MY NEW YORK

      The farthest western county of Long Island is Kings County more familiary known as Brooklyn. It has the largest population of any other borough with over 2.5 million people. If is was a city it would be the 4th largest in the USA. Although it is part of New York City, it like the other boroughs has a borough president who shares responsibility with the mayor and the city council for the smooth running of the borough. It was incorperated with the other boroughs into New York City in 1898.

      Getting in, out and around Brooklyn is no problem at all. The borough is criss crossed with many subway lines, many bus lines and plenty of bridges. The most famous bridge is the Brooklyn Bridge which was the first suspension bridge in the USA. Built by JohnRoebling it opened in 1882 and still carries hundreds of cars every day to and from lower Manhattan. Among other bridges and tunnels connecting Manhattan are the Manhattan Bridge, the Quensboro Bridge, the Midtown Tunnel, the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel and now connecting Staten Island the Verrazano Narrows Bridge which is the longest suspension bridge in the USA. Even though it is connected to Queens there are still bridges over Newtown Creek. They are the Kosciuszko Bridge and the Pulaski Bridge. If you want to drive around the borough there is the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, The Jackie Robinson Parkway and the Belt Parkway. All this makes Brooklyn pretty easy to get around and see the sights.

      Brooklyn is a true melting pot of the United States. There are about 75 differant languages spoken from people from all over the world. Most are divided into little enclaves with their own language and customs. To give a few instances. There is Brighton Beach which is heavily Russian. Williamsburgh is mixed with Blacks from all over Africa and the U.S., Hispanics and Hasidem from Eastern Europe. Irish live in Red Hook. with so many ethnic minorities there is plenty of restaurants from all over the world. However no matter where they live or what they speak at home they all speak Brooklynese which has no counterpart anywhere else.

      Now for seeing and doing things Brooklyn has many attractions. There is the Botanical Garden which is one of the most beautiful in the U.S. It has quite a number of museums one of which is the Subway Museum which shows subway and trolly cars from all eras of the city. In there on display are some private subway cars one of which belonged to Belmont.

      Now if you want to have fun there is Coney Island which is home to the Cyclone rollercoaster. It is one of if not the oldest rollercoaster in the U.S. having celebrated its 75th Anniversery this year. There is also the first Nathans home of the hot dog eating contest every year. There is also an Acquarium on the boardwalk (which stretches for 3 miles). If you are so inclined you can also go swimming on all the beaches or go fishing on a pier. They also have a class A baseball team playing at Cyclone field which is on the site of the old Steeplechase Amusement Park. For a modest sum in the evening you can see a professional baseball game.

Whenever you come to New York City it would be worth your while to spend a few days seeing Brooklyn. It is only a short subway ride from Manhatten and has many different sights from museums to different sections all offering something ethnic to eat to beaches and amusements. I can assure you it will be time well spent.