm: Union Square Walking Tour

First things first with any tour in a big city, it's important to stay together.  To facilitate that, we thought it'd be easy to stay together if we rocked matching t-shirts (don't judge us!)

The shirts were especially designed by Amanda herself.  I'm a fan of her work.

The tour itself was surprising. I thought with a scheduled 90 minute tour we'd be scouring the surrounding neighborhood, but it was literally a tour around the park grounds themselves, but it was very informative and entertaining thanks in part to our guide, Gregory.

Check out my list of most interesting facts learned:

- Although America won the American Revolutionary War, the battle of New York City was actually lost to the British in 1783 and the city was not freed until awhile later.

- Evacuation Day (look it up)

- The first ever statue of Lincoln was placed in Union Square Park

- "Ladie's Mile"[double entendre] (look it up) is an interesting study in gentrification, socioeconomics, and urban studies; if you're interested in that kind of thing. 

- Finally learned why the Frenchman, Lafayette's name is plastered all across America. (Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette)

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Selected images from the tour:

Approximately 4pm: The Museum at F.I.T.

After a short subway ride up Broadway and a stop in the only stateside Maison Kitsuné boutique (which I had no idea was on 28th street), which is my latest obsession in all many things French, we made our way to our next destination on the New York campus of the Fashion Institute to check out one of their museum's latest exhibits entitled "Beyond Rebellion: Fashioning the Biker Jacket?

Photography was not allowed in the exhibit, of course I didn't care and it rows it anyway but I couldn't cleverly hit the shutter button my phone before the security personnel noticed my not so stealthy mannerisms.

Sorry, best I could do...

Sunday @ 10:15ish am: A Brooklyn Area Subway Station

After a night of partying into the morning, it's always nice to wake up early and take a one hour train ride that I thought would be closer to 35 minutes uptown to 59th Street and Columbus Circle. Nevertheless we made the journey arriving fashionably late.

11:15ish am: Cooking with Spring Produce at Williams-Sonoma

Long story short, we got some valuable recipes and I actually have a new found slight admiration for green peas, but only when they're fresh and blanched (I learned how to Blanche vegetable...quite bourgeois). I also learned how to properly butcher a chicken...no more buying boneless breasts at the grocery store for me...whole birds only!

they even provided a nice dessert option

After this session of standing and then browsing for cookware that we honestly didn't need, but would be fun to have, we decided to break away from our Complex schedule and pick up a nice Belgium brunch at BXL East.

Bottomless mimosas on a Sunday, don't mind if I do....

Despite missing a few things on the list that we really did plan to do, star-gazing in Central Park (celestial stars, not people with their heads in the clouds due to celebrity) and the Pratt Institute's feature exhibition, "Black Dress..." Highlighting underrepresented African-American fashion designers.  

At the end of the day, it was a fun weekend and you really can't beat free. Complex's weekend guides will definitely keep me checking my emails on time.