Canarsie

Summer's here, and it's walking season again. My goal is to complete Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, and do half of Queens before the season's over, which will probably be sometime in November.

One of the first neighborhoods up on my list was Canarsie. Canarsie for me had always meant "typical Brooklyn" - you know, as in "hey - it's Joey Bagadonuts from Canarsie." Canarsie produced people with thick accents who drank beer in cans, and had 12-foot long cars that they faithfully washed once a week.

Canarsie is still typical Brooklyn - while the neighborhood has little to no remants of its Jewish and Italian population (Young Israel of Canarsie sits dilapidated on 108th street), having almost completely turned over to a West Indian population during the last two decades, its feel remains much the same. Ethnic groups come and go, neighborhoods stay. The middle-middle class feel is something that seems seeped into its sidewalks. Houses are brick and non-descript. A BLT at the deli costs $2.00. Couples hang out at Canarsie Pier, which still has a "no commuter parking" sign, despite it being decades since the last commuter boat ran from the pier. It's Canarsie: middle-of-nowhere, Brooklyn.

Neighborhoods: Canarsie
Tracts Walked: 954, 958, 962, 964, 968, 1098, 956, 966, 990, 992, 994, 996, 998, 1004, 1006, 1008, 1010, 1024, 1026, 1028, 1034, 1018, 1020, 1022, 1012, 1014, 1016, 984, 986, 988