Off to Brooklyn: 2009

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

McCarren Park

McCarren Park is located in Greenpoint and is bordered by Nassau Avenue, Bayard Street, Lorimer Street and North 12th Street.
The park is a popular destination for recreational softball, volleyball, soccer, handball, and other games. It is also used for sunbathing and dog-walking. In late 2004, the park's track was resurfaced and has been a popular destination for running enthusiasts.
Events on the baseball fields of McCarren Park include members of the punk and indie communities gathering to participate in league-controlled kickball tournaments. For several years, the baseball fields have hosted tournament play for the Hasidim; weekend afternoons provide T-ball and softball games for organized area youth groups; Latino families and friends often utilize the fields to play soccer and volleyball into the late hours of the night.

Via Wikipedia

Greenpoint: the polish mile - Greenpoint: la milla polaca

Greenpoint is the northernmost neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bordered on the southwest by Williamsburg at the Bushwick inlet, on the southeast by the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and East Williamsburg, on the north by Newtown Creek and Long Island City, Queens at the Pulaski Bridge, and on the west by the East River. Originally farmland (many of the farm owners' family names, e.g., Meserole and Calyer, still name the streets), the residential core of Greenpoint was built on parcels divided during the 19th century, with rope factories and lumber yards lining the East River to the west, while the northeastern section along the Newtown Creek through East Williamsburg became an industrial maritime reach. There has been an effort to reclaim not only the rezoned Greenpoint/Williamsburg East River waterfront for recreational use, but to extend that effort to include a continuous promenade into the Newtown Creek area.
Greenpoint is largely middle class and multi-generational; it is not uncommon to find three generations of family members living in this community. The neighborhood is sometimes referred to as "Little Poland" due to its large population of working-class Polish immigrants, reportedly the second largest concentration in the United States after Chicago. Although they may constitute the majority, Greenpoint is not only populated with Polish immigrants and Polish-Americans, as there is a small population of Hispanics found in the area north of Greenpoint Avenue.

Via Wikipedia