Park Slope Reader - Fall 2019 #70

PARK SLOPE READER | 11
[EXPLORE BROOKLYN ]
111
PLACES IN
BROOKLYN
That You Should Not Miss
Salt Marsh Birdwatching
Gold medal nature center
When most people think of the 1936 Berlin Olympics,
it’s Jesse Owens who comes to mind. Only a few, however,
know that the first American medal of those games came
in the “Municipal Planning” portion of the “Arts” competitions:
a silver medal for architect Charles Downing Lay
for his redesign of the Marine Park neighborhood.
It’s true – from 1912 to 1948, athletics-inspired art and
poetry were also Olympic competitions, probably inspired
by the ancient Roman games. Emperor Nero added singing
and poetry to the competition in 66 a.d. He won gold
medals in both, no surprise to anyone.
Marine Park is home to the largest public park in
Brooklyn, and more than half of its 798 acres consists of
salt marshes like those that served as hunting and fishing
grounds for the earliest Native American settlers. (Fire
pits have been discovered that date from 800 to 1400 a.d.)
Later, Dutch settlers also settled here, the marshland
Though springtime is so often hailed as the season of
new beginnings, autumn can play much the same role.
Whether it’s back to school or the workaday grind after
summer’s offering of respite, relaxation, and recreation,
September offers up the chance to re-enter the fray, recharged
for the new challenges and opportunities that
await. “Autumn is the second spring,” French author Albert
Camus once wrote, the moment “when every leaf is
a flower.” In other words, it’s a time when the normal and
everyday can take on a new, even unexpected, beauty.
Seeing what lies near through fresh eyes is a central goal
of my book, 111 Places in Brooklyn That You Must Not
Miss (Emons Publishing). For this issue, I’ve chosen three
chapters that offer the opportunity to do just that.
Along Flushing Avenue, the Brooklyn Navy Yard can
seem like an industrial residue from another time. But step
into BLDG 92, and you’ll have offers the opportunity to
transform your appreciation of this space through a deeper
understanding of its fascinating history. Located over
three floors in the beautifully restored Marine Commandant’s
House, museum exhibits tell not just the story of the
ships built there and their centrality to national historical
chapters, but also the men and women whose toil animated
mammoth vessels like the USS Arizona.
Kings Theatre provides the opportunity to experience
first-hand, in Camus’ terms, an architectural “flower.” Located
along Brooklyn’s central artery, Flatbush Avenue,
the theatre is living proof that age is no barrier to beauty
- or vitality - with well-positioned resources and imagination.
Lying dormant and in decay for decades, the historic
Loew’s show palace has been beautifully preserved and renewed.
A wide range of programming - including Tchaikowsky’s
“Nutcracker” performed by the Moscow Ballet in
early December - offers the opportunity to take in shows
with the jaw-dropping beauty of the Kings as their stunning
backdrop.
Finally, a visit to the Salt Marsh Nature Center, adjacent
to Marine Park, provides a chance to experience the borough
as the indigenous Lenape and the immigrant Dutch
might have in centuries past. High grasses, tidal flows and
migrating birds all add to the atmosphere. Brooklyn moves
at a fast and furious pace, often causing us to focus our
energies on the here-and-now as it unfolds in constantly
changing constructed landscapes. How exhilarating it can
be, then, to pause and take in a parcel of earth in our midst
that preserves a sense of our home from another time.
By John Major with photographs by Ed Lefkowicz
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