Essay #6 Reflection

The Brooklyn Historical Society was a fun experience. I learned so much about Brooklyn. When I first came to City Tech I thought English class was just going to be a bunch of novels and we would have to do ten page papers on them. Instead, we took an awesome walking tour and visited the beautiful promenade. It is one of my favorite places to go and relax around City Tech. The view of Downtown Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge is astounding. That is what mostly caught my eye during the walking tour; I even had to take pictures! My second experience with analyzing the maps was great as well. It brought me back to when I was a kid and use to always look at the subway maps. During my whole train ride I would just look at the map with fascination. The maps brought back some memories. The 19^th and 18^th century maps made me think about the way of living in those days. Transportation must have been harder with no cars, buses, or trains around. Living with boot scrapers must have been an annoyance with all of the horse manure everywhere. Plus you had to do more walking since there were no cars. The old subway maps must have also been terrible for tourists because it showed no streets. I noticed that in the old subway maps all of the subway lines were drawn so narrow and straight. The subway maps now have even the park locations, long island railroad, and the metro-north. The MTA made vast improvements from 25 years ago. Overall, I had a great experience working with the Brooklyn Historical Society. I might go back one day if I need the library for some research in the future.