Sunday Stroll - Brooklyn Heights

Today I found the children. You don’t see too many kids on the sidewalks in midtown. That’s because they’re all in Brooklyn Heights - along with New York’s big dogs. People on this side of the river mainly have little tiny dogs instead of small children. (And most the dogs weigh half as much as my cat Martin.) I often wonder how Manhattan dog owners can walk these tiny creatures down the crowded city sidewalks without fearing their little Toto’s will get stepped on.

Spring warmth is here – the temperatures are finally consistently in the upper 60’s to the 70’s. Today I ventured out across the East River to knock off two more items on my New York to-do list: Brooklyn Heights Promenade and the New York Transit Museum.

Brooklyn Heights is very nice – the gorgeous brownstones have gardens and thick green ivy growing up the brick the streets are tree-lined, and there are singing birds, couples walking with strollers, and a playground full of toddlers – everything you’d expect in a residential neighborhood. Some lucky residents even have a balcony with a view of the Manhattan skyline.

I wouldn’t mind living there. My sister-in-law once suggested it as a good location, long before I moved here. But no, I had to live in a high-rise in midtown for a million dollars a month! No regrets. (Really, how many people can say they’ve lived a half block off Broadway? :)

So I took the 2/3 train to Clark Street – the first stop in Brooklyn – walked up to Orange Street, turned west and started down the promenade, stopping occasionally to photograph the flowers, beautiful ivy-covered brownstones, or the Manhattan view. Lots of people were out on this 75-degree hazy day.

I walked up Montague, stopping in at Heights Books. The sidewalks were filled with people milling about or eating outside at one of the many cafes lining that quaint street. I stopped in a gourmet food store and got an iced coffee and a banana for just $2.25 – (I would’ve paid twice that much in midtown). Then I made the mistake of walking into an Aerosoles store, which ended up costing me $137 in spring footwear. Oops!

I wandered down Court Street past the huge, looming Supreme Court building and several other city administration buildings before locating the Transit Museum – which is actually contained in an existing subway station. Beneath ground, I walked over to the security guard, who turned out to be a comedian. I asked if I could buy an admission ticket. He pointed to the booth and said “It’s $5.00 to that guy. And you give me $10.00 for security.” It took me a split second before I realized he was a jokester. “No I don’t,” I retorted. He almost got me. (Usually I’m more naïve than I was in that instant.)

As my luck had it, a free tour of the museum was due to begin any second. Such timing! Bob, a native New Yorker, was our tour guide. Boy did he know his trains. He took us through NY’s 10o-year subway history before guiding us downstairs into the Court Street station. Down below he showed us the actual, working signal tower that housed the track changing system; he then educated us in the evolution of train cars. The platform was lined with cars from every era. All were open for boarding. The older cars still displayed posters advertising the World’s Fair, LifeBuoy soap, and fire safety tips like “Avoid smoking in bed.”

Since I moved here, I’ve been dying to know just how they built the subway tunnels through the city. Even when I lived in Seattle I was fascinated by the 1.3-mile bus tunnel that runs under the city – which is nothing compared to the 722 miles of NY subway built between 1900 and 1936.

You’ll notice in NY that most of the subways run directly under existing streets. What they did was dig a huge 150’-wide trench in the street, using mules and wheelbarrows to cart out the debris. Frequently, underground utilities had to be relocated. They’d build a wooden scaffolding of sorts as a ceiling for the trench so that the street could be used by its electric street cars and omnibuses during subway construction. Before the subway system was built, existing trains were elevated – called “Els.”

As it turns out, many a movie has been filmed in this transit museum with its old train cars.

After spending too much money at the gift shop (and picking up a Christmas present or two), I headed back to the 2/3 in a drizzly rain and rode home to midtown where Martin awaited his mid-afternoon snack. One of these days I’ll visit the promenade at night to get a view of Manhattan in the dark.