Saturday, December 27, 2014

Local Saturday - Neighborhoods

Who or what is your neighborhood named after?  Do you know?

I read an article on Mental Floss's website yesterday, about the origin of neighborhood names in Brooklyn, New York. 

Today, sadly, Brooklyn is very much in the news, as two NYC police officers murdered in cold blood in Brooklyn last Saturday, as they sat in their patrol car, are buried.

Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City, and the seventh most populous county (the entire borough of Brooklyn encompasses Kings County, New York) in the United States.  I have not ever lived in Brooklyn, but my father was born and spent the first 30 or so years of his life there, and around the last 10.

Recently, in doing some research, a cousin and I discovered the apartment house where my father spent his childhood had (apparently) burned down sometime around the turn of the century - the 21st century, that is.  
Beautiful architecture in Brooklyn

In November, I started a manuscript during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) called "Gravesend", taking place in a Brooklyn of the mid 21st century.  Gravesend is one of the many neighborhoods in Brooklyn. 

Avenue P near MacDonald Avenue, near the border between Gravesend and Midwood
Part of the story takes place in Gravesend, part in another neighborhood of Brooklyn (where I once had relatives, although they are all now deceased) called Midwood, and part of the story takes place - well, I am not going to give away the entire story, will I?

Will that Brooklyn carry a legacy of hate, or will it be a different place all together?  I'm still trying to figure that out.  It is a major process, trying to build a future world that makes sense.

But today is a sad day in New York City, the city of my birth and childhood.

Legend has it that one in seven Americans can trace their ancestry to someone who lived in Brooklyn. Are you one of them?
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3 comments:

  1. Amy BovairdDecember 27, 2014 at 3:30 PM

    Hi Alana,
    I am not one of them but it's a place that stands out in my mind and the accent that those in Brooklyn have is easily recognizable. I used to attend a church camp in Tonawanda, New York. Or maybe another camper came from there. We were penpals for awhile. The camp was Camp Agape. I'm interested in your story. Looking forward to learning more about it!
    Amy

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  2. joangogreenlivegreenDecember 27, 2014 at 3:51 PM

    Hi Alana :)

    Really enjoyed your post today :) Shared from your heart. Thank you :)

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  3. elly stornebrinkDecember 28, 2014 at 1:03 AM

    It would be interesting to read your NaNoWriMo challenge based on one of your neighbouring communities. And not a good day when the news hits your town/community in a negative way as people may tend to associate it with that one incident possibly for years to come. <3

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