A Three-Mile Walk Through Fort Greene and Clinton Hill

I set out on Tuesday afternoon just to view the Tree Hugger Project on Myrtle Avenue in Brooklyn (previous post), but the attractive architecture and street life kept me going much farther. As I mentioned in the last post, I started out near downtown at the Jay Street station and walked through the Metro Tech Center before heading out Myrtle Avenue.

After walking past Fort Greene Park and stopping at the temporary art installation of the sculptures, I continued walking east down Myrtle Ave., a nice street of diverse businesses and past a drive-through White Castle, the home of the small, square "slider" (a hamburger). There, I felt like I had hit suburbia in true form. Turning at Classon Avenue I made my way to the Pratt Institute, a leading arts school, to contemplate art education in the age of post-capitalism. I'll save my thoughts for another post, but for now, I wandered onto the campus, not really sure if I was permitted, and looked at all matter of sculpture installed in their commons. From campus I wandered back toward the west on lovely Willoughby Avenue, a street with pretty brick apartment buildings. As it was winter and a weekday afternoon, I came across few pedestrians and so was left to my own thoughts. I walked past the Eglise Baptise d'Expression Francaise, a French-speaking Baptist church that serves a large Haitian community.

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Coincidentally, The New York Times ran a feature the day after my walk on good restaurants in Fort Greene that feature African food. Now, I have an excuse to go back. In addition to its early connection to the writer Walt Whitman, Fort Greene is known for its successes as a racially diverse neighborhood. The final stretch of the walk took me past beautiful townhouses along Carlton Avenue. When I arrived at the Lafayette station, I realized how close I was to the Brooklyn Academy of Music, a favorite venue I've been to several times. Many reasons to return, I thought.

Images by Walking Off the Big Apple from February 17, 2009.

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