adventures in Brooklyn, vol.8

Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of my move to Brooklyn. Someone asked me not too long ago if I felt like a true New Yorker yet, and the answer is no. No, I do not… and I am not entirely convinced that I ever will. In the words of Jo March in Little Women, “I confess I find New York rough and strange, and myself strange in it.” But it is a lot more like home than it was a year ago.

I am still in the same little fully-furnished apartment that I moved into “temporarily” last summer. I’ve made it a little more “mine” by bringing in a few of my bookshelves, some dishes, and some books; however, I still very often feel like I’m “camping out” in Brooklyn, rather than actually living in it. But that said, watching spring come to this neighborhood was lovely. As in most of the places I’ve lived, spring began showing signs of its imminent arrival, and then, one day, was suddenly here. My morning and evening commutes these days are marked by the lovely scents of cherry blossoms and freshly cut grass, and birdsong that refuses to be daunted by the almost ubiquitous sounds of traffic. Some days I still take the subway, but losing an extra hour every day to commute on foot is proving a lot less stressful. I may go back to the subway full-time during the dog days of summer, but – at least for awhile – I’m enjoying a nice long walk and some excellent podcasts on my way to and from work a few days each week.

I still find Church Avenue (one of the major cross-streets near my house) overwhelming; I do brave a few blocks of it every now and again on my commute and I still occasionally visit the overpriced grocery near my house where I picked up my first meal in Brooklyn last year (because it’s close and therefore convenient), but I now do most of my shopping now at two reasonably-priced organic groceries within walking distance, and have found five “go-to” coffee shops (three near my house, and two near the office). As predicted, both The Castello Plan and Kings County Wines (two of my first adventures in Brooklyn) have truly become favorite neighborhood stops. (There’s really something to be said for walking into a local business and being known by name, especially in a city as big as New York.)

The subway system continues to be slightly perplexing, but it turns out that may have at least as much to do with that fact that is under construction as it does with the fact that I can rarely find my way out of a paper bag without getting lost. (This would be my mother’s colorful way of explaining that I have no real sense of direction. She is right.) Yes, I did get on the wrong subway last Friday on my way to Penn Station (mostly because I was not paying attention). But no, I did not panic. I just got off at a station name I recognized and took my first ride on the red line. I made it to Penn Station with time to spare, so I will call this progress (if not success).

Laundry continues to be an adventure most weeks, but with the aid of my dad’s luggage cart (which he has kindly donated to my cause), I can now go only once a week instead of twice, which is nice. Sometimes I feel a little guilty about its demotion – this luggage cart has carried my dad’s luggage all over the continental US and probably to a few foreign countries, and now, in its retirement, it’s schlepping dirty laundry over broken sidewalks in Brooklyn – but I am nevertheless grateful for its service.

There are still a lot of things about living in Brooklyn/New York that I hope I never get used to, but there are also many things I’ve come to love: the co-existence of so many diverse cultures, the easy accessibility of great theatre and art, a job I enjoy, astounding (and eclectic) architecture, and the endlessly creative ways that New Yorkers find to bring nature into a space that would otherwise consist mainly of concrete, brick, asphalt, and glass. I also really, really love it that I live close enough to my family to see them more often. (In fact, I’m actually writing this post from the dining car of a train on my way back to Brooklyn after a long weekend in Connecticut.)

I’ve decided I’m going to give Brooklyn another few months – and maybe try to spend a little more time exploring parts of the city I haven’t visited yet – before I start looking in earnest for a more permanent place to live. The real estate market in New York is … its own thing, so I would much rather stay put for awhile without my things than have to move multiple times with them; I’ll definitely be looking for more of a long-haul place to put down roots. So far my adventures in NYC lead me to believe that I am probably more of a Manhattan girl than a Brooklyn one, so the real question is likely: Uptown, Chelsea, or Greenwich Village?

We shall see! In the meantime, I look forward to many more adventures in Brooklyn this summer. Onward to Year #2!

More to come,
Happy