By Mi-Ling Stone Poole – When I think of Brooklyn, N.Y., the Brooklyn Bridge, “The Cosby Show\u201d and Spike Lee’s movie “Do the Right Thing\u201d come to mind.<\/p>\n
I have friends who live in Brooklyn, and I’ve always heard wonderful things about the city and the great neighborhoods.<\/p>\n
During a recent trip to New York, I checked into the Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge and journeyed out to investigate the touted Brooklyn Heights neighborhood and some of the landmark buildings.<\/p>\n
My aunt Carole and her husband Vernon from North Carolina joined me for a walking tour and a hunt for historic landmarks and other interesting buildings.<\/p>\n
Our first stop was Columbus Park at Court Street and Montague. There we were greeted by the Green Market, a farmers market filled with delicious fruits, vegetables, pastries, seafood, wine and arts and crafts and one of the largest variations of homegrown tomatoes I’ve ever seen in New York City.<\/p>\n
My favorite building at the intersection was the oldest building in Brooklyn, known as Borough Hall, a stately Greek Revival-style building characterized by large Ionic columns. The hall was completed in 849.<\/p>\n
Borough Hall was the original city hall of Brooklyn before the city merged with the city of New York and Kings County in 1898. The building was designed by architect Gamaliel King.<\/p>\n
Nearby, the Montague-Court building, built in 1928 and designed by H. Craig Severance, is known as the tallest office building in Brooklyn, standing at 462 feet and 38 floors. The style is a neo-Renaissance.<\/p>\n
Another jewel in Brooklyn is the St. Ann & Holy Trinity Church at Montague and Clinton.<\/p>\n
We ventured into this 1847 Gothic Revival structure and were impressed by the beauty and grandeur of the space. We were catapulted back in time when the pipe organ was being played. Of course, the highlight of my day was taking in the views of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan skyline from the East River promenade. The Brooklyn Bridge is the oldest suspension bridge in the United States, dating to 1883; it connects the Manhattan boroughs to Brooklyn.<\/p>\n
The short distance from Manhattan and the views of the Statue of Liberty and the skyline are no doubt the biggest reasons why Brooklyn Heights is a premiere location to live in New York.<\/p>\n
But living in Brooklyn Heights is not cheap. One local real estate office posted info on brownstones and condos ranging from $500,000 to $4 million per unit.<\/p>\n
After staying in Manhattan on numerous occasions, I could feel the difference in attitude and lifestyle. Brooklyn Heights was a true community, where families walked hand in hand up and down the streets, and folks popped in the local ice cream shop for a quick treat. I didn’t feel the hustle and bustle of Times Square.<\/p>\n
I chatted with local vendors, did a little window shopping and enjoyed spending time with my family while taking in the beautiful architecture of Brooklyn Heights.<\/p>\n
What’s your take on Brooklyn?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Mi-Ling Stone Poole – When I think of Brooklyn, N.Y., the Brooklyn Bridge, “The Cosby Show\u201d and Spike Lee’s movie “Do the Right Thing\u201d …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,9],"tags":[19,53,54,55,56,195,197,264,289,430],"class_list":["post-794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ask-mi-ling","category-travel-2","tag-architecture","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-bridge","tag-brooklyn-heights","tag-brough-hall","tag-greek-revival","tag-green-market","tag-marriott","tag-new-york","tag-vegtables"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t