Brooklyn, Queens And The Bronx

There are five boroughs comprising New York City. We have already seen Manhattan. Today, we will see three more, Brooklyn, Queens and, the Bronx. This order is moving from south to north. Each borough is also a county. All of these are to the east of Manhattan. Remember that the really tall buildings are in Manhattan, and in many of the views Manhattan can be seen in the background.

On the south shore of Brooklyn lies Coney Island. The name is synonymous with amusement parks. Coney Island was not just one amusement park, but was the place where amusement parks were located, going back to the Nineteenth Century.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >, After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.5757754,-73.9707903,3a,75y,242.17h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1soieaPeFN_i_aHteBnczOog!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DoieaPeFN_i_aHteBnczOog%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D235.20389%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

This is Grand Army Plaza, in Brooklyn. Brooklyn's arch is the Soldiers and Sailors Arch. There are a vast number of ethnic neighborhoods in Brooklyn.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.6726759,-73.9697703,3a,75y,122.43h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sJ6OGbZWLnQbwEvr1LcnCtw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DJ6OGbZWLnQbwEvr1LcnCtw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D129.95218%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

Many of the best-known U.S. warships were built at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The river between Brooklyn and Manhattan is the East River. The taller buildings are usually on the Manhattan side. The bridge closest to the Navy Yard is the Williamsburg Bridge, but the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges are not far away.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7069994,-73.9689519,3a,75y,151.9h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1s55hv5C8j3DGYu-0RauVW0g!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D55hv5C8j3DGYu-0RauVW0g%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D157.96097%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100

This is in Brooklyn near the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. The Brooklyn Bridge is the oldest one, with the stone arches. Many of the views are looking across at Manhattan.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.6958809,-73.9938008,3a,75y,84.81h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s3roTLnxoOjOaBiGLhJRP6Q!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D3roTLnxoOjOaBiGLhJRP6Q%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D83.16795%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

Moving on to the borough of Queens, this is the area known as Astoria. It was named in honor of John Jacob Astor, who we saw in the posting on this blog, "The Waldorf-Astoria", in the hope that he would invest there. Remember that each of the five boroughs is a county unto itself. Usually, cities are within counties but New York City is so large that there are five counties within the city.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7643256,-73.9233467,3a,75y,83.74h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s1Wzn3fYHzkW5zNnjiGK07g!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D1Wzn3fYHzkW5zNnjiGK07g%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D81.75872%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

Here is something that is extremely important. When I landed in the U.S. as a boy, there was a lot of faith in the future with regard to science and technology. Someday not too far in the future space travel would be commonplace and much of the world would be run by computers. I picked up on it and have been interested in science ever since.

I later realized that it was due to the influence of the 1964 World's Fair, that had been held in Queens. Before this, computers and putting humans and satellites in orbit was something that people had heard about, but had no real connection to. This is what brought the general public into both the space age and the computer age.

Pretty soon everyone was watching "Lost in Space" and "Star Trek". Next came the movie "2001 A Space Odyssey".

Follow are scenes of the Unisphere, the globe which remains from the 1964 World's Fair. It should be the symbol of the internet.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7459012,-73.8450528,3a,75y,173.98h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s5ZCnt-4JEBW6Rwgfp7CN5g!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D5ZCnt-4JEBW6Rwgfp7CN5g%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D175.43117%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Brooklyn and Queens are both known for their many distinct neighborhoods. The following scenes are of Sunnyside, in Queens

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7416692,-73.9235753,3a,75y,40.83h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1spcCvfvHsbzb7gHL3vTV_PQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DpcCvfvHsbzb7gHL3vTV_PQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D33.208336%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100

In New York City, we inevitably run into the very controversial issue of urban renewal. A famous (or infamous) name associated with urban renewal is Robert Moses. He was the driving force behind much of what we see in the city today, such as highways, apartment complexes and, parks. But many historic neighborhoods had to be bulldozed for that to happen.

No project of Robert Moses is as controversial as the Cross-Bronx Expressway. Some believe that it was very detrimental to the South Bronx. Robert Moses even got blamed for causing Brooklyn's two legendary baseball teams, the Dodgers and the Giants, to leave.

What it comes down to is cars. If we are going to drive, there has to be room for highways and parking. On the one hand, we want to preserve historic and beloved neighborhoods. But, on the other hand, we don't want to spend half hour in a traffic jam and then another half hour looking for a place to park. Something has got to give.

Just one tip. If you ever want to win a popularity contest, don't have anything to do with urban renewal. Even if urban renewal is very successful, it often takes a long time to be appreciated. In the short term. the focus is on mourning what has been lost.

In the Bronx, there is Yankee Stadium. The narrow river is the Harlem River, which separates the Bronx from Manhattan. Yankee Stadium goes back a long way, the original stadium was just south of this.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.8292211,-73.9251031,3a,75y,226.32h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sSr7D2nLFk6AY5XLpsT9hjg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DSr7D2nLFk6AY5XLpsT9hjg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D218.39133%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100

The focal point of the Bronx seems to be The Hub, where several streets come together.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.8160803,-73.9175986,3a,75y,296.52h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s9bRIUSakNJZjkeGcbrmkMw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D9bRIUSakNJZjkeGcbrmkMw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D303.39853%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

In the Bronx, this is the Mott Haven Historical District

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.8111785,-73.9243229,3a,75y,69.65h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sk-LBKHgkLVoK19_ItUe57w!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dk-LBKHgkLVoK19_ItUe57w%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D63.895924%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192