Monday, May 9, 2005, 10:48 am
Hello from New York City (6) - Checking
out (somewhat desolate) Coney Island
and (amazingly clean) Harlem
So I am sitting here back in my office and I want to bring our
last 2 days in New York City to paper. Considering that the weather
forecast for Saturday was pretty bad (rain and maximum temperatures
of 13 degrees C), the day turned out much nicer than expected.
Surrounded mostly by Caribbean retail outlets, we got a headstart
by walking down Flatbush Avenue in the heart of Brooklyn. At Avenue
U we grabbed a bus to the west end of Coney Island and started walking
along the boardwalk.
When you come from Toronto you associate the term "Boardwalk"
with a nice upscale residential neighbourhood, mature trees, manicured
lawns, Victorian houses, well maintained playgrounds, tennis clubs
etc. Well, the boardwalk in Coney Island is just a little different.
Coney Island boardwalk
Essentially it is a very wide beach with a wooden boardwalk, made
up of 5 sections of wooden planks laid down in a different orientation,
probably 15 to 20 m wide, that is surrounded by a large number of
low rental apartment buildings. There are huge parking lots for
school buses, and all the buildings are closed off with high fences
so residents and visitors only have access through the main streets
to get to the boardwalk.
Coney Island: school buses and apartment buildings.
Then you reach the main drag around Key Span Park, home to the
Brooklyn Cyclones minor league baseball team. Just a bit further
east is the Astroland Amusement Park where the more than 75 years
old "Cyclone" roller coaster is still giving kids a thrill.
Right in front of it are a few huts with food, including the famous
"Nathan's Hot Dogs" ("Since 1916", the taste
wasn't actually as famous as you might think..), and various fast
food and amusement booths ("Shoot The Freak - Live Human Targets"
paintball).
"Shoot The Freak"...
The area to the west of this park had a bit of a desolate feel,
but from the Amusement Park on eastwards towards Brighton Beach
we started to see more pedestrians strolling about, people sitting
down and reading on benches... By this time the weather had warmed
up nicely and the locals were enjoying the outdoors.
We headed up from the Brighton Beach boardwalk into the local neighbourhood,
also called Brighton Beach, or more informally "Little Odessa",
due to the large number of Russian Immigrants. The stores, delis
and hairdressing shops underneath the elevated subway tracks were
humming with shoppers, a very lively neighbourhood.
Then we decided it was time to explore Harlem. Encouraged by our
Greeter's comments yesterday, we figured Harlem these days was
safe enough to go and explore on our own without any fear for our
safety.
Sure enough, just like moles we popped up at Broadway & 145th
Street and walked all the way south to 103rd Street and Harlem sure
felt pretty much like any other neighbourhood in NYC. The historic
apartment buildings looked like they were in pretty good shape,
the streets were quite clean, lots of local Black and Latin residents
were ambling around on the streets or hanging out with friends in
front of buildings, the whole area seemed quite well kept and did
not have a dangerous or dingy feel to it. At 3333 Broadway we were
awestruck by a public housing project consisting of 5 huge apartment
block towers, up to 35 stories high, and we tried to figure out
just how many thousands of people would be living in just this one
complex. Along this stretch we actually saw lots of older apartment
towers, but viewed from the street, everything looked pretty orderly.
3333 Broadway
Both my husband and I remember New York City very differently.
We had both been there more than 10, 15 years ago, and New York
City had a distinct edge, tons of graffiti, dirty streets with lots
of litter, people occasionally giving you some questionable looks.
The contrast between then and now is amazing. We have literally
ridden subway trains, buses and ferries all over New York City,
and we were hard pressed to find candy wrappers in any public vehicles,
streets were clean, as a matter of fact we saw tons of cleaning
crews cleaning up street debris. And most importantly, we always
felt safe and comfortable, and we were out sometimes in public transit
until close to midnight.
Now that doesn't mean that crime doesn't exist, as evidenced by
the little incident on the Staten
Island bus on Thursday, but overall, in our opinion at least, New
York City seems to have lost a lot of its grime, dirt and threatening
air, and we did indeed explore huge areas of Queens, Brooklyn, Harlem,
Staten Island and Manhattan, so I figure we have gotten a pretty
good overview.
Columbia University neighbourhood
Further south we checked out the Campus of Columbia University
and had a nice little dinner in a Mexican restaurant on Broadway,
called Nachos. Broadway south of Columbia University has a very
upscale feel to it, with lots of designer store windows, French-inspired
bistros, whole or gourmet food outlets. Some parts with outdoor
patios almost have a Parisian feel to it.
Later that evening at dusk we took a bus down to Columbus Circle
where we were awed by Time Warners Corporate Headquarters, which
are flanked on the right by the glitzy Trump International Hotel
& Tower. Then, after a little walk through southern Central
Park, past the glitzy lit up Tavern on the Green (soups from $15
and up....), we were off to pick up a few souvenirs, and we finally
managed to find the Ed Sullivan Theatre, where David Letterman entertains
his global audience with his late-night sarcasm and wit. Wading
our way through a throng of people (mostly tourists) we finally
got on a subway near Times Square that was crammed with late night
party goers.
About 45 minutes later we plopped into bed, exhausted, from another
day with about 4 to 5 hours of urban trekking.
Do you need a
New York payday loan? All you need is a current paystub, and you can get your cash
advance on the spot. Payday lending is
pretty common, and you can get your payday loan with little
to no hassle.
Useful books for travel to New York City:
Related articles:
"Hello from New York City (1) -
First Impressions of the Big Apple"
"Hello from New York City (2) - Exploring
Mid-Town Manhattan"
"Hello from New York City (3) - Brooklyn
Bridge, Ground Zero, Downtown"
"Hello from New York City (4) - Staten
Island and a Random Act of Violence"
"Hello from New York City (5) - A
Local Expert Takes Us Through Queens"
"Hello from New York City (6) - Checking
Out Coney Island and Harlem"
"Hello from New York City (7) - Prospect
Park & Washington Square Park"
Here is my New York City budget accommodation guide - small
hotels.
Here is my New York City budget accommodation guide - hostels.
Here is my New York City budget accommodation guide - bed
and breakfasts.
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