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Bay Ridge – A Norwegian Neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York

A Walk Around Cultural Brooklyn

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Bay Ridge – A Norwegian Neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York

Thursday, September 18th, 2008

Guest Blogger, Ed Gawlinski, has been involved in many cultural organizations throughout his life. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York, near Bay Ridge, which was then a Norwegian neighborhood.

The Norwegian neighborhood is now a great place for Middle Eastern cuisine. There are many fine restaurants in this area. Many of the shops include Arabic in their signs. However, the Norwegians still have their annual Norwegian Day Parade there every May. May 17th marks the Norwegian Constitution Day celebration. This is when Norway declared its independence from Sweden. Swedish-Americans do not have any hard feelings about this. Swedes from Connecticut go to Brooklyn each May to participate in this Parade.

Back in the 1960’s many of the Catholic Churches in Brooklyn sponsored Drum and Bugle corps to keep their youth out of mischief. The people who played in one of these, The Ridgemen of Our Lady of Perpetual Help during the 1960’s have formed an “alumni” Drum and Bugle Corps and march in this parade every year.

Off Topic Note from Mama Lisa: Ed’s story about the bugle corps keeping the youth out of mischief was interesting. This must have been common in the past. It reminds me of the story of how Louis Armstrong starting playing the trumpet… (Click the link if you’d like to learn more!)

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Posted in Brooklyn, Countries & Cultures, Norway, Sweden, Traveling, USA, USA | No Comments »

A Walk Around Cultural Brooklyn

Monday, September 15th, 2008

Guest Blogger, Ed Gawlinski, has been involved in many cultural organizations throughout his life. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. You can tell his heart still belongs there by something he wrote to me the other day, “It is a small world, and in some ways it revolves around Brooklyn!” Here’s what Ed wrote last month…

I was in Brooklyn, NY this past weekend visiting my mother, who is in her 90s. I took a walk through what a few decades ago would have taken me from an Irish neighborhood (Sunset Park) into a Polish neighborhood (Park Slope). The ethnic flavor has changed over the years. The current flavor is mostly Mexican. There are a lot of Mexican restaurants that look very inviting. The ones that I have tried have excellent food. On Sunday there was a block party on the street next to Sunset Park. At this event there were several young children performing Mexican folk dances. They were quite good and their costumes were stunning.

I thought you might like to see a few pictures of this…

I took those pictures on a walk to Greenwood Cemetery. There are a lot of famous people buried there and they have fascinating walking tours through this beautiful cemetery. Sunset Park and Greenwood Cemetery were also part of the Battle of Brooklyn. This was the biggest battle during the American Revolution. In Greenwood Cemetery there is a monument commemorating this part of the Revolutionary War. This monument includes a statue of the Greek Goddess Minerva who is looking out at New York Harbor. If you stand behind Minerva you can see that she is looking at the Statue of Liberty. Lady Liberty, in turn is looking at Minerva.

Here are a couple of pictures of this that you might enjoy.

If you come to New York City as a tourist, don’t miss Brooklyn. Take the RR subway to the 25th Street station, walk up the hill to Greenwood Cemetery and take the walking tour. When you finish, and go out the main gate, turn right and have something to eat at the Mexican restaurant, or cross the street and eat at the Polish restaurant. Then take the 5th Avenue bus to 60th Street and see the biggest church in Brooklyn which was founded by Irish immigrants but now has ministers for Spanish and Chinese speaking parishioners. Walk up to 6th Avenue and notice the minaret of a mosque a few blocks on your right. Continue to 8th Avenue to shop at the large number of Chinese stores. Don’t expect to see many signs in English. You should end your tour back at 5th Avenue and find a Middle Eastern restaurant between 70th Street and 90th Street. Catch the RR subway back to Manhattan on 4th Avenue.

Enjoy!

Ed Gawlinski

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Posted in Brooklyn, Countries & Cultures, Mama Lisa, New York, Traveling, USA, USA | 1 Comment »

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