Day 5 Brooklyn: September 30, 2025

Greetings from Brooklyn—where the deep-fried Twinkie originated, along with tootsie rolls, Sweet ‘n’ Low, the first bank credit card, the roller coaster, and teddy bears. And over the course of these travel blogs about Brooklyn, I failed to mention that:

• If Brooklyn was a city, it would be the fourth largest city in the US (with a population of more than 2.5 million); it is the most populous borough of the city (Manahttan population is just 1.6 million)
• Celebrities born in Brooklyn include Larry David, Woody Allen, Barbara Streisland, Judge Judy, Eddie Murphy, Spike Lee, Al Capone, Adam Sandler, Lena Horne, Marisa Tomei, Anne Hathaway, Mel Brooks, Mickey Rooney, and Rosie Perez… among many others.
• Brooklyn’s density is about 38,000 per square mile (Manhattan density is about 72,000 per square mile)
• Brooklyn is significantly larger than Manhattan, covering about 70 square miles compared to about 23 square miles)

We started our day in Williamsburg at a little breakfast place I knew called Sunday in Brooklyn (but they are oipen every day!) Driving from the hotel to Williamsburg—a mere 2 miles–took about 25 mihutes with traffic and double parked cars, emergency vehicles whizzing by with sirens, and one way streets. But it gave me a chance to show Carol and Adrienne some different neighborhoods and streets and the Hasidic part of Williamsburg merging with the totally gentrified section of Williamsburg. Quite a contrast, but they all seem to make it work. And it’s sort of funny to see Hasidic women shopping in Muji!

But, I digress — before we drove to Williamsburg we walked to see the “mosaic house,” an amazing 1860 townhouse owned by the artist Susan Gardner who has transformed the exterior of the house (maybe the inside as well, but I’ve never been inside!) into a work of art. The facade is encrusted with little pieces of ceramic and old CDs and buttons and crockery, and glass that create images of people and angels and landscape and spirits. Because I think Gardner actually has art training, the parts actually flow well together and create a total image that pull together the many parts. And beyond the visual, the fence surrounding the little “garden area” is covered with anti-Trump signs and slogans, feminist statements, and strong anti-racism posters–which all add to complement the artwork.

We strolled around Williamsburg for several houses; checked out some vintage shops and some cool boutiques, stopped for really good ice cream and finally headed to Fort Greene/Clinton Hill (home of my alma mater). We circled the campus as I tried to explain the neighborhood and then strolled through the sculpture garden, stopped in the wonderful library (opened in 1896) with glass block floors at the stacks, and then headed to meet up with the President (Frances Bronet) who is a friend. She gave us a marvelous tour of the campus (bringing back a lot of memories), and then took us to the President’s house (The Caroline Ladd Pratt House)–all 22,000 sq feet with 9 bathrooms. The house is a sort of Georgian style/Renaissance Revival with a wonderful side yard such that the house does not cit in the center of the lot.

After a really nice visit, we headed to the hotel and then we were off for dinner at a tiny place called Fradei, on South Portland Street (actually sort of close to Pratt)–which means “brothers” in Italian (Venetian dialect). I’d say the food (which is fantastic) has a bit of a French flair, and they use only locally-sourced products. We started with two small salads: a creamy dill cucmber and an heirloom tomato with herbs and a dreamy olive oil, sitting on a bed of what I think was labneh, but maybe some kind of goat cheese. We paired that with a great scallop crudo and then we shared a delicate pasta dish and also a main course: halibut that melted in your mouth. Ended it all with a sponge cake with creme fraiche and raspberry drizzle. And we had a nice French Orange wine.

That’s it for today… More tomorrow.