The Wrong End of Brooklyn

As our cab drove through Manhattan the excitment grew. The sun is shining and the city looks amazing, every sight is a memory of a movie from King Kong to Goodfellas.

Our apartment is in Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn and is on the way to gentrification.....but not there yet. Our house is one of the brownstone terraces on a quiet tree lined street, funky coffee shop on the corner where you get caught up for a half hour chatting with strangers who want to talk about your girls blue eyes and the Queen. We make for a curious site being white British and pushing a yuppie buggy in a 98% black nieghbourhood which, apart from the four blocks surrounding the subways is poor, no go for us at night but a good base none the less.

In our first two days we have got our heads around the subway. For all of the New Yorkers incredible friendliness not one person has offered to help carry the buggy up or down the stiars into the subway! I find that odd as people in London will offer in under 30 seconds and then never say a word to you in the tube. Here no one will help but wont stop nattering on the train.

First impressions are of a great and friendly city that is far far cooler than I imagined...a very exciting place.

So far we have ticked the following:-

Walked the Brooklyn Bridge

Taken the Staten Island ferry past Ms Liberty

Seen ground zero

Chilled in Central Park

Eaten amazing Italian....twice

Got up before 3am.....twice

Decided to live in NYC in our next lives.

Click on the picture to see the rest!

New York New York