Famous Ankles

I’m breaking my Brooklyn Heights wandering into several parts.  The Promenade is a visit in and of itself.  I took way too many pictures and am having a time keeping it limited.  Nice views from the Promenade and throughout the Heights.

In any case, Brooklyn Heights is a lot more than the Promenade.  It thinks of itself as the first suburb in America.  It’s also the site of one of George Washington’s biggest defeats (he did a magnificent withdrawal, but didn’t get back to New York for a long time as the British held it through the rest of the Revolution).

Okay, if you remember what I said about Park Slope being a place you might move to if you’re well off and new to NYC; if you’re new to NYC and rich, Brooklyn Heights calls.  It’s quiet, it’s beautiful, and it’s well-located; just across the East River from lower Manhattan.

There are several nearby subway stops, but I took the 3 line to Borough Hall.  Wouldn’t you know, there was a farmers’ market going on.  NYC loves a good famers market.

The area of the farmers market was just outside Brooklyn’s Borough Hall.  In the background of the above picture is the State Supreme Court Building.  Below is a picture of Borough Hall itself.

 There’s a large square going from the Hall to a statue at the other end.  One of Brooklyn’s favorite sons is commemorated there:  Henry Ward Beecher.

Note the woman to the left of the picture.  I don’t know if the figure represents a freed/escaped slave or if it represents those slaves that needed his oratory to raise the nation up against slavery.  In either case, Beecher was one of the giants of the 19th Century’s anti-slavery movement in the US.

The square/walkway is pretty long.  Here’s a shot with my back to the Beecher statue.  The farmers market is in the distance.

Finally, there’s a statue of Columbus right next to the Supreme Court Building.  Technically, there’s an area right next to Brooklyn Heights called Columbia Heights.  I don’t know if there’s a link between its name and the statue, but maybe.

-H

This entry was posted on September 12, 2007 at 7:24 pm and is filed under Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights, Wanderings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.