ADIP: Brooklyn, NY

A Day In Pictures
Brooklyn, New York

During our week in New York we house sat for friends in Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood. It’s a wonderfully diverse place with lots of restaurants, interesting shops and plenty to do within easy walking distance.

We could have easily filled a week without ever leaving Brooklyn. We spent a day hitting some of the highlights of New York’s largest borough.

We started our day down by the East River. The Brooklyn Bridge (below) is one of three bridges connecting Brooklyn to Manhattan. Shortly after the bridge was completed in 1884, P.T. Barnum helped prove its stability by marching 21 elephants across it.

The Brooklyn Bridge assured the decline of the Fulton Ferry service, but today the views of Manhattan from the original ferry landing are impressive.

After a walk along the Brooklyn Promenade, we enjoyed lunch at Grimaldi’s Pizza, considered by many to be the best pizza in New York City.

For dessert, we walked a few blocks to Jacques Torres Chocolate for incredible chocolate cookies and hot chocolate so thick you could stand up a pencil in it. (It was the best we’ve ever tasted.)

Then it was off to the Brooklyn Museum, the second largest museum in New York City. They have several impressive collections including permanent displays of Egyptian, Asian, Islamic, modern and feminist art. Best of all: On the day we were there, no crowds.

Nearby, the building housing the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library was designed to look like an open book. The building’s main entrance forms the spine of the book; the front and back covers run along two adjacent avenues.

If the weather’s nice, it’s fun to explore the 52-acre Brooklyn Botanic Garden, home to 10,000 different species of plants.

Though it’s no competition for the Bronx Zoo, the Prospect Park Zoo is worth a quick look. We met several meerkats there.

Back by the river, the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) is rapidly gentrifying. Boutiques. Restaurants. And dogs that walk their owners to the neighborhood bakery.

New York City, for most visitors, means Manhattan. But Brooklyn is a worthwhile destination in its own right. You can easily fill a day with cultural activities, shopping, beautiful walks and great food.