IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

The multi-lingual sign on one of the nearby schools reflects the cultural diversity of my new neighborhood.

One of the pleasures of moving into my new neighborhood has been to get to know some of my new neighbors.  Of course, I have met many interesting people in my building and as I have walked my dogs. However, the neighbors I want to talk about here are the library, art museum and botanic garden.  

Although my first introduction to the Brooklyn Public Library was brief, I could tell I would return many times.  Like a three-tiered Asian temple, the first level is the most used and the most geared to popular tastes, with a café, public-access computer stations and a general reading room filled with popular magazines, DVDs and best-selling books.  An escalator whisks one up to the second level where things get a bit more serious (the collections on history, philosophy, science, mathematics and such).  (I almost forgot.  On the first level, tucked to the side, is an interesting multilingual learning center where one can learn and converse with others in many different languages.) To reach the third and highest level of the library one must ascend a stairway that is something of a hike. (I assume there is an elevator somewhere to make all levels handicapped accessible and there is an elevator marked "staff only.")  It is quite obvious that this level doesn’t quite get the funding the others do as it shows its age.  Naturally, this is the level devoted to art and music. This large space does seem to be used extensively, if the number of patrons on the day of my first visit is any indication.  I shall enjoy looking over the collection of musical scores and books from time to time. 

I have made an even briefer visit to the Brooklyn Museum of Art. The magnificent building dominates its surroundings and is fronted by a very people-friendly plaza. The very spacious front lobby has samplings of sculpture, most notably by the French sculptor Auguste Rodin. Both the museum and the library have lots of events throughout the year that I know I will want to attend and I look forward to discovering the contents of this wonderful museum.

It was only after two weeks that I found my way into the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.  On a very pleasant afternoon I strolled through a large portion of this very attractive set of gardens.  It is wonderfully laid out with many different themes (such as a Shakespeare garden, an Asian garden--with pond and koi, of course-- and a very large and impressive rose garden).  It will be so interesting to go into this fantastic preserve at different times of day and at different seasons. 

Right next to the botanic garden is Prospect Park, which I attempted to bike through one morning but ended up walking my bicycle most of the way. (Let’s get in shape!) It was designed by the same man who designed New York’s more famous Central Park and offers much variety for its visitors.

In front of entrances to the library, the botanic garden and the large park is a magnificent plaza, Grand Army Plaza, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux and built as a tribute to those who fought for the Union Army, especially those who gave up their lives.  It is dominated not by a “triumphal arch” but rather by a “memorial arch.”  

No matter what the weather, I am sure it will be quite difficult to walk through this area without thinking-- “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood.”