New Home Soon

The R Train crossing the Manhattan Bridge into Brooklyn

Last Sunday I revisited the new home I will be moving into this Sunday. New roomie-to-be and I chatted, ate a bowl of blueberries, and measured every surface in my new room.

It had rained in the morning so the breeze was delicious, and following her directions I went on an exploratory walk. I will be living only a couple of blocks away from Shore Park which looks out onto Upper New York Bay and buffers Bay Ridge from the big parkway directly along the shore.


Trying to see the Verrazano Narrows Bridge through the trees as I enter the park


Little fountains dot the length of the park


It was too sunny for me to patch a panoramic together using the nifty function on my phone, so....


....there are simply two separate photos of the bridge running into the distance (Staten Island, actually)

Then I walked back "inland" and explored some of the neat little streets in the neighborhood. This is what I saw:


Some little Brooklyn whitestones, I'll show you brownstones another time


A quirky narrow Victorian


A real dollshouse!


Oliver Street, a good sign


This photo does not convey the peaceful villageyness of this street. Note the trees were trained to lean into the street and arch over it as you see in the next photo:


A pleasant green tunnel, again not well conveyed by the photo


And a rather Hollywood-style mansion across from a private school


Heading towards the shops on 86th Street, I came across a Cupcake Bakery!
I hope I remember where this was.....

So then I spent the entire remainder of the afternoon on 86th between 4th and 5th Avenues, never even making it to the center of the borough on Atlantic Avenue where the courthouse and even more amenities lie, including a new Target, a store I missed very much when I was in London.

There is every shop, bar, cafe, bistro, and convenience I could ever want right here in Bay Ridge, even some I hadn't expected - and all in one place - so I'd never need to go into Manhattan. Imagine if I got a job in Brooklyn too, my friends uptown would have to coax me into the City.

Tomorrow I will visit the Brooklyn IKEA that had its Grand Opening today in Red Hook, just north of Bay Ridge. There is a special ferry going between it and Pier 11 on Wall Street. Also, free shuttle buses servicing the nearby subway stops. But of course I want to take the ferry!