While much of my life has been spent flowing in and out of New York, for the past eleven years, I’ve been here choosing to plant roots in the cement. I had both of my children near the place I was born. Many of their “firsts” have been near mine, or my mother’s, or someone in my family’s. Many of the people are gone; the buildings and apartments, no longer: just cascades and new faces and people with a very faint grasp on the history here. Why I choose to live here. Why I choose to change and grow, not as a woman of color, but as a woman of color raising a family. Still, Brooklyn and the memories I’ve been privileged enough to make in it despite its rapid change are not lost on me. These are just a few of my favorite places, and so many of the memories that they hold are near and dear to my heart.
623 Vanderbilt Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11238
Bittersweet
180 DeKalb Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11205
Brooklyn Crab
24 Reed Street
Brooklyn, NY 11231
Eugene & Company
397 Tompkins Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11221
Peaches HotHouse
415 Tompkins Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11216
Sweet Chick
164 Bedford Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Urban Vintage
294 Grand Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11238
900 Washington Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11225
Brooklyn Bridge Park
334 Furman Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Brooklyn Central Library at Grand Army Plaza
10 Grand Army Plaza
Brooklyn, NY 11238
Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway
Brooklyn, NY 11238
Fort Greene Park and Greenmarket
DeKalb Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA)
80 Hanson Place
Brooklyn, NY 11217
Prospect Park
Brooklyn, NY 11225
30 Lafayette Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11217
Cobble Hill Park
Clinton Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Jane’s Carousel
Old Dock Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
McCarren Park Pool
776 Lorimer Street
Brooklyn, NY 11222
New York Transit Museum
99 Schermerhorn Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Underhill Playground
117B Underhill Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11238
Underwood Park
Lafayette Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11205
146 Broadway
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Lovers Rock
419 Tompkins Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11216
Friends and Lovers
641 Classon Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11238
Ode to Babel
772 Dean Street
Brooklyn, NY 11238
145 Bedford Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Brooklyn Flea
80 Pearl Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Feliz
185 DeKalb Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11205
L Train Vintage
654 Sackett Street
Brooklyn, NY 11217
Martine’s Dream
681 Nostrand Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11216
Scosha
64 Grand Street
Brooklyn, NY 11249