The Views From Red Hook

The next thing I knew we were careening along the BQE.

On our quest to follow the sun, my friend seemed fine as she kept up with or dodged the trucks and cars, recovered from pothole slams, as she headed somewhere she wouldn't reveal to me. Me? I was getting nervous. As far as I was concerned, we were heading to the sketchy side of Brooklyn.

After we drove around the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to the other side of Brooklyn where street names were foreign to me, she said we were in Red Hook. Red Hook? When my grandmother lived down there decades ago, we weren't allowed to visit. Now I'm told you cannot touch the rents, and worse, are the price of homes and co-ops. When did this happen?

Amazingly, she found a parking spot close to the area she wanted me to see. Behind a Fairway supermarket there is a spectacular view from Brooklyn to Manhattan. Fairway has outdoor tables where you can enjoy the view while having a cup of coffee, or more. Roanoke should have something like this near River's Edge. We've got the scenery, the space, and with Carillion & downtown Roanoke so close, the patron numbers to support a Fairway, Trader Joes, or any other marketplace that could supply an outdoor dining area. Oh, and we also have trolleys.

Here's an old trolley that sits to the side of Fairway's outdoor cafe.

The sun had already set over the Verrazano,

and lingered a little longer over the Statue of Liberty.

Looking further east I could see Freedom Tower.

The sky changed by second.

 

 

The Lady's torch and base got brighter as the sunset dimmed.

 

 

Night fell quick on Manhattan.

 

My friend still wasn't through with the tour so we drove to Downtown Brooklyn. I've always called it the armpit, an area to avoid at all costs, but she said it's changed. The area is called DUMBO now, and it's become another "can't touch" neighborhood. Of course, there was nowhere to park, so I couldn't witness the phenomenal view I briefly glanced from the open SUV window. We then passed the Barclay Center. If you're going to see a show, there's nowhere to park so you'd have to take mass transit. Yeah, no. I don't care how much you tell me the area is changed. The subway stations there still suck.

 

 

And here's one of the last remaining bowling alleys in Brooklyn in Sunset Park, another neighborhood I've always feared. Looks inviting, doesn't it?

 

The night had to end as my friend had work in the morning, and finding a parking spot by her Bay Ridge apartment could take some time...seriously.