Be patient, in less than two weeks, I will be back on Dauntless and my blogs will revert to its focus on boats, cruising and travel.
But in the meantime, I find myself with a lot of time; maybe too much time, thinking and reflecting, reflecting and thinking and the continuous circle that entails.
Photo by ROBERT MADDEN/National Geographic Creative
Meeting an old friend in the middle Brooklyn yesterday, driving from the Bronx; one is reminded that the transportation networks of NYC, roads and public transportation, as outstanding as they are, were never meant for doing what I was doing, going from the Bronx to Brooklyn and return.
New York City was put together in the “Consolidation of the City of Greater New York” in 1898. Before 1898, NYC consisted of Manhattan and the Bronx. The towns of the Bronx having been incorporated into NYC during the preceding 25 years.
So until 1898, the City of Brooklyn, (then one of the largest cities in the U.S.) was incorporated into the City of Greater New York. At the same time, all the little villages/towns of Staten Island and Queens were included. Thus even to this day, the addresses in Queens, refer to the village, e.g. Flushing, Long Island City, but Brooklyn is all Brooklyn, while Manhattan is of course New York.
So the “City”, “New York”, Manhattan to the rest of you, is where most of the commerce takes place and thus our transportation system, public and highways, was developed to get people from the boonies to New York. But driving across the boroughs, let’s say from Bronx to Brooklyn, is a pain in the ass.
But it gives one time to see how the places I lived in Brooklyn, 16 years ago have changed or in some respects have stayed the same and that’s for the better.
Driving through Brownsville, the clean streets, single women walking alone, are all signs of the changes that took place in the last 30 years, as well as the dedication of Mayors Giuliani and Bloomberg. Giuliani in particular gets no credit for making NYC clean and safe. Before his time, Manhattan was difficult, but livable. The ghettos of Brownsville, East New York, Bedford Stuyvesant were littered with burned out cars on every block, walking was impossible, driving was perilous.
Giuliani proceeded to make every NYC employee do their job. Garbage was picked up, crooks were arrested, rules were enforced.
Thanks for listening.
Dauntless at Sea 