Telling Brooklyn Stories

The story of “The People, Parks and Ambience of Brooklyn” by Gloria Deak is very informative of our neighborhoods past and history.  The battles fought and the places of great importance that still exists today.  Deak tells us the history of Brooklyn and everything around and near it.  One aspect that stood out to me was the fact that everything is still here.  Great battles have been fought on the grounds of Prospect Park, Flatbush, Fort Greene, and many more familiar places that we go through every day without even knowing the meaning that each street stands for or are named after.  This information and imagery that the author describes for the audience is very vivid and colorful, one can actually have the feel of being in the 1800s version of Brooklyn, which was named after the dutch: Breucklyn.  Close enough, right ?

This story amazes me as to how Brooklyn use to be and the blood shed to get it to be into the place it is today.  Deak nicely conveys the importance of each battle and vividly describes each scene.

Where I`m from, If you ask me where in new York I am from I would tell you that I am from Flushing, New York.  Flushing isn’t the most dangerous place in New York to say the least but I will tell you one thing it isn’t exactly the most pleasant either. A word to describe flushing would be diversity you can find people of many ethnic groups ranging from south America to as far east as japan.

Where I’m from, Sanford Avenue particularly is where I would tell u in flushing is where I reside; anyone that lives in flushing can tell you directions to where Sanford ave is located.

Where I’m from, I live not too far from what many in flushing call a mini china town, the noise in this part of flushing can overwhelm many not familiar with the area the car horns honking, the Chinese lady at the supermarket screaming at the kids running around are just the beginning of the nonstop shatter that resides in this part of flushing.

Where I’m from, these neighborhoods are familiar with one another so take the wrong step on a friend’s property you could find yourself in some trouble. This isn’t to scare anyone off but just to describe the mentality of the community at large.

Where I’m from, you can find foods of all types but in particular if your looking for Asian cuisine you can`t miss main street in flushing

Where I’m from, the streets are safe to walk at night if you have 3 or friend with you because walking alone is an open invitation to get mugged. Don’t misconstrue what I just told you there aren’t many murderers in this part of new York just many petty thieves trying to get by in there pathetic lives.

Where I’m from, there aren’t any big time criminals that reside in flushing, there’s just a lot of little drug dealers living the life script of what they think is “hard” simple word for those who don’t know hard would describe a person who’s been through a lot of adversity and has dealt with it to be recognized as their own man.

Where I’m from, #1 rule just keep your friends close because its gunna b hard living once you realize your alone and have no one to turn to for help. I`m not trying to make Flushing, Queens sound like any of the much tougher neighborhood in New York by any means I guess this is just what I see where I live.

in this story the author talks about how brooklyn came to be what it is today. the author starts form the beginning and how it was called “bruecklen”. As you can see it has a resemblance with the current name of the borough which is Brooklyn. she also talks about the brooklyn bridge and the construction of the bridge. she talks about how many people move from other places in to brooklyn. She also talks about brooklyn beach and the attractions that were made there. This was called Poor mans Paradise. it was simply called that because the average working brooklynite could go there and spend their time with out spending too much money and having too much of a load on his/her pocket or wallet. when you think about it this is so true because in brooklyn anyone can have an amazing time just by going to the beach and save their money for something else. they can enjoy and have an amazing time and be saving money also. Coney island was later tore down and replaced. it has recently opened up and is called luna park now. i believe they did wrong. they destroyed history of brooklyn. Brooklyn history was amazing and just by tearing it down they destroyed what it was known for. All in all this short story show us the history of brooklyn and how it came to be. it is a very good story for people that are learning about brooklyn and its history.

The Brooklyn Bridge is a particularly outstanding landmark in all of New York City let alone just Brooklyn. Gloria Deak describes in “The people, Parks, and Ambience of Brooklyn”, that nothing of this proportion had been constructed since the tower of babel and the great pyramids of Egypt. Deak goes on to mention how the Brooklyn Bridge was the “achievement” of John and Washington Roebling. In addition to this she mentions how there were many mishaps during the construction of the bridge like, hesitations, project being postponed and also accidents. The bridge was completed on May 14, 1883 the steel, wood, and all other components were woven to create and “awesome architecture” as described by the poet hart Crane. The bridge was the center of attention and many Brooklynites marveled at the engineering of the bridge. These are some of the aspects of the Brooklyn Bridge as described by Gloria Deak.

The one thing that stood out to me what the part about coney island . growing up i have only been to coney island a hand full amount of times. i never really liked the amusement park or the beach. i always thought it was simply a failed attempt at an a attraction. but as i grew i realized what important role it played in Brooklyn. and me being a very proud brookylinte  i realized how ignorant  i was . but after reading about in the excerpt come to a new realization. the thing that hit me the most was when it was called the” poor mans Paradise”. after thinking about for a second or two i had to say to my self “wow”. simply because of the fact that it is so true. that it is poor man paradise. and so is Brooklyn itself.  what makes Brooklyn so different and better than Manhattan is the fact you can have only a dollar and your pocket but just having a nice walk around Brooklyn in its nice green areas can bring you so much joy. a place where they are not looking for much and everybody is the same where don’t need a id at the door a place where can just relax and things are simple but not the less exciting and fun. and it really opened my eyes and gave me different words to describe Brooklyn. besides “tough” .

I am from east flat bush  Brooklyn,NY. Is what i would say if you asked, well at least if you were interested in knowing. where i am from we always have or guard up where smiling and laughing is sign of weakness. where sternness is either respected or challenged.

Where i am from you can hear the clamor of loud car stereos  and steel pans. and just as loud you can hear the shouting of proverty stricken bums as you would pass by.

Where i am from you either make a name for your self or your identity will be taken form you.  where I’m from the kids grow up quick, they barely have time to enjoy there innocence.

where i’ am from the good become victims and the victims become hopeless. where the bad guys or  just kids who were once victims and there hopelessness became ruthlessness.

where i am from we like to make or presence known, even if it made my by the glamor of our clothes. where we don’t care where your from just about  your  “heart” if you can handle the  pressure or not.

where i am from we respect people who rise through the cracks of the concrete as we sit on stoops green with envy as if it was an impossible feat. where look down on those who have failed and say to ourselves “that’s the life of the weak”

where i  am from is actually not that bad you many different cultures that mixes together and gives our unique identity just like the great tasting food. but one thing we have in common we cant succeed until we see the blood sweat and tears.

This semester, we will use Dropbox.com to submit, store, and share our work. You will need to create an account on Dropbox.com using the email address to which I’ve sent your invitation. I have already invited you to share a folder with the class. Once you have an account, you will be able to join that folder and use it to share files that everyone in our class will have access to. You can also use the site to store your own files in a different folder. Please also be aware: you can use Dropbox on the Web, or you can download it onto your computer. You do not need to download it if you do not want to.

Instructions:

1. Follow the instructions in the Dropbox.com invitation I sent you
2. Create an account using that invitation
3. log in
4. click on the tab called Sharing
5. click where it tells you that you have an invitation to share a folder
6. accept my invitation
7. click on that folder
8. upload your file from your computer or flash drive (.doc, .docx, or .rtf)
9. if your file is an attachment to an email, first save it to the computer, then upload it
10. make sure that your file is in the folder! If you can’t see it in the folder we share, none of us can see it!
11. you’re done!

in this short passage, nelson george talks about many thing. the most important thing he talks about is his move from jamaica queens to fort Greene in brooklyn. he shows us how is life changed and involved and also gives us a picture of the past of fort greene and how it came to be the central hub of all artists in the world. many artists live there and they live there because of filmmaker spike lee. he created a film that inspired many artist to move in to fort greene and eventually it became very popular. he also talks about the crime in the area. he talks about his life and how he came to be what he is. he wrote many books and was inspired by many things in life. he was inspired by music, movies, and many other things. he talks about the atmosphere in fort greene inspired him become what he is and influenced him to work hard everyday. he was also happy to be in fort greene because he was close to manhattan. this made his life much easier. no more traveling through numerous trains just to get to manhattan. he was close to any resource he needed. he shows how many artists failed and could not become successful because they gave up. he did not give up he gave it all he had and in the end he learned what he truly was. he was a mentor, a teacher, an amazing son. he was a writer. he believes that all his hard work payed off and made him what he is today. he doesnt care for all the fame and fortune he believes in his work.