The Prospect Park Zoo is one of my ‘go to’ places along with the Brooklyn Museum and the Brooklyn Botanical Garden when visiting Brooklyn. The three popular destinations are all in the same neighborhood and if you have a full day is worth the subway ride from Manhattan to visit.
The entrance to the Prospect Park Zoo
On a nice day, the best place to start is the Brooklyn Botanical Garden at opening, then head over through the back part of the garden to Prospect Park and walk to the entrance near Flatbush Avenue and go past the carousel and enter the Zoo past the old Leffert’s Homestead. The Zoo is just past that.
While I was staying in Kingston, NY for the puppet rehearsals for the Halloween Parade at the Rokeby Estate, I came across an article in the Red Hook Star Review newspaper for a parade in Red Hook, Brooklyn (I thought it was for a parade in Red Hook, NY where Rokeby was located). It seems that the Red Hook neighborhood on the coastline of Brooklyn off New York Harbor was having a small celebration in honor of the neighborhood surviving Hurricane Sandy’s wrath especially when the power went out in the neighborhood on October 29, 2012.
So on a somewhat gloomy afternoon that was grey, cloudy and misty I took the bus and subway out to Red Hook for the parade. It was an interesting and engaging afternoon and evening. I read later that the neighborhood had wanted to create a parade and the year after the storm rocked the neighborhood, business owners decided that a parade was just what the neighborhood needed to boost the morale and spirit of the residents.
The neighborhood had been hit with power outages, massive flooding and twelve-foot storm surges. Neighbors looked out for neighbors and the people in the Red Hook Public Housing were especially hard hit with power out for weeks. Owner of the restaurant, Good Fork at Van Brunt Street, Ben Schneider said, “We thought it would be a fun way to shake off the hardships of that first year and have a good time together.” (Red Hook Star Revue 2019).
Red Hook Brooklyn after Hurricane Sandy 2012
Red Hook, Brooklyn is an interesting neighborhood because of its maritime past and that most of the neighborhood was former marshes and creeks, some of which still flow underneath the streets and homes of the neighborhood. The area was also loaded with manufacturing so there are large swaths of industrial buildings now filled with light manufacturing and/or loft spaces. The artists still dominate this part of the neighborhood, but I could tell as I walked the parade route that is quickly changing as the lots of coastline buildings are in the process of being knocked down and new luxury ‘buildings on the Bay’ are being constructed on this flat flood plain (nobody learns anything from these storms).
This had only been the second time I had been to Red Hook, Brooklyn. The other time had been on a walking tour of the neighborhood with the Fashion Institute of Technology back in the summer of 2017. There we walked the entire neighborhood and got to see manufacturing and shopping as well. (See Day Eighty Walking Red Hook Brooklyn with the FIT Tours July 22nd, 2017)
I found the parade to be an interesting mix of artists, musicians, business owners, residents and then the people like me who just discovered it having a wonderful time together. The parade started at 4:00pm on the corner of Van Brunt and Pioneer Streets in the heart of the downtown area of Red Hook with a concert with a small band and residents who looked like they were preparing for Halloween. Some were dressed like fish, some like sea captains, ladies like mermaids and parents pulling their kids through the parade in little ‘ship carts’ (trust me that adults were more dressed up than the kids). One group of people used a blue tarp to represent waves (I am not sure of the symbolize to that) throughout the parade.
The Band plays on
We followed the Squid in the MTA Bus that was ‘out of service’ throughout the parade route. Bubbles were flowing everywhere. The parade route took us all over the neighborhood as we walked the coastline of the area with the parade at its starting point and walking down Pioneer Street to Conover Street then crossed King Street and then down Ferris Street which is lined with former shipping yards that are in the process of being knocked down. We stopped in front of Louis Valentino Jr. Park and Pier and the parade participants visited Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pies at 185 Van Dyke Street #1011 for a sample of a small key lime pie.
Steve’s Key Lime Pies at 185 Van Dyke Street #1011 were given out complimentary
God was that delicious! I had not had one of those since the walking tour with FIT and it was so sweet and buttery. It was four small bites, but I thought that was so generous of them. Talk about good public relations. While stopping there, many people were able to walk through the park and even on this gloomy day where the visibility was not great you could see out to Liberty Island and watch the boats flow by. This was also the site of Fort Defiance, a fort that had been built to protect New York Harbor from the British during the Revolutionary War.
As the parade started up again, more people started to join the parade and more children who were dressed in costume who were chasing one another around. We made our way down Van Dyke Street turned the corner back onto Conover Street and then down Reed Street to the front of Hometown Bar-B-Que at 454 Van Brunt Street on the corner of Van Brunt and Reed Streets. There we stopped for a complimentary beverage break, but I was not really into the light flavored beers, so I skipped that one.
The restaurant though is an old warehouse where the guts were pulled out and the place has exposed walls and ceilings and flooded with Christmas lights. The rich smells of barbecue filled the restaurant and later at the block party I was able to try some of the food that they donated. Their pulled pork, fresh pickles and mac and cheese were delicious.
The inside of Hometown Bar-B-Que at 454 Van Brunt Street
The parade continued up Van Brunt Street, the heart of the neighborhood with more rousing nautical songs such as “By the Beautiful Sea” and “I’d like to be under the Sea” as we all marched up the street following the Squid Float which was now blowing blue smoke and more bubbles. We stopped again in front of The Good Fork at 391 Van Brunt Street where they were ladling out hot vegetarian chili (not one of my favorite things). It was nicely spiced and would have tasted better with a little meat in it. Everyone else though was devouring it as the night grew cooler.
The Good Fork at 391 Van Brunt Street (Closed June 2020)
Our next culinary stop on the parade route was Fort Defiance, a bar and restaurant at 365 Van Brunt Street for a cup of their Butternut Squash Soup. God was that delicious! I asked the owner how they made it and he said that it was a combination of pumpkin and butternut squash with just a little heavy cream in it. It tasted so thick and creamy, and you could taste the hint of sweetness of the pumpkin. As it got cooler that night, that soup hit the spot.
Our last stop before heading back up to Pioneer Street was at the local VFW on Van Brunt Street for a shot (that seriously warmed me up). I stopped in to look around and the place was decorated for Halloween with all sorts of decorations and colored lights. The guys were really cool about looking around and I swear I felt so much better.
The parade ended back at the corner of Pioneer and Van Brunt Streets with a musical band playing all sorts of rock songs and some dancing under all the gloom and mist. There was a tent set up with free food from Hometown Bar-B-Que with their pulled pork sandwiches, Southern Fried Chicken with seasonings, creamy mac & cheese, corn bread and someone donated some corn dogs which I never got to sample. There was also another tent where Pizza Moto was making homemade pizza with fresh mozzarella and basil and that really warmed me up as well.
What was nice was the food was free and they asked for a donation for the relief fund for the Bahamas, which I thought was a nice touch. I gave the $5.00 donation for the meal which I thought was well worth it. I thought it was nice of the restaurants to be so generous and thoughtful to the parade participants as well as great PR and introducing their food to the neighborhood (these are smart restaurateurs).
The pulled pork was delicious and was served with a hot horseradish sauce which we could top with fresh pickles and homemade Cole slaw. It was rich and decadent. The mac & cheese which was served on the side was creamy and loaded with Cheddar cheese. The fried chicken was meaty and nicely fried and spiced with Old Bay seasonings. What a nice and generous meal. The pizza was also excellent on a cool night.
The pulled pork sliders and mac & cheese were worth the wait in line
I stayed for another half hour enjoying the music and watching a group of kids run each other around in a shopping cart in a club that was open for sitting and using the bathrooms. These kids really carried on but in a fun way. I could see the other adults were worn out by it but I just saw myself and the fun I used to have as a kid.
I told one artist who was in a mermaid costume eating a slice of pizza that I would rather see these kids carrying on like this yelling and screaming and having a good time than playing with a cellphone not talking to each other. She smiled and agreed with me.
Before I left the neighborhood, I stopped at the new Ample Hills Creamery & Museum at 421 Van Brunt Street to see the new factory and store that they had built. I swear that this company has grown in leaps and bounds in just seven years and they now have eight stores plus this factory. It was very impressive and shows how their product is made. They also make all their add ins like cake batter, brownies and candy. Very impressive!
Red Hook to me is more than just a neighborhood in Brooklyn. It was like a small town where people know their neighbors and people talked and greeted each other and engaged in conversation. Some may not be best friends or agree with one another, but you can tell they are a neighborhood. This little parade will be something bigger in the future I know but for now it showed me the true spirit of a small-town community in the heart of New York City.
The Barnacle Parade is every October 29th to mark the Anniversary of the devastation of Hurricane Sandy in 2012. What a way to show the spirit of resilience of a community!
See my entry in MywalkinManhattan.com: “Day Eighty Walking Red Hook Brooklyn with the FIT Tours July 2017” for more insights on Red Hook, Brooklyn:
Here are some interesting videos on the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy on Red Hook Brooklyn:
Another Great insight on Hurricane Sandy:
Watch a neighborhood come together after the storm:
The Barnacle Parade in 2020:
I missed the Barnacle Parade in 2020 because there was a major downpour that afternoon and the thought of walking around for the afternoon in the rain did not appeal to me. I saw by the YouTube videos only about 30 people showed up which was WAY less then last year.
It did not look like anyone stayed that long as it was pouring in Red Hook Brooklyn too. It was too bad as this was a fun event the year before. I felt bad for the people getting soaked.
If you have never visited the Brooklyn Botanical Garden when visiting New York City you are missing a lot. I have been a member of the garden since 2002 and fell in love with walking around the gardens when visiting the Brooklyn Museum next door. It is the most relaxing place to walk around and just think. It is also nice to grab a book, sit under a tree and just relax.
The Cranford Rose Garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
One of the benefits of membership are the private event nights that the Gardens have for its members. ‘Rose Night’ is one of my favorites. This is when the Crawford Rose Garden and the surrounding rose gardens to the main one are in full bloom and on display. Because the weather has been so hot lately most plants have been blooming about two weeks ahead of their normal schedule.
The entrance to the Cranford Rose Garden on Rose Night 2024
The Cranford Rose Garden
The crowds were large on the night of Rose Night at 2024
The Crawford Rose Garden was no exception as the recent hot weather and two rainstorms put some strain on the rose bushes and some of them were going out of bloom the night of the party. Still the roses were ablaze with color and the fragrant smells of the garden were prevalent all over the garden. The event draws a very large crowd and people were all over the place picnicking and relaxing while listening to a jazz band that was performing inside the cherry trees.
The Glenn Crytzer Quartet performing on Rose Night 2024
The large crowd of members on Rose Night, a private members event
I started my day working at the Soup Kitchen working in the prep kitchen for the morning. They kept me busy making a cucumber and tomato salad and cutting kale for a side dish they were making the next day. One thing I like about working at Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen is that the work is never dull. They always keep me busy.
Since I had plenty of time before the event, I decided to take a trip down to Coney Island to explore any changes that were going on in the amusement center. I wanted to visit the New York Aquarium and see the new ‘Shark Tanks’ exhibition and revisit the Coney Island Museum. When I arrived at the beach about 45 minutes later it was beautiful, clear and sunny on Surf Avenue.
The sign welcoming you to Nathan’s
The afternoon started out at Nathan’s at 1310 Surf Avenue for lunch (see review on TripAdvisor). I swear that I eat at Nathan’s in the suburb malls and it never tastes as good as it does in the original restaurant on Coney Island. Be prepared to face the lines for the rest of the summer as beach season approaches.
Their hot dogs and French fries are the best but they do not come cheap. I think this restaurant is getting more and more geared to tourists wanting to visit Coney Island. The hot dog was $4.75 and the French fries were $3.75, which is a little ridiculous considering a pack of their hot dogs are $1.99 and a bag of their frozen French fries are $1.99 on sale at the supermarket.
Their hot dogs are the best
Nathan’s French Fries are best!
Still their hot dogs were delicious. They have a nice garlicky snap to them and are nicely grilled and their French fries are cooked to perfection. It is nice to enjoy your lunch at their outside tables where you can breath in the fresh salt air. After finishing my lunch, I visited the New York Aquarium at 602 Surf Avenue.
The aquarium is finally updating itself as this is the first addition to the park in years. I got there in time before the last sea lion show and that was fun. The ‘Sea Lion Celebration’ as they call it takes place in the summer at 11:00am, 1:00pm, 3:00pm and 5:30pm. The trainers look like they are having a good time with animals. These sea lions were born and raised at the aquarium so they are used to being around humans. The surprising part is that they act like humans with their responses. Unlike a zoo, these mammals get out and get their exercise. It is an interesting show as they are very talented and seem to enjoy working with the trainers.
I was able to walk through the ‘Ocean Wonders: Sharks!” exhibition before the aquarium closed for the evening. I found it fascinating about the history of sharks and their place in ocean world and where they are on the feeding scale. They hardly care about eating humans and like one of the displays said that ‘Jaws’ gave them a bad wrap. They are bottom dwellers who eat all the things that are ‘left over’ and are a good cleanser for the sea.
The Shark Tanks
We as humans unfortunately over-fish them or with some of the Asian countries, they will cut off the fins of the sharks for meat and then throw them back into the sea where they drown, which I think it the cruelest thing you can do to an animal. Its like being buried alive and the aquarium showed the results of what happens to this fish when it happens.
The last large tank before you leave has several variety of sharks and fish which sets up an almost feeding ecosystem for them and it looks almost graceful watching the sea go by. They even have a small crawl tunnel where you can travel under the fish to see them up close. At the top of the exhibition, they have a new restaurant, ‘Oceanview Bites’.
The tunnel under the tanks
After the aquarium, I visited the Coney Island Museum at 1208 Surf Avenue (See reviews on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum.com). This is the most underrated museum that covers the history of Coney Island from just being dunes that Walt Whitman read poetry on to the modern day amusement parks to current developments.
The museum covers this history of the three great amusement parks, Steeplechase, Luna and Dreamland Parks especially in their heyday. The amusement area of Coney Island still is considered one of the most innovative in history and most developments in amusement rides took place in Coney Island.
Each room covers a part of the history of Coney Island from its years as a luxury resort, to seaside travel to the island, development of the amusement industry, to modern times and what the new developments might bring to the area. I was lucky enough to meet the curator of the museum, Lisa Mangels-Schaefer, whose family has a rich history on the island as a manufacturer of amusement rides. Her grandfather had manufactured and maintained many of the amusement rides in the park.
As the only two at the museum at the time, she gave me a personal tour of the museum, explaining the many displays and artifacts of the museum. She also told me stories of how her family used to manufacture the amusement rides back at the turn of the last century.
Some of the manufactured items by Ms. Mangels-Schaefer’s family
There are a lot of interesting artifacts at the museum from illuminated post cards to old amusement rides to many nostalgic pictures of the area from various times of history. Each gallery covers another theme of the history of the area. Don’t miss the displays of the amusement rides and the hall of fun house mirrors. For a $5.00, this museum is a real treat.
The Main Gallery of the museum.
After the museum, I walked on the boardwalk for awhile and then just put my feet in the ocean. After a long day of working in the kitchen, it started to catch up to me. It was nice to feel the cool water and breath in the salt air. Coney Island has its problems as I could see but still it is a place to relax and have fun. I just laid on the beach, relaxed and let the sun shine down on me. The view of the Rockaways in the distance is really nice and on a clear sunny day, the views were wonderful.
By 5:00pm, it was time to go back up to the Botanical Garden for the ‘Rose Night’ cocktail party and tours. I was smart taking the Q back as I got off by the back entrance and did not have to face the crowds of the main entrance by the Brooklyn Museum. I got there at the opening at 6:30pm and the place was already mobbed with people. The main part of the gardens by the cherry trees must have had about three hundred people sitting down having their picnic dinner.
The Rose Garden in bloom
The crowds walking through the gardens
While everyone else was conversing on the main lawn, I took the time to walk the gardens and see the Crawford Rose Gardens in bloom. It had been hot over the last two months and all the flowers were blooming two weeks earlier than usual, so a lot of roses had already bloomed and had fallen off the branches due to two recent rainstorms.
The Rose Garden Fountain
Still there were lot of species of roses and many were still at the height of blooming and made a very colorful and fragrant display while touring the paths. Many types of roses had the big blooms and smelled like perfume. Others lined the trellises and created a beautiful display overhead. You really have to take your time to admire the true beauty of the garden which only has about two weeks of blooming.
Crawford Rose Garden inside the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
After I left the Crawford Rose Garden, I walked the back fountain area which had large rose bushes that were all in bloom. The fountain had been cleaned and turned on for the event so it made quite an impression in color and design with the way the rose bushes were growing.
The Fountain in the Summer of 2023
The fountain in the spring of 2025
The Fountain in bloom on Rose Night 2024
For the rest of the evening, I walked all the different garden concepts from the Rock Gardens to the Shakespeare Gardens to the new water recycling gardens that had just been completed. All the tulip, daffodil and magnolia gardens were long gone but still a good memory of visiting a couple of months earlier.
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden Rock Garden
The Rock Garden on Rose Night 2024
The only problem with the event is that it has gotten so big. When it was much smaller it was more intimate and concentrated in one part of the garden but now there are more members, and it is the first official ‘picnic night’ in the garden so it has gotten crowded.
Walking through the Rock Garden in Sprinv 2025
In the post pandemic years, they stopped making that wonderful ‘rose cocktail’ they used to make for the event and had canned and bottled beverages that were between $8.00 to $12.00 which I thought was a little ridiculous. I know you have to raise money but $8.00 for a non-alcoholic canned beverage.
In 2024, they brought it back and now the cost is $15.00 (less the member discount). It is not the one I remembered from the past put still good and was relaxing after a long business trip.
The Rose Night Cocktail
The Rose Night Cocktail in 2024 was made of blush wine, juices and a little rose essence.
I just sat back and enjoyed the drink and watched the other members relax with their families as well. It was a beautiful late Spring evening and a nice way to start the upcoming Summer season.
In 2019, I had dinner at Family Pizza at 720 Flatbush Avenue, whose pizza is amazing. They have the richest tomato sauce which is the basis for any good pizza and the food here is excellent.
They make their own tomato sauce with fresh tomatoes, garlic and olive oil and you can taste the flavor in the sauce. I had a Chicken Parmesan Sandwich. Talk about an amazing sandwich.
Not only was it loaded with fresh chicken cutlets but topped with several handfuls of melted mozzarella cheese. The sandwich was a gooey delight and the perfect dinner. They have nice outside seating and I like watching the characters walk by.
The flowers in bloom
Still, it was nice to have the gardens for the members only night and the newly renovated Japanese Gardens had opened again so I spent the last part of the evening walked around the wooded paths and stopping at the pagoda to look at the man-made lake that now feed the entire Botanical Garden its water supply. You could still hear the jazz band on the main lawn from here and it was a nice place to just sit and relax and enjoy the sun setting.
The Japanese Gardens
The Japanese Garden in the early Spring when the Cherry Blossoms were out.
It is a simple evening of walking paths and looking at flowers while listening to music but still isn’t that what a pleasant evening in a garden is supposed to be?
Returning to Rose Night again June 11th, 2025:
I had the day off from summer classes at the college and arrived in Brooklyn early and was able to get into the Gardens before 6:00pm and was able to tour the gardens with no crowds. It was perfect for picture taking.
The Crawford Rose Gardens in the Summer of 2025
The array of colors in the gardens that night
Walking through the archways when everything is in bloom
The gardens were an array of all sorts of colors
Purples and greens
Reds and greens
I walked around all the beds to see the dazzling display of colors
The beautiful display of colors
A combination of roses makes an interesting display
The brilliance of colors adds to the roses
The purple flowers were dazzling
The roses at the back part of the garden
The statue in the back of the gardens
The back of the Crawford Rose Gardens
The back of the Crawford Rose Gardens
I left the rose garden to explore the rest of the gardens before the concert started. The crowds were not huge at this time but when I finished my walk of the gardens the place was packed.
The Cherry Blossom lawn before the start of the concert.
I took a long walk around the gardens to see everything in bloom. All this rain made everything so lush.
The was the most unusual rose bush. I never saw anything like this.
I took a walk to the back of the gardens to see the Water Shed Gardens, the Rock Gardens and the Children’s Gardens. The whole place was spectacular.
The Water Shed Gardens
People picnicking in the Water Shed Gardens
The flowers in the Water Shed Gardens
Touring the Rock Gardens
The Rock Garden Pathways
What vibrant colors in the Rock Gardens
The unusual fountains in the Planting Gardens
I thought they were very interesting
I walked through the Children’s Gardens
The Children’s Garden building at the start of the summer
The Lotus Pools
The Magnolia Gardens after the blooming period. They are so green and lush.
The sphere in the Magnolia Gardens
I then walked through the Shakespeare Gardens which were in full bloom
Walking through the Shakespeare Gardens
The beautiful flowers in the garden
The Cherry Blossom Lawn was packed when I got back and more people were walking through the back entrance.
The New Orleans Renaissance Group entertained that night
The band was excellent and played all the classics plus some of their original works
Here is the band playing one of their songs that evening. This was the best shot I got as all the parents were dancing with their kids that night.
Overall Rose Night was another wonderful evening and I look forward to it every year. There will be more wonderful theme nights going forward at the Gardens.
The future of Coney Island under the Bloomberg Administration:
Open: Saturday and Sunday 10:00am-6:00pm/Monday-Friday 8:00am-6:00pm
Admission: Adults $18.00/Seniors (over 65) and Children over 12 $12.00/Children under 12 Free/Portion of the day’s tickets are free to community members who need them/Winder Weekends Pay as you wish.
Every year the Brooklyn Botanic Garden opens its doors to the membership for the Annual Rose Night in June. This is when the roses are at their peak of bloom and members and their friends and family come to enjoy a private evening.
The Cranford Rose Garden
The crowds at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens in the Spring of 2024
I have to admit that the weather has played a big role in the way flowers have bloomed this year. Plants have either opened too early or too late. The crocuses opened about three weeks too early and they sat in snow. The tulips opened on time and then were hit with three days of 80 degree weather, which just burnt them out. The daffodils had a good but quick season due to the hot and cold weather. Daffodil Hill and the dogwood trees in the garden were spectacular. What vibrant colors and what a beautiful display that night.
Daffodil Hill when it was in full bloom in April
Rose Night was tough. Normally it is a week earlier as most roses come out on the first week of June but for some reason, they moved it to the second week and a lot of the roses had already lost their petals. The weather had been a big factor as it rained so much in late May and early June.
The beautiful wildflowers in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Still, many of the roses were still coming out and the gardens were awash in colors. So many types of roses were blooming that they almost time themselves. The gardens were full of colors of red, pink, yellow and even green. The overhead trellises were lined in whites, yellows and pinks. Some had aromatic smells while other smelled line a plain flower.
The colorful flowers in the Rose Garden
The crowds were large the night of Rose Night in 2024
It was nice to walk along the paths and spot the names of the roses. Everything is marked so you get to see when the flowers were grafted and developed. Things are timed so intricately in the garden so they all bloom in certain intervals. Some of the beds were beyond peak while others were just bursting out after a long winter’s nap. You will walk in amazement down the paths to see so much.
Rose Garden at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden
It was a beautiful sunny Spring evening and the garden was packed with families picnicking on the lawns all over the gardens, having dinner at the Magnolia Cafe near the middle of the gardens where a special menu was laid out. Others like me were listening to music in the area by the gift shop or ordering Rose Sangria from the bar which was made with infused rose petals (and is delicious).
The Rose Garden Terrace
The crowds were large in the gardens
The musicians were playing show tunes and the gardens hired a wonderful singer for the night. She was doing all the old Cole Porter songs while I was listening to her and the band. It was nice to just relax with a drink and listen to the band with the other members. Some take it really seriously and dress to the hilt in blazers and hats. I sometimes feel a little under-dressed for the occasion.
I took a long walk around the gardens. A lot is being renovated with the new watershed system that the gardens are setting up which will be opened later this Summer. All the daffodils, dogwoods and tulips are long gone making way for summer flowers to enter the beds. There will be a lot more to see later in the season.
The Rose Garden Plaque
The beautiful display of roses in June 2024
There will be other members nights of picnicking on the lawns and movies to see and walking tours to show it all off.
The Cherry Blossom Lawn in the summer months
The crowds in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in 2024
The fountain in the back the Cherry Blossom Lawn
The fountain in the back of the Cherry Blossom Lawn
The fountain in full bloom on Rose Night
The back entrance of the Cranford Rose Garden
The entrance to the back of the Cranford Rose Garden in June 2024
This is the reason why being a member of the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens is so important if you live in the New York area. There are loads of wonderful events to get involved with on a monthly basis.
The pathways in the Rose Garden
For dinner in 2024, I discovered Gino’s Pizza down Flatbush Avenue at 831 Flatbush Avenue and it is a pizzeria whose food is excellent. I have come across this pizzeria on a long walk I did down Flatbush Avenue on the way to Brooklyn College. I have eaten here several times and the food is wonderful.
They make their own tomato sauce with fresh tomatoes, garlic and olive oil and you can taste the flavor in the sauce. I had a Chicken Parmesan Sandwich. Talk about an amazing sandwich.
Not only was it loaded with fresh chicken cutlets but topped with several handfuls of melted mozzarella cheese. The sandwich was a gooey delight and the perfect dinner. They have nice outside seating and I like watching the characters walk by.
In both 2018 and in 2024, Rose Night was a real treat. The weather was sunny and warm with no humidity, the music was wonderful and the Rose Garden was out of bloom at this point (the seasons seem to be two weeks early every year so that roses had already hit their peak) but still enough roses that the gardens were beautiful to look at. It was a relaxing and enjoyable evening.
I returned to Rose Night again in June 2025 and it was another wonderful evening at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. It was a sunny and warm night and I got there before the 6:00pm start time and it was nice when the gardens were quiet. I got to take lots of pictures and then walk around the gardens before the Jazz band started the night’s entertainment.
Arriving at the gardens before the start time
The Crawford Rose Gardens that evening.
Admiring the beautiful roses
Walking through the Rose Gardens and admiring the roses
The beautiful Rose Archways
The roses in bloom that evening
Members walking along the Rose beds that evening
Walking along the pathways in the Crawford Rose Gardens
To all of my readers and fellow bloggers following my blog, ‘MywalkinManhattan.com’. I created two more blog sites to accompany the main site.
I created ‘VisitingaMuseum.com’ and ‘DiningonaShoeStringinNYC.Wordpress.com’ to take what I have discovered on the walk around the city and put it into more detail.
I created ‘VisitingaMuseum.com’ to feature all the small and medium museums, pocket parks, community gardens and historical sites that I have found along the way in my walking the streets of the island and in the outlining areas of Manhattan. There are loads of sites you can easily miss either by not visiting the neighborhoods by foot or not consulting a guidebook. Most of the these places are not visited by most residents of the City and should not be missed.
I never realized how many small museums exist in New York City, let alone the outer boroughs and in New Jersey. I have discovered so many wonderful and interesting artifacts in these museums that not only have so much historical value but they also deal with local history.
Gallery Bergen at Bergen Community College
There are so many pocket parks, community gardens and historical sites that you would miss if you did not walk the neighborhoods. What has also been fascinating about it is the people you meet along the way that volunteer in these facilities. There is so much pride to be had by these local residents dedicating their time to make these places successful.
‘DiningonaShoeStringinNYC.Wordpress.com’ is my latest site:
I am featuring and promoting wonderful local restaurants that I have found along the way when doing the walk as well as places I have recently visited outside the city for $10.00 and below. I am not just featuring them for their price but for the quality of the food, the selection and the portion size.
Delicious Dumplings at ‘Dumplings’ on Henry Street
These little ‘hole in the wall’ dining establishments offer a good meal at a fair price as well as supporting the local economy. I have a very limited budget for meals and thought this blog site would help all of you economize when touring New York City and the outlying regions. I cross reference my reviews on TripAdvisor.com.
For anyone thinking of doing a similar project like ‘MywalkinManhattan.com’, I want to let you know how expensive it is to do. I have to pay not just for bus tickets, subway passes, meals, donations to museums and historical sites but the general wear and tear on my clothes. I am on my third pair of sneakers due to this walk. This is why you need to set a budget for it:
So I hope you enjoy ‘VisitingaMuseum.com’ and ‘DiningonaShoeStringinNYC.Wordpress.com when coming to Manhattan. Please check all of this places out online for a change of hours and exhibits and menus.
Check out the newest site, “LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com” for small boutiques and specialty shops that are unique and quirky.
Please check out my fire fighting blog sites, ‘The Bergen County Firemen’s Home Association’, ‘tbcfma.Wordpress.com’, where I am blogging about the activities of the association that I am volunteering for at the home on a quarterly basis and the support that the organization gives to The New Jersey Firemen’s Home in Boonton, New Jersey. Firemen for all over Bergen County, where I live, volunteer their time up at the nursing home with activities to engage and cheer up our fellow fire fighters.
The second site about fire fighting I blog about is ‘The Brothers of Engine One Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department”, ‘EngineOneHasbrouckHeightsFireDepartmentNJ.Wordpress.com’, where I blog about the activities of Engine Company One, in which I am a member, as part of the Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department. We do a lot of volunteer work for the department and many of our members are very active and hold a lot of positions on the department.
The Brothers of Engine One HHFD (site now closed-Blogs moved to section of MywalkinManhattan.com called “My life as a Fireman”):
The most frequented of my blogs is “BergenCountyCaregiver.com’, a caregivers blog site to help adult caregivers take care of their loved ones. This helps caregivers navigate a very broken system and put all sorts of programs that might help them all in one place to read and chose what might help them. This deals with county, state and federal programs that most social workers miss because there are so many of them that don’t get a lot of attention. It is by far the most popular site.
The Bergen County Firemen’s Home Association
I wanted to share these with my readers and thank you for following my main blog, ‘MywalkinManhattan.com’. Please also share this with your friends who are visiting New York City to really tour the city by foot and see it for its own beauty and uniqueness.
I took some time before I start the next section of the walk to travel to Brooklyn to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden (See reviews on TripAdvisor and my blog ‘VisitingaMuseum’). I have been a member for over a decade and I am glad that my donation helps support the gardens. It is so much fun to walk around these beautiful individual gardens.
In 2017, I got to Brooklyn too late to visit the zoo or the Brooklyn Museum, so I took a walk to my favorite pizzeria in the area, Family Pizza at 720 Flatbush Avenue in Flatbush (See review on TripAdvisor). Their pizza is amazing and if you are in the area, walk down Flatbush Avenue for a slice. Even at the $2.75 price per slice, it is still great pizza. The sauce is so delicious and really makes their pizza.
Family Pizza on Flatbush Avenue at 720 Flatbush Avenue
I have never seen a neighborhood change so fast. It is going from a West Indian and Caribbean Black neighborhood to hipster central. I have never seen a place change so much in an eight month period. Every time I walk down this street, it looks like another ten businesses have left and the ‘for rent’ signs keep going up. All the local businesses are being replaced by all the frou-frou restaurants and shops that cater to the hipsters.
The Cheese Pizza at Family Pizza is excellent.
As all the new buildings keep going up all over the Flatbush Avenue and the surrounding streets, all the businesses that surround them change as well. Even some of the small local businesses have been smart and upgraded their stores. I passed a Jamaican bakery that had been opened for years is completely renovated. It still looks the same outside, but they have upgraded as the neighborhood has changed. On the five blocks to the pizzeria, I counted at the least ten businesses that have left and some have been replaced with new restaurants and shops.
I decided to look it up and the head of the Merchant’s Association said that there were 22 businesses that were closed now and they were not being filled so fast. The ones that are being filled are opening expensive restaurants with things like $12.00 hamburgers and $20.00 pizza when the restaurants in the are that are left are serving food that is just as good for half the price. This was the difference between Family Pizza, where I ate tonight and the fancy pizzeria that opened directly across the street with the same pizza for double the price. Pretty place in comparison but still at the end of the day it is pizza.
After my walk down Flatbush Avenue and dinner, I walked back up to the Gardens. The movie tonight was the ‘Fabulous Mr. Fox’, voiced by George Clooney and Merle Streep. It was not too fabulous. In fact, I found the movie boring and sending the wrong message to kids. That’s the reason why it was a big flop at the box office (I could not believe I stayed for the whole thing but I wanted to see how it ended).
With a former line up of the ‘Wizard of Oz’, ‘The Goonies’, ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ and ‘E.T’., they could have picked another classic live-action film like ‘The Parent Trap’ or ‘Freaky Friday’. They even cut out the free popcorn that they have every year. I could tell someone new was running it.
The best was when they showed “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Still the gardens were in bloom, and it was a beautiful warm, non-muggy night (79 degrees) to sit on the lawn and enjoy the film. The place is testament to families as it is like a step back into the 70’s with kids running around in their bare feet, parents talking to their neighbors and people from the same buildings socializing with one another.
The beautiful trellis in the gardens
It was nice to walk around the Crawford Rose Garden and some of the roses were coming back in bloom and the Japanese Garden was in full form. I had not been there since the Cherry Blossom Festival in April. I had missed a few of the events because of work but still the Gardens are going through a renovation and the new Water Garden is being expanded. If you live anywhere in the surrounding area, this is one membership you want to have in your collection of museums and parks.
Brooklyn Botanical Garden
It is one of those membership perks that I really enjoy and to come in all the way from New Jersey after work says something. It’s a great neighborhood to explore that is now constantly changing. It’s just nice to be outside under the stars watching a film on a warm summer night.
The Members Movie Night in 2022:
This was the first time we had a ‘Members Movie Night” since the pandemic started. They had to cancel the one in 2019 because of rain twice and not running it and in the summers of 2020 and 2021 due to COVID. It had been a real bummer but then I got the email that they were running it again in 2022.
The Cherry Blossom Lawn during the summer months
I got to the gardens in the latter afternoon after work and I wanted to order dinner to take in the gardens since we could picnic on the lawns before the film. I was starved so I went to Banh Mi Place at 824b Washington Avenue.
Banh Mi Place at 824b Washington Avenue in Brooklyn
I love the Banh Mi sandwiches here and I ordered the Pork Chop Banh Mi ($8.95). The sandwich was excellent. The marinated pork had so much flavor to it and the vegetables were so crisp and fresh that I love the quality of their sandwiches. I took my sandwich and my blanket and made my way to one of the back lawns of the gardens where other members were eating with their family and friends. It was a low 80-degree night and people were enjoying the sunshine and the cool breezes.
The Banh Mi Sandwich is excellent
Their sandwiches are excellent
After dinner, I walked more around the fountains and pools by the restaurant and the indoor exhibitions of the gardens and looked at the lotuses that were in bloom in the pools. There was a lot of plants that were in bloom this late in the summer and the whole garden had such a colorful appearance. In these post COVID times, it was nice to just walk around the park and enjoy the environment. After dinner and my walk around the gardens, I made my way to the Cherry Blossom lawn where the movie was being shown.
The Cranford Rose Garden
The movie this year was “Encanto”, which was an interesting live action movie, but it was hard to hear the film and it was more of a children’s film than one for adults. I ended up leaving early and as I left, I saw about fifty other people leaving the garden early as well. I guess like myself people did not want to be caught up in the crowd.
The Member’s Movie Night in 2024:
I had just been to the Dutchess County Fair the night before with my friend, Maricel and had to travel home after breakfast. Thank God that we went on a Tuesday night as it was all locals at the fair and it was not that crowded. I got home in time to go through my mail and emails and then turn around and run to Brooklyn. This whole week was about running around. With school starting in two weeks, I have a lot to accomplish.
I got into Brooklyn by 3:00pm and started my day at the Brooklyn Museum. Since the exhibition that I had wanted to see had just closed, I walked around the Egyptian Galleries and admired the art. After about an hour of touring around, I wanted to tour the gardens before it got too dark to take pictures. Talk about a spectacular evening with lots of sunlight.
I got a sandwich at 840 United Deli #1 at 840 Washington Street. I had stopped there once before for lunch and remembered their sandwiches being really good. I got their All American Hero which was Hot Turkey, Pastrami and Swiss Cheese tucked into a chewy fresh bun. Talk about the perfect choice on a cool night.
The All-American hero for dinner that evening was made with Hot Turkey and Pastrami with Swiss Cheese, Mustard and Mayo. What a great sandwich!
The hurricane had just passed by us a few night’s earlier and had cooled the weather down. Even the night at the fair had gone down into the 70’s. I had to wear a sweatshirt the night of the movie.
Entering the Brooklyn Botanic Garden on Movie Night
Entering the Gardens from the Main Entrance on Movie Night
The gardens were just spectacular the night of the movie. There was no one distinct flower blooming but many were and there were colorful blooms all over the gardens. I wondered through the gardens before it got dark (the movie would not start until 7:45pm at twilight) so I got a chance to walk through the entire set of gardens before the movie. I was able to snap pictures and just enjoy the late summer meeting. I joined the other members on the Cherry Tree Esplanade for picnicking. God that sandwich was good!
The Water Garden on Movie Night
The Water Garden on Movie Night
The Water Garden on Movie Night
The Water Garden on Movie Night
The Water Garden on Movie Night
The Water Garden on Movie Night
The Rock Garden on Movie Night
The Rock Garden on Movie Night
The Lotus Pools on Movie Night
The Lotus Pools on Movie Night
The Lotus Pools Gardens on Movie Night
The Lotus Garden Pools on Movie Night
It was quite a crowd that August evening. I don’t get it as I am always the one the little kids seem to run around as they chase each other all over the lawn.
People were starting to picnic at 6:00pm in the Cherry Blossom Esplanade
The trailer for “A Bugs Life” from 1998
Everyone picnicking and getting ready for the film to start
The crowds grew as everyone got ready for the film to start
All the members relaxing and watching “A Bugs Life” on the big screen. I ended up really enjoying the film
It got easier to watch the film as it got darker
It got really dark by the end of the film
It was just nice to be in the gardens again and to tour the different sections in bloom. This is what it was all about. Just relaxing! The Movie Night is a favorite evening event of the membership and the lawns are completely filled that evening as well as the gardens are busy all day.
In 2017 before I left for Brooklyn, I had a busy day running around Newark and then in Brooklyn visiting both the Newark Museum and Coney Island. I love how everything gets planned on the same day. Everyone was preparing for the Solar Eclipse on Monday, so both the Newark Museum and the American Museum of Natural History are getting ready for the viewings. So I stopped at the Newark Museum first today to see what they were planning knowing that New York was going to be very busy.
The Newark Museum is running a series of members mornings with a early morning tour of the museum and a light breakfast that seems to be catching on with the membership. We had a early morning tour of the kinetic sculpture of Uram Choe, a Korean artist who specializes in metal working sculptures that move on motion. His one piece upstairs in the Asian galleries opens up like the sun would in the morning and his downstairs on the second floor piece is a serpent eating itself, which is based on an old legend.
Mr. Choe’s is a South Korean born artist from an architect background. He was educated at the Chungang University in Seoul and graduated with both a B.F.A and M.F.A. from the college. Choe’s works push the genre of moving kinetic art toward its newer-generation iterations, such as robotic art (Wiki).] Each one of his pieces moves on a series of motors based on motion and is placed with such detail and the way it moves is so intricate.
The Newark Museum (See TripAdvisor review) is going though a major renovation where they will be opening the original entrance to the museum in the Fall after twenty years and hopefully a new beginning for a museum with a major identity crisis.
The museum has such amazing works to see in a beautiful setting but the problem is that Newark still has a negative image to most suburbanites. No one I know wants to go there and that is a real problem for the city. The museum in a great area of the downtown that is being rebuilt and refigured with all sorts of new housing and lofts but it will take time to shake the riots of the 60’s from people’s minds.
They just opened the new American Indian exhibition and refigured the American Art wing to reflect the development of the United States from Native American time to the present. Their Asian and African galleries are very detailed but the biggest problem they have is the imagine of an ‘African’ museum which they can’t seem to shake. It is such a gem and try not to miss going there.
We had a long talk in the gallery about the artist and about the development of Korean Art from Ancient times until today and then the museum had a beautiful Continental breakfast on the top floor of the Ballentine House. This was Mrs. Ballentine’s daughter’s section of the house that was built in the late 1890’s when they moved in after her husband’s death. The room, now used as the trustee’s room, is a look back on the Gilded Age and the invention of electricity in modern homes. It really showed me the treasure trove of artifacts that exist in this small museum.
After the tour, there was a quick tour of the museum and then a train ride to Manhattan and then a long subway ride on a beautiful clear sunny day to Coney Island. The whole thing took about two hours and I got there by three o’clock.
The contest was gloomy at both times I visited but everyone was eager
The Annual Sandcastle Building Contest in both 2017 and in 2024, I thought would be much bigger than it was. Only about twenty people were competing in it in 2017 and in 2024 about the same amount. With all the artists living in Brooklyn and in the Metropolitan area, I thought this would be a bigger deal than it was but still the works coming from it were spectacular. Several mounds of sand in one section of the beach outside of Luna Park were used but still the imagination of the work was spellbound.
The piles were set with numbers along the beach
Artists and families starting to work around 12:30pm
Getting ready to start
By 1:00pm, everyone was getting to work for the 4:00pm deadline
Most of the works that I saw were some forms of castle which seemed to be the object that everyone based their idea on but some people were a little more creative. There were bears, mermaids and in 2017, one artist even dug out a complete hole and had the imagine of a woman lying in the sea.
In 2024, the creativity was the same with themes of brownstone neighborhoods to mermaid queens to just a simple smile in the sand. There were professionals whose sand creativity was part of their artistic employment to families just having fun and spending time together.
This simple face just appeared on one of the piles at the end of the contest
The creation of the Shark sculpture
The Shark Sculpture in process
The Shark almost finished
The finished Shark Sculpture
Another artist created this Shark display
The Coney Island Alliance hired an artist to create this masterpiece. It just shows the creativity of some artists.
The Coney Island Alliance sculpture in form in the beginning
He kept carving and sculpting
The piece took form
Almost finished
The finished sculpture for the Coney Island Alliance was just beautiful
The final work that represented the Coney Island Alliance. This was the ultimate piece done by a professional artist. I loved the details on this. Some of the professional artists did works to welcome everyone to the contest and their detail work was interesting as you see in the picture above. This was not done by a group of ten year old’s.
Still there were all sorts of works of art created by people of all ages and they showed their stuff by creating their interpretations of their views of New York City and mythical animals that roam the woods, beaches and streets of the big City. Some were fun, some were whimsical and some just stood out in their creativity.
The ladies putting the final touches on the Rat with Pizza sculpture
My favorite sculpture of the contest the rat with a slice of pizza
The start of Beware of Dog sculpture done by this mother and son team
The finished Beware of Dog sculpture
The final touches of Beware of Dog. The details were very clever
These artists created their own affordable brownstone neighborhood in Brooklyn
Then there was the Tales of Two Coasts, New York and Los Angeles, which had real estate details of their own.
I loved this look of Los Angeles, CA
This was the New York City side of the sculpture
Home ownership continued with this kitchen sculpture
Some of the mythical creatures included mermaids, animals and creatures large and small.
This family was sculpting the most clever cat
The finished Cat Inquiry sculpture
Another family was finishing this Hammerhead Shark towards the end of the contest
This Sea Maiden appeared in the sand
Rebirth and Birth Sculpture
This penguin found a home in the sand
This Heart with a Sunflower was in its final stages when I saw it last
The Magical Train was one of the first sculptures done
A Castle with a Moat was created
The mighty Elephant was being worked on towards the end of the contest
The iconic New York Hot Dog is happily served
The Shellebrity Sightings sculpture
The Phoenix sculpture on the beach
One of the most detailed sculptures I saw the creation of the Mermaid Queen.
The creation of the Mermaid Queen
The Mermaid Queen takes shape
The finished Queen Mermaid with her Crown
The finished Mermaid Queen
There was also the creation of the Sand Witches with their big smiles.
Creating the Sand Witches
Creating the main character
The Sand Witches sculpture
The creation of Do Not Feed the Bears
The finished Do Not Feed the Bears sculpture
Another Mermaid appears
Here and there during the contest and for the rest of the day, the sun peaked out now and then giving us some sun but the rest of the day remained cloudy. Still that did not dampen the spirits of our artists and by 4:00pm the winners were announced. The Winners were sculptures numbers 63, 07 and 39 with the People’s Choice being 01 (I am not too sure I have everything numbered) but the ones above are my favorites and worthy of all the picture taking.
In 2017, I walked along the beach to relax my feet and as I walked, I could not believe how empty the beaches were for a Saturday afternoon in August. By the water it was full but towards the back by the boardwalk it was empty. In 2024, the incoming hurricane weather kept people away as the beaches were closed for swimming. The surf was really rough that morning and afternoon and the weather was gloomy. Even when I visited on the 4th of July, the beaches were not as crowded as I would have thought. Not the Coney Island of yesteryear when every spot was full. I guess its just not that place anymore.
Taking a walk along the gloomy and almost empty Midway by Luna Park
After a long walk along the beach, I dried off and walked the boardwalk to the end to Seagate, a private community at the end of the boardwalk. Along the way, I passed by the Coney Island Houses, one of the more dangerous housing complexes in Brooklyn. I don’t know whose brilliant idea it was to build low-income housing along the shore front but that made no sense to me.
It looked like the complex was having a barbecue, that is until two guys went after each other in the basketball court area as the DJ was announcing a kids dance. She was beside herself to tell them to calm down. Then you had two groups of people trying to calm the situation down. It was not a pleasant scene.
I got to the end of the boardwalk and decided I wanted to see all of Surf Avenue to see the real changes on the island since the closing of the amusement area. I agree with an article I read years ago; it still is like a war zone.
They built all this public housing outside Seagate and as you walk along Surf Avenue until you get to about where the rehab center is, it just looks like Beirut. The whole area is full of rundown looking public housing and the street itself is a shell of the once glorious resort if it ever was that. If there are ever going to get this island back into shape, the city seriously needs to rethink this part of the island.
I walked the entire length of Surf Avenue down to Brighton Beach and really looked at the stretch of the island facing the shore. By Brighton Beach, the area got so much nicer and more built up. Even in some of the pockets before the amusement area, they are building new condos along the boardwalk in between the projects. Even still, even when you reach Nathan’s, there is just too much wasted opportunity along the shore front.
Walking on the Coney Island Boardwalk in 2017
I turned around and walked up Stillwell Avenue by the subway spot and there they are starting to knock down the block and replacing it with low rise apartment buildings. This is where all the hipster people must be living. It looks like more of this area is about to come down.
In 2024, I got to the beach at 12:30pm and walked around the shore until about 2:00pm watching everyone build their creations. Then I walked around Deno’s Wonderwheel Park, watching the patrons on the Wonderwheel and going into Spookarama, their haunted house ride.
Spookarama in Deno’s Wonderwheel Park
The haunted display by the ride
The haunted display in the park
In 2017 for dinner, I went to Totonno’s Pizzeria Napolitano at 1524 Neptune Avenue between 15th and 16th Streets (See TripAdvisor review). This place is harder to get into than any trendy restaurant in Manhattan. They only make so much dough and as a matter of fact the smaller pizzas sold out before I got there and it was 4:30pm when I ate my lunch/dinner. The place was busy the entire time I got there. The only bad thing about the restaurant is the seating. They need to reconfigure their tables to accommodate more people. You can’t seat a single person like myself at a six top table.
The menu is so simple. Either you get a small or large pizza with a choice of ten toppings for $2.50 extra. The drinks were pricey with a bottle of Coke being $2.50. The pizza was $20.50 for the large or $18.50 for the small. The place is cash only.
The pizza was wonderful and with the size and the quality of ingredients, well worth the money. You get a large pizza that is a large pizza with fresh tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella, which gives it a different flavor from the shredded processed cheese most places use giving it a creamy flavor. The whole thing was topped with fresh basil and I added sausage to it. Cooking it in a coal brick stove gave it a nice smoky flavor. Needless to say, the owner could not believe I ate almost the entire pie at one sitting.
Totonna’s Cheese Pizza
I met Louise Ciminieri, the current owner and the granddaughter of the original owner. She told me how the business passed down from her grandfather to her uncle and then to her. Her uncle had a habit of only making so much dough and after it was gone, the restaurant closed for the day. A little strange for a business to make money.
Owner Louise Ciminieri of Totonno’s Pizza
She could not have been nicer or more welcoming to me and seemed to get a kick at the fact that I made such a fuss in meeting her. I told her of all the reviews online and the fact that my own mom had eaten here probably when her uncle first owned the business. She has not changed the place much over the years and she explained how the neighborhood has changed so much since they opened. What was once an Italian neighborhood is now all car repair places.
After dinner in 2017, I took once last walk around Surf Avenue and then headed back to Manhattan where I ended up spending the rest of the evening at an outdoor concert in Bryant Park. It was nice to just relax and listen to the music.
In 2024, I passed the pizzeria and it still has not opened for in house dining but people were buying pizzas to go. I thought I saw the owner sitting at the only booth left inside but I was not sure. I have to say that without in house dining, there is no reason to go. There is no place to eat around the restaurant (it is not the best part of Coney Island) and I don’t want to drag a pizza three blocks back to the beach to eat it on a bench. The pizzeria is only open on the weekends as well, so I searched around Mermaid Avenue for someplace else to dine.
Here I found Pizza on the Run at 1627 Mermaid Avenue near the side entrance to the subway station. I had passed the place many times but the outside always looked a little shoddy and I avoided it. Big Mistake! The pizza is amazing!
I have to admit that the pizza was a little pricey at $3.50 a slice but the slice was oversized and their sauce on the pizza was delicious. It was so well spiced and gave it so much flavor that I enjoyed every bite.
The Cheese slice was amazing and I plan on going back in the future and trying more items here.
After lunch was over, I gave myself some time before the contest was officially over and walked around this section of Coney Island. Little by little it is getting better. As the luxury rentals along Surf Avenue are getting ready to open for residents, I can see that they are trying to fix up Mermaid Avenue behind it. A lot of the businesses that had been there a few months ago are now closed and the side walks from the subway station down three blocks are being fixed. Along the walls was a bright mural welcoming people to Coney Island from the subway side.
The Welcome to Coney Island mural by Mermaid Avenue
Danielle Mastrion is a Brooklyn-born, New York City based painter and muralist who specializes in large scale, brightly colored murals (Artist bio).
Coney Island Surf Avenue businesses next to Nathan’s
On the way back to the beach, four other murals stood out as well. These are located on the walk down the sidewalk to Nathan’s on Surf Avenue.
Mural One
Mural Two
Mural Three
Mural Four
After the contest winners were announced in 2024 at 4:00pm, I left to head back to Manhattan. It was such a gloomy day. There was not much else going on that afternoon and people were leaving the beaches. As I took a look back at the shore, the waves were really coming in meaning the storm was on its way up the coast (we did get hit in Sunday).
I headed back to Manhattan to see the movie “The Funhouse” at the MoMA. They were having a retrospect on director Toby Hooper’s movies so I had already seen “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Poltergeist” .
The trailer for “The Funhouse” by director Toby Hooper
After the movie was over, trying to find a restaurant for dinner was trying in of itself. I had not realized how many restaurants in Midtown were closing at 9:00pm even on Friday night post-COVID.
I went into Murray Hill and the restaurant I had planned to go to had already closed at 8:45pm so I looked at my dine around program and found that Dim Sum Garden at 338 Lexington Avenue. I was really in the mood for Chinese food that evening and it came highly recommended.
I was able to order before the kitchen closed and it was a nice dinner. The food was so fresh and it looked like everything was made to order and homemade in the kitchen. The Shrimp Balls were especially good. They were made with sweet shrimp meat, nicely coated with rice flour and deep fried perfectly. It was one of the best Dim Sum meals I have had in a awhile.
My dinner of Soup Dumpling, Shrimp Balls and Roast Duck Rolls
The Shrimp Balls
The Soup Dumplings
The Roast Duck Rolls
It was a fun and very productive day and a great way to end the trip to Coney Island. The weather may have been a bit gloomy both times I visited Coney Island for the contest but it did not damper the spirit of the event. It looked like everyone had fun.
The Coney Island Sandcastle Building Contest is held each August.
Please check out my recent blog on the Coney Island Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4th, 2024:
I had finished the Manhattan Valley neighborhood earlier in the day when the Soup Kitchen was full and they did not need me. So, I walked the lower part of the neighborhood to finish it off and then walked across Central Park to the beginning of the new subway stop for the Q subway train at 96th Street and Second Avenue. As I had written on Day Sixty-Six on my walk, this subway line is really nice and take time to look at the artwork at the stops at 96th, 72nd and 63rd Streets.
The 96th Street stop my starting point
If you are going to take the Q to Coney Island leave yourself plenty of time because it is over an hour to get from one end of the Q to the other. It was a beautiful warm clear sunny day around 84 degrees and a perfect day to go to the shore.
The 96th Street artwork in the terminal
I love the Q train! I love the new section of the subway with its interesting art and the fact that it is so clean. That and the fact they the E subway has the newest cars to stretch out in. It makes it a pleasure for the long trips.
The artwork on the 96th Street station
You get some of the best views of the city from the subway once you cross over into Brooklyn. You get a great view of lower Manhattan when exiting from underground plus you get to see the old parts of Brooklyn with views of the ‘Brownstone’ neighborhoods. There’s another area that keeps changing with gentrification.
The subway ends at the Stillwell subway stop. This rebuilt stop was the first part in the renovation of the island to make it a more 24-hour resort. Most of the other plans have been scrapped or were never enacted. To be honest with all of you, the amusement area of Coney Island is still dumpy and has not been much since the Luna Park fire of 1946 and the Dreamland fire of 1911. They keep trying though.
The changes on Surf Avenue keep happening every month
Even when I went to Coney Island as a kid in the 70’s, it was rundown then. Please don’t get me wrong, Coney Island can be a lot of fun and you can have a great day out here but don’t get too lofty of expectations of what it is like (See reviews on TripAdvisor). Don’t venture too far from Nathan’s after dark and follow the crowd back to the Stillwell subway station after dark if you stay for the films on the beach or the fireworks.
The Coney Island Museum Bar is a great place to relax when you get to Coney Island.
I have been down for the Mermaid Parade in the Spring several years ago and will be going to the Sandcastle Building contest next week. There is a lot going on during the summer and it is good to check out these activities. The Hot Dog Eating Contest at Nathan’s draws thousands to the island to watch their hero’s devour hot dogs at record speed.
Still the I love to explore the changes to the island and walked around Surf and Neptune Avenues after I got there. I wanted to see if Totonno’s Pizza was open that day so I walked for two blocks Neptune Avenue and I will tell you that though the area is changing it still is not a great neighborhood.
Totonno’s is in the middle of a commercial area with a series of garages and car repairs at 1524 Neptune Avenue. The worst part was that it closed for the day. The restaurant is only opened from Wednesday to Sunday so it’s for another time. I did get to see the back part of the island and found where the original Coney Island Creek was located. This is where the original Sea Lion Park and Luna Park were located back in the early part of the century.
I changed my plans around and walked the length of Surf Avenue and started my walk around the amusement area which runs from the Aquarium at West 8th Street to about West 16th Street. Even with the rebuilding of Luna Park on the footprint of the old Astroland, Surf Avenue needs a major makeover. The chain restaurants have added a little life to it but still some of the blocks are a series of rundown buildings and old-time amusements.
The Coney Island Boardwalk
I stopped by the Coney Island Museum at 1208 Surf Avenue and the museum part was closed for the day but the side show part was open but I had missed the show. I walked around some of the open exhibitions on the outside and it is interesting to see some of the artifacts from the old amusement days.
My next stop was the famous Cyclone Roller Coaster on West 10th Street (see review on TripAdvisor). This is the most amazing and exciting ride on the island and one of the things you should see while you are in New York City. It is $10.00 to ride the coaster but it is well worth it! That first hill you go down is so mind-blowing. You feel as if the cars are going to fly into the sea. It rolls up and down those hills back and forth facing the buildings across the street and the sea. Of all the amusement parks I have been to there is nothing like the Cyclone.
I walked into the Luna Park area and saw the improvements that have been added to the park. The problem with Luna Park is that it’s mostly kiddie rides and not much for adults with the exception of the Log Flume Ride. Luna Park was rebuilt on the old Astroland which had closed by in 2008 and is trying to capture the old magic of the island with upgrades on rides and concessions. It even recreated the original entrance of Luna Park across the street from the old park. Still, it will take a lot more work on the park and more added rides in the future. I give them so much credit for revitalizing the park with a new look.
I walked after that to Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park, 1025 Regielmann Boardwalk, which I had not been on for about seven years and the famous Spook-a-Rama, which I had not ridden since I was about eight. The Wonder Wheel was built back in the 20’s and with a height of 150 feet, has great views of the ocean and of the island. Both rides were $8.00 and were well worth it for the day.
When riding the Wonder Wheel, make sure to get one of the cars that slide. Not only do you get the view but you get the excitement of sliding around. When you reach the top of the Wonder Wheel, it has the most breathtaking view of the boardwalk area, the beach and ocean and a view of the whole island. The breeze is so refreshing up there and you feel like the world is your own. Talk about seeing the world go by.
Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park at 1025 Regielmann Boardwalk
After the Wonder Wheel, I walked over to Spook-a-Rama, also $8.00, which I first rode when I was eight and it has not changed that much since then. It does have a few thrills that do pop out at you that will have you jumping. There have been a few updates on it with video displays but for the most part I remember it being much scarier as a kid. I will let you know though the first couple of things popping out at you will still have you jumping out of your seat but still it’s not the Haunted Mansion at Disney Parks.
Spook-a-Rama at Deno’s Wonderwheel Park
The entrance of the Spook-a-Rama
I had enough time to go to the New York Aquarium located at West 8th Street, just past the Cyclone. During Hurricane Sandy in 2012, most of the Aquarium was seriously damaged and most of the park is still under construction. The Coral Exhibition is still interesting especially with the destruction of the wreaths around the world and the Sea Lion demonstration is a lot of fun. The Sea Lions are such hams and seem to love the crowds. What I thought was interesting is that both of them were born in New York City at the Bronx Zoo, so they have only known humans. Still, they look like they are having fun. They seem to love waving to the audience and the crowds love them back.
While I was walking on the Boardwalk, I caught this group of people dancing to the BeeGees. The 1970’s have never really ended.
My last stop of the evening was dinner at Nathan’s at 1310 Surf Avenue. This hot dog chain was founded in 1916 and is still in their original location. They have the best hot dogs and their French fries are some of the best in the industry. When you go you have to have the original hot dog with mustard, the regular fries (which is a large order anywhere else) and their famous Orange-aid. It is the best meal.
On a hot sunny day, it is nice to sit out on the tables right next to the restaurant. There is something about the sea breezes, the salt air and hot dogs and fries that make a phenomenal combination. It is a meal that is part of the beach experience and that was worth the trip alone.
My favorite meal at Nathan’s: A Hot Dog, French Fries and an icy Coke
Before it got too late, I was back on the Q Train back to Manhattan. I’m sorry but sensible people still get out of Coney Island before it gets dark. Even though the subway station on Stillwell and Surf Avenues is very safe and there is a police station there, it’s better to leave before dusk. I don’t care how many artists have moved into the area.
The subway ride took just over an hour to get back to Manhattan but it was still light out when I left the shore area and got my last glimpse of the ocean pass by. There is nothing like watching the sun reflect on the beach. The best was that we passed lower Manhattan before we went under the tunnel and watched the skyline brightened by the lights in the office towers. If you want to see an amazing site, it is when the city lights come on and the skyline is ablaze. It is like a picture postcard and impressive. When people think of New York City, this is what they imagine.
Coney Island Beach
When I finally got back to 96th Street, I had some time to look at the artwork again and stretch around the station. I still love to see museum quality art in a subway. Then it was off back on the Q back to midtown.
For the price of a round-trip ticket on the subway, it is fantastic voyage around the city on the new Q. Artwork, amusements, skyline views and the beach. What more could you want?
From Q to Q Beginning to End from 96th Street to Stillwell Avenue
I gave up a day in Manhattan Valley and took one of the walking ‘trends tours’ with the Fashion Institute of Technology. These theme tours cover neighborhoods that are considered ‘up and coming’ or are already there but at the cutting edge at this point.
What is all really means is that the artists are still struggling, the buildings are not shiny and perfect and the stores and restaurants are in their first generation in the neighborhood mixing with the older neighborhood spots. Red Hook reminded me a small urban neighborhood isolated from the rest of ‘stroller Brooklyn’ closer to Prospect Park.
The tour was lead by Deborah Geiger, the Director of Content from Envirosell. Deborah Geiger, who you will note on ‘MywalkinManhattan.com Day Forty-Seven Touring Bushwick’ (July 9, 2016), lead the tour of Bushwick last summer.
I teased Deborah this time wondering where ‘they were’ for this group. She wondered what I was talking about and I said on every tour I go on for school there is always one pain in the ass who either gets tired, can’t keep up with the tour, their hot or its not what they thought it was when they signed up.
They whine the whole time and want the complete attention of the tour guide the whole time. We had one this time again and thank God this one left the group as soon as we got to Red Hook. He lasted about twenty minutes into the tour and decided to leave. I wish more of them would do this so they don’t wreak it for the rest of us. I really think the college should explain to these people that every tour is different and the fact that it is ‘a walking tour’.
We started our tour for the day at the lobby of FIT, so we had time to see the new “Force of Nature” exhibition at the The Museum at FIT (See TripAdvisor review and my blog “VisitingaMuseum.com”). Don’t miss this as the clothes are interesting and they mounted the exhibition with interesting clothes through the ages.
The Museum at FIT
Then it was a short trip by subway to the tip of Manhattan by the South Street Seaport where we took the IKEA Water Taxi to Red Hook docking by the giant IKEA store on the base of Red Hook. That was fun and what a beautiful day it was to travel by boat.
Red Hook
The ride via New York Water Taxi is complimentary on weekends with the thanks from IKEA. It is a nice way to travel between spots especially on a warm, sunny day.
‘Clothing through the Ages’ exhibition
The trip took only twenty minutes but what a beautiful trip. We got the most picturesque view of lower Manhattan and of the Statue of Liberty. The view of all the buildings is spectacular. This is New York City the way people imagine it all over the world.
Talk about Street Art: Me on a side street with “The Shining”
We landed at the slip where IKEA is located and walked around the harbor area to Van Brunt Street, the main artery of Red Hook, for a quick snack at Baked, 359 Van Brunt Street (See review on TripAdvisor).
Baked Red Hook
It is one of those coffee shops that every neighborhood should have with cool seating, interesting music and the most delicious baked goods. I had the most amazing cinnamon rolls that I have ever had. This giant delight was filled with loads of cinnamon and had the thickest icing. It was a treat. We gobbled our treats down and then headed off to the Van Brunt Stillhouse at 6 Bay Street for a tasting.
The Van Brunt Stillhouse is an artisan distillery that produces high quality whiskey and rum. The owner had been in television and decided to make a career change. He had been dabbling in this for a long time and decided to make it a career. We had a tour of the small Stillhouse with its barreling all around us and a funky tasting room. We were allowed to taste the aged whiskey and get a good mouth feel of the product. After one shot, that was more than enough for me.
We moved on to more touring as we walked to the water to the former warehouses housing the Red Hook Winery at 175 Van Dyke Street for a tour of the facility. The Winery is really interesting as it is housed in an old shipping facility that has been converted into a wedding venue and an art gallery. If you get a chance to visit the winery, it is really interesting. Its not your normal winery as it has three different owners with three different philosophies.
Red Hook Winery 175 Van Dyke Street
They buy their grapes from the North Fork of Long Island and Upstate New York and created their own wines and blends. The collection is rounded off by other high quality New York wines. Our tour guide showed us the barreling method they use and that they still use their feet to crush grapes for the wine. I thought that was an interesting fact. We toured their ‘racking’ method of wine by rotating the barrels and sampling.
The front of the winery is used for tastings and for socializing. The place was mobbed by the time we got there and it was definitely a younger crowd. I was surprised as I thought the next generation was not interesting in these things. People were tasting wines, conversing about them and looking over the selection. It is an impressive room done in light stained colors and surrounded by the selection of wines.
Our next stop on the tour was Cacao Prieto at 218 Conner Street. This is the most unusual factory tour that we tour. When you enter the back of the factory, there is a tree growing in the middle of the building. We all got a kick out that. The guide let us see the small factory with its showroom up front and production areas off to the side. The whole set up is really nice and the chocolate bars are so beautifully designed.
Cocao Prieto at 218 Conner Street
Our next part of the tour lead us Van Brunt Street to the Peninsula Art Space at 352 Van Brunt Street. We walked through the exhibition of ‘Grand Ole Opera’, an exhibition by Brent and Willie Stewart. The Tennessee born artists exhibition is their institutional debut in the United States, also serves as a venue for a related series of noise, metal and rock concerts, staged within a revival tent.
“Within the exhibition itself, cinematic tableau’s reveal a truck turned to AM radio; bizarre trailer-homes containing surreal sculptural landscapes. a perpetually-burning sun projected under a revival ten, which doubles as a stage; the “murder bar”, a nomadic functioning biker bar from the Deth Killers of Bushwick and Romulus and Remus, who nursed at the wolf’s breast and founded ancient Rome, found in a bar-fight”. (Catalogue Pioneer Works)
It was an interesting experience walking through 70’s recreational vehicles and watching B movies on the screen. It was a real ‘red-neck’ experience. The gallery even has a court yard to walk around where more of the exhibition was housed.
After that it was a tour of the Peninsula Art Space at 352 Van Brunt Street for a look at their latest exhibition. While looking at the work of a local artist (interesting perspective of the neighborhood in his paintings), we had a lively debate on the gentrification of the neighborhood and the one the gallery representative lived in, Bed-Sty. We debated the attributes about living above and below Gates Street where all the projects are located. She was amazed that I knew so much but I do read these articles.
Art at the Peninsula Gallery at 352 Van Brunt Street
Our last stop closer to the border of the neighborhood was the Raaka Chocolate Factory at 64 Seabring Street off Van Brunt Street. This is the most interesting candy factory where the owner just fell into the field when travelling abroad and found the cocoa beans.
Raaka Chocolate Company
The factory has created a top of the line assortment of dark chocolate bars that are beautifully packaged. I do have a thing about $10.00 chocolate bars but these are a once in a while treat and the best part is they let you sample all the bars. The best was the lavender and the ghost pepper, which took time to linger on your taste buds when you bit into it. Like most of the factories we visited, we got a sample to the small cottage industries that are developing in this section of Brooklyn. I can go back for a more formal tour and tasting in the future.
We took a pit stop at Dolce Brooklyn for homemade gelato at 305 Van Brunt Street. This store has the most amazing homemade ice creams and gelato (See TripAdvisor review). I had the most delicious home trio of Strawberry Mint, Blueberry Lavender and Raspberry Mint. God , were these refreshing on a hot, humid day.
Me enjoying the Gelato at Dolce Brooklyn (see review on TripAdvisor)
There was a tangy-tartness to the flavors and they really do quench your taste buds. We were talking to the owner, who is French and he and the lady working the counter explained how his wife had gone to Italy to learn how to make proper gelato. I thought that was going to the extremes but it was well worth it in quality. The shop should not be missed on a hot day and it is one of those stores every neighborhood should have with its cool seating and relaxing atmosphere.
On our way back down Van Brunt Street, we stopped to go through some of the local stores and I got separated from the group. With only fifteen minutes left on the tour and totally starved (that was the only bad part of the tour is that we did not have time to stop for lunch), I figured the rest of the group was heading back to the ferry to go to Manhattan.
I decided to get some lunch and stopped at Marc’s Pizza at 326 Van Brunt Street (See review on TripAdvisor) for a slice of pizza and a potato croquette. The food is very good and you will love the atmosphere. The owner is a real character. Over the cash register there is a sign that shows a gun and it reads “We don’t call 911!”. The owner says he asks nicely the first time and then people stop (if you know what I mean). It’s not something you want to test. The pizza is great though and he gives you a nice size slice and his sauce has a lot flavor. The potato croquette is great as well. It’s a nice place for a quick lunch.
Mark’s Red Hook Pizza
I walked around the bottom part of Van Brunt Street, looking at the shops and galleries. I stopped in Foxy & Winston at their gift selection. Not only does the owner have a nice of stuffed animals and stationary but she has the nicest dog to pet. He is so friendly that he distracted me from the group as they left without me. It was no matter it is a nice store that should be visited. I wanted to stay behind to explore some more.
My last stop on the tour was the Rood Gallery at 373 Van Brunt Street. I was attracted by the display in her windows of these little clay creatures by artist Peter Opheim. He makes the most unusual little clay monsters or characters, I don’t know how to describe them. They look like Japanese Pokémon. It was funny that I mentioned that to gallery owner, Samar Maziad. She told me that when Japanese tourist visit the gallery they will buy a few because they think the same thing. The only problem is that they are not cheap. They come with a small painting and certificate and beautifully boxed in a collection but at the same time are several thousand dollars. Their better to look at and admire.
The Rood Gallery at 373 Van Brunt Street
I ended my tour walking around the waterfront at the Pier 44 Waterfront Garden and then walked back to the Erie Basin Park where IKEA was located and where the ferry is located. What a view of the Manhattan skyline! It must be something when its dark outside. These parks are a very nice place to just sit and relax and admire the view.
Still for all its charm and small town feel, Red Hook was still under water when Hurricane Sandy hit and it below sea level. Not an environment that I want to live in. You debate all of this in an up and coming neighborhood but still Red Hook, Brooklyn does have its charm to it. It was a engaging tour and I give tour guide Deborah Geiger credit again for a great touring experience. Its nice when your can meet shop owners and manufacturers who are working to create a real neighborhood.
These ‘trend’ walking tours are taken through the Fashion Institute of Technology Continue Education program and are well worth the price ($45.00). You can visit any part of the city on your own but to really see the neighborhood and experience meeting the business owners and seeing the out of the way places you might miss on your own, they are a lot of fun. You can access all tours on the college website.
I am also an Alumnus of The Fashion Institute of Technology (Class of 93) and a Lifetime member of the FIT Alumni Association.
Also don’t miss my blog about the recent “Barnacle Parade” every October:
Sakura Matsuri: The Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival on April 29, 2017, at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden
The beauty of the park in the spring
I took time out of ‘MywalkinManhattan.com’ to visit Brooklyn and the Brooklyn Botanical Garden at 990 Washington Avenue (see review on TripAdvisor) for the annual ‘Sakura Matsuri’, the Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival that the garden hosts every year at this time to welcome in the blossoming of the cherry trees in the main part of the garden.
The Cherry Blossom Festival in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Needless to say, the gardens were mobbed with people. This festival has grown every year since I have been a member. When I first joined the gardens back in 2003 it was a much smaller festival but after a few articles in the New York Times, it has become quite the event.
The event features all sorts of activities such as traditional dance, music and fashion. There is even a traditional Japanese market with all sorts of products such as books, wraps of clothing, pillows and food. Chocolate sampling seemed to the most popular and those booths were practically fighting people off.
The beginnings of the Spring
I got there so late since it is almost a two-hour trip by public transportation. I arrived there by noon time and was able to cut in front of everyone through the Membership line. That saved about 45 minutes.
Brooklyn Botanical Garden entrance at 990 Washington Avenue
I was able to walk through the trees, dodging people taking pictures an picnicking on the grass. There were all sorts of concerts and fashion shows going on while I was walking around. Most of the events and workshops did not interest me but one.
The Cherry Blossom Lawn during the summer months
The J-Music Ensemble of Brooklyn preformed in the Osborne Garden by the entrance of the garden. They were playing traditional Japanese video game music themes. This left me lost as I have not followed these video games in years and have not looked at Pokémon since I left FAO Schwarz over twenty years ago. Nothing was lost in the translation as the concert was excellent and did not feel that this really catered to kids. After just two songs, most of the little kids and their parents walked out of the concert. The most interesting part of the concert is that they had us sitting in blown up chairs of one of the characters of the cartoons.
The group like the audience was very multi-cultural as some of the members were from Japan, some from Brooklyn and others from all over the US. It seemed by the introduction; they were all living in Brooklyn now. Whatever the situation, the music was wonderful, and we all enjoyed the concert.
The entrance of the Gardens
The best part of the day was just walking through the extensive gardens and the cherry trees. When walking through the row of trees closer to the Japanese Garden, the wind blew, and I was walking through a sea of cherry petals. That was just amazing. I haven’t felt a high like that since I had a school of angel fish part in front of me on a reef off the coast of Bora Bora.
The Cranford Rose Gardens
The rest of the afternoon I explored the rest of the gardens, walking through the Water, Rock and the Japanese gardens, looking over the plantings. I was sorry that I missed seeing Daffodil Hill when it is in full bloom and the Tulip gardens were just peaking in bloom. That was still a dazzling display of colors.
The beginning of the Cherry Blossom Festival
In April is when the real magic begins and the blossoms are in full bloom. I revisited the Gardens again in April 2024 and got better pictures and really showed the Gardens in their true beauty. The bloomed early than usual and it was another warm sunny day when I sat on the lawn and just enjoyed looking at the blossoms.
The Cherry Blossom lawn on a warm afternoon.
People out enjoying the blossoms.
The crowds enjoying Mother Nature’s show
The blossoms at full peak.
I walked out of the back part of the gardens and explored Prospect Park and the Prospect Park Zoo. Even that was mobbed with people from the garden displays spilling into the zoo. I got there in time to see the seal feeding and that is always fun. The seals seem to like an audience.
Daffodil Hill at its height
In search of something to eat, I avoided the fast-food restaurants at the back of the park and explored Flatbush Avenue into Prospect-Lefferts neighborhood. This area is in the midst of a major gentrification. The last time I walked down Flatbush Avenue, I could see the changes starting and that was in February.
Four months later, I have seen about ten businesses close their doors with ‘For Rent’ signs on the windows and some of these businesses were neighborhood staples. There are two more apartment buildings opening up in the neighborhood and that will change the complexity of the area even more.
With Midwood, Kensington, Borough Park and Ditmas Park to the south of the neighborhood, the area is surrounded by middle-class enclaves that keep expanding. This area in just four months is going through a very quick transition as new people move into the area.
The Childrens Garden during the summer months
I avoided the ‘hipster’ restaurants that are so over-priced anyway and went back to ‘Family Pizza’ at 720 Flatbush Avenue (See review on TripAdvisor). The pizza is just amazing in this little hole in the wall pizzeria which has been family owned for years. The slices are huge and the sauce has some flavor to it. The guys are the counter are really nice too.
Family Pizza on Flatbush Avenue at 720 Flatbush Avenue
The Cheese pizza is excellent here.
The rest of the afternoon I just explored the side streets and then made one last trip through the gardens. The cherry blossoms were not going to last past this weekend, and I wanted to enjoy them one more time. It really is a beautiful park.
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