Day Two: Brooklyn by Choice: 12/21/21

December 21, 2021 – Winter Solstice, Shortest Day of the Year, Persian celebration of Longest Night of the Year, and Michael’s Birthday!

Started out for brunch in Cobble Hill at LuluC and walked along Smith Street to see changes in the area. Cobble Hill and Carrol Gardens had already undergone gentrification ten and 20 years ago, so while the names of shops and restaurants have changed, it was pretty much as we remembered it (at least how we remembered it over many visits during the past 20 years—but quite different from what we remember earlier than that.)

It’s here that you find good neighborhood restaurants and cafes and little shops that are dedicated to promoting the borough of Brooklyn. From there we set out for Coney Island along a very meandering route that took us through Boro Park (where I grew up) and the edges of Park Slope (where Mike grew up). Park Slope has undergone real gentrification (which we have seen over these many years and Mike can no longer say he grew up on a street without trees and in a railroad apartment; well of course he did, but there is no longer any physical proof of this as his street is totally tree-lined and what were those long narrow windowless railroad apartments are now condos that have combined units so that they are no longer windowless other than front and back). But my neighborhood is quite different in that what was once a lower-middle class area with about an equal mix of Italians and Jews but now is about 95% Hasidic, with storefront synagogues and “yeshivas.” So it’s a pretty alien environment.

My two residences when growing up – one was three apartments (all occupied by extended family) – with our family occupying about 600 sq. ft. (one bedroom which my brother and I shared; parents sleeping on a sofa bed in the living room; our next “larger” apartment was in a four-unit building and our unit was about 750 sq feet. Both of these houses are now occupied by Hasidic families who have many children and have transformed the fourplex into a duplex and the triplex into what I believe is a house for just one family, but I’m not certain. The two houses are just two blocks apart. In reflecting back, like many of you, I cannot believe that as a family of four we lived in such a small space. We were always renters, so we only had the use of the actual apartment, no access to the backyard.

I’ve been back numerous times to see what’s the same and what has changed. Frankly, this time things looked a little better than the last time. 

From there we did a really long and winding route to Coney Island, mostly along the five-miles of Coney Island Avenue, a wide four lane street with parking on both sides… and totally commercial so the street is lined with small shops that change by ethnicity as the avenue moves south/southeast and accommodates the different people who live in each enclave of the strip.

We walked the boardwalk (all shops and food stalls were closed) and even out onto one of the piers. As a child, each section of the beach (divided into “bays”) had a number. It seemed to me that now they have names. Growing up in Brooklyn, each bay sort of “belonged” to a different high school and you hung out at that bay.

By the way, for those who do know the area Nathans (the original one on Surf Avenue) was open and we thought we’d actually grab a snack.. but that was the first and only place that was not checking for vaccines and we saw people go in without masks – so we left. In response to some questions – NY is very strict about IDs and vaccine proof, so it was a little surprising to see Nathans ignoring the law. Or maybe not so surprising.

We then meandered back to the hotel through different neighborhoods (not along Coney Island Avenue) – and headed to Dyker Heights which is famous for its Christmas light decorations. When I was growing up this area was predominantly Italian American and I  think that still holds true based on the number of Italian restaurants and other stores and shops that feature Italian specialties. I’ve attached some photos so I will not say any more about Xmas in Dyker Heights.

More soon about Mike’s birthday dinner.

Fern