Ukulele Ike, I think I read that you live in Brooklyn. Because of that – and because you were so nice to me in your last post – I will dedicate these picks to you.
We’ve already covered Coney, Junior’s, Grimaldi’s, the Transit Museum and the famed bridge. Onward…
Brooklyn – Dutch for “broken lands” – has a long and storied past, far deeper than the Honeymooners and Dem Bums. Originally founded as six separate villages (one by an English woman!) it grew into the third largest city in the country until it was consolidated into Greater New York City in 1898. Knowing, brooding Brooklynites call that milestone “The Mistake of '98.”
I’m feeling historical so most of the following recommendations predate “The Mistake.” I’m also feeling patriotic (what with the Fourth almost here) so I threw in a few extra flag-waving picks. Hope you don’t mind:
Brooklyn Museum of Art: You’re too late to catch the Madonna-cum-dung “Sensation!” art exhibit that enraged our mayor, but you can always see the finest collection of Egyptian art in the country, here on permanent exhibit. Also, on the first Saturday evening of each month they throw open the doors for (you guessed it…) First Saturday. There’s free admission, music, dancing, screenings, talks and general merriment. (Trivia: Flanking the entrance to the museum are two allegorical stone statues: one “Brooklyn,” the other “Manhattan.” They were rescued and reinstalled here when the Dept. of Transportation reconfigured the Brooklyn entrance of the Manhattan Bridge.)
Green-wood Cemetery: Very, very high on my list of picks. I can here you saying, “What? Is this guy nuts!?!” Nope. GWC has more great stories than most libraries. The famous “residents” include Leonard Bernstein, L.C. Tiffany, Boss Tweed, Samuel Morse, and dozens of others. An old retired cop named John Cashman gives tours on summer Sundays and recounts tragic, hilarious, and nutty stories about the dearly departed. He is ocassionally fast and loose with the facts, but his “lemme tell ya’ who dis is…” style makes up for it. (Tour costs $5; phone 718/ 469-5277 for info.) (Trivia: If you visit GWC, you’ll be continuing a very honorable tradition; at one time it was the second most popular tourist attraction in the country, only behind Niagara Falls. No, I’m not kiddin’.)
Fort Greene Park: This park overlooks the famed Brooklyn Navy Yard where the Civil War Monitor – as well as dozens of WWI and II warships – were built. (The BNY is closed, so I can’t put it on this list). The centerpiece of this park is a huge towering column, topped with a sculptural lamp. (Of course, no one using the park today can tell you why it’s there or why it’s important, so I’ll have to). It is the Prison Ship Martyr’s Monument. When the British captured Brooklyn and NYC (more about this later) they kept the American prisoners on foul, unhealth prison ships, anchored nearby. The prisoners died by the score of sarvation and disease. They were hastily buried in trenches near the shore, and over the subsequent decades their bones would wash up on the beach. It was decided to build a fitting memorial to these men and the Fort Greene tower is the result (built 1907). A locked, unmarked crypt containing the prisoners’ remains is located near the base of the monument.
PROSPECT PARK
Slythe, by all means go visit Central Park in Manhattan; it is clean, cheery and lovely. But don’t write off Prospect Park in Brooklyn. (Here’s a dirty little secret you Brooklynites can rub in the noses of Manhattanites: The team of Olmsted & Vaux designed both parks, but considered Prospect to be the superior job of the two.) The park is filled with beautiful ponds, hills, brambles, etc. But here are MY fave spots…
The Victory Arch: At the northern corner of the park is a traffic circle called Grand Army Plaza, home to one of the most striking sights on this planet. There sits the Victory Arch, built to commemorate the Union triumph in the Civil War. The white stone arch is flanked and topped with some of the most stunning literal and allegorical classic bronze sculpture you’ll ever see – all recently restored and polished. Pick a sunny day, bring a pair of binoculars (so you won’t miss the details high in the sky), stand across the street facing the arch, and take it all in. Glorious! When you’ve had your fill, look around you. The big Egypian-style building to your right is Brooklyn’s main library. And, just inside the park, that statue of the perky guy with the hat and cane in his hands – JST Stranahan – memorializes the “First Citizen of Brooklyn” and the man who pushed for the park’s creation. (He also pushed for “The Mistake” I mentioned earlier, but that’s another story.) There are many other fine statues circling the plaza and inside the park.
The Horse Tamers: Since we’re talking statuary, at one of the southern entrances of Prospect Park is a pair of statues that deserve special mention, the Horse Tamers. Each statue shows a naked, muscular guy (hey, no comments) on the back of a wild, flailing horse. Such energy and power in a static object, you’ve never seen.
Celebrity Grave: Trivia Question - Where is actor Mongomery Clift buried? Answer: Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY! There is an old Quaker cemetery on the PP grounds, and MC is buried there. I have read the graveyard is gated, so you probably need special permission to enter… but fascinating, no?
The Marylander Monument: In the middle of the park, on an obscure hill, stands a forgotten, unattractive, slightly vandalized monument. There is nothing about the place or the stone structure that seems impressive… unless you know this fact: the fate of our country was held in the balance on the ground on which you are standing. Let me explain…
In the late summer of 1776, the British tried to break the American Revolution by taking NY and splitting the colonies in two. They landed troops on Staten Island; George Washington’s army was encamped across the water, in Brooklyn. The British crossed the Narrows and attacked the Americans, beginning the first – and some say most important – formal engagement of troops in the Revolution: the Battle of Brooklyn (aka the Battle of Long Island).
It did not go well for Washington’s men, and they had to retreat northward, hoping to ferry across to Manhattan Island to make their escape. The British pursued. The Americans knew that if they engaged them the Revolution would be lost, so four-hundred Maryland troops – mostly Catholics – were given the suicidal task of delaying the enemy advance. They were slaughtered. But they did not die in vain, for Washington’s army successfully escaped. On the monument are the general’s heartbreaking words as he watched the action from afar: “Good God. What brave fellows I must this day lose.”
There’s no way to top that quote, so I’ll end this post here. More later.
