Brooklyn Heights,
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U.S.A.
Brooklyn HeightsVisited: July 2008 More pictures of Brooklyn Heights:
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After a very early rise, I took the subway from Manhattan; when I walked out, the sun was just starting to shed its light on the city of New York. I quickly walked towards the Brooklyn Heights Promenade on the western side of Brooklyn Heights, and was able to enjoy fantastic light over a perfect view of Lower Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge. Early risers were jogging, and I hooked up a conversation with a Brooklyn resident walking his dog. He explained that the area below, the piers, would be developed into a huge park - I could only imagine how nice that park will be once it is finished. I walked on towards Brooklyn Bridge, to Empire Fulton Ferry State Park, and back to the south, to really plunge into Brooklyn Heights.
What followed, was a long walk in surprisingly attractive Brooklyn Heights, that took much longer than anticipated. I saw a succession of colourful row houses, mansions, many churches in very different appearances; quiet tree-lined streets and busy ones with restaurants and shops, squares with children playing, and intricate ironwork decorating many brick houses. All the while, I had the distinct feeling of being in a town, rather than being in a suburb of what is perhaps the most exciting city in the world.
In fact, Brooklyn Heights was mostly a spacious town with farms until the 19th century. Before that, the location on top of a bluff rising almost directly from the East River gave it strategic importance; the largest battle of the American Revolutionary War was actually fought here. With the advent of a steam ferry service connecting it to Manhattan, and, later, Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn Heights became the first well-connected suburb where people could live while commuting to Manhattan. Brooklyn heights is a protected historic district, which explains the virtual absence of high-rise buildings; fortunately, it also guarantees the look and feel of the district will be preserved for a long time to come.
