On last class we visited the Brooklyn Historical Society. As far as first impressions go I was floored when we walked up to a gorgeous Red-stone building whose architecture spoke of a rich history that exemplifies what Brooklyn really is. As the enormous pocketed doors opened I got my first glance at a building so full of character that I swore it couldn’t get any better. I have never been so wrong before. We walked into the library archives and my jaw hit the floor. Imagine a library in the house of a lord where rich dark woods and soft lighting play of the binding of the thousands of books sitting nestled on the dark wooden shelves. As we got to work my definition of what Brooklyn is changed. For me Brooklyn today is just another place with buildings and homes just a regular part of New York.

I looked at a few different documents about Brooklyn’s history and I was floored. It’s been like this for so many years. I saw a picture of the BMT Train line looking onto the train line to the west from 16^th avenue. Today this isthe line that the N Train runs on and has remained relatively unchanged. I can say that I went down this line several times and didn’t realize that it has been the same for so long. I also looked at a map of the train lines that were present in 1939 and there were a few lines that are still around and in use today. On this map I saw a picture of the Metropolitan Tower from 1939 and that has also remained relatively unchanged.

In thinking about the big guy from “Only the Dead Know Brooklyn” he tried to know Brooklyn by visiting as much of it as he could and experiencing it firsthand.  He had a map which showed basic directions and transportation routes similar to the ones we had. He chose to visit Bensonhurst which was easy enough to find on the map. I agree with the protagonist that Brooklyn is a place so enormous and vast in its diversity that it is not possible to know all of it.

I think I know Brooklyn a little bit better than I knew it before our visit to the Brooklyn Historical Society. I have come to appreciate some of the nuances that encompass the borough of Brooklyn.