Aunt Bea Comes To Visit - Day 3

Sep 29, 2008

Bea was getting used to our house and the neighborhood. On a beautiful Autumn morning we decided to take a little stroll to nearby Prospect Park. One approaches the park through Grand Army Plaza. New York is not know for grand and open spaces. Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza is one of very few of those spces that define other great cities such as Paris. It's central attraction is the magnificent Soldiers And Sailors Memorial Arch, dedicated to the veterans of the Civil War. In its center is a the gracious Neptune fountain. Olmstead and Vaux designed Eastern Parkway which departs from the Plaza and Brooklyn's Central Library sits adjacent. And, of course, the northern entrance to Prospect Park beckons as you stroll through the plaza.

With all its beauty, however, it has been a remote and seldom-used gathering point for New Yorkers. Automobile traffic, almost non-existent when it was built, has emasculated it, surrounding it with an inpenetrable and hazardous barrier. That is all about to change as a consortium of public interest groups and city agencies have put their heads together to come up with a new design that will promote pedestrian and cycling access and encourage the public to enjoy the beauty of this majestic plaza.

Our walk takes us to Grand Army Plaza, one of NYC's few grand spaces. It's currently the subject of major renovation to make it more useable and accessible to pedestrians and cyclists. For years it has been underused since it's surrounded by a horrific torrent of car traffic.

Stacey checks out a proposal for redesigning the plaza. Each display shows a planner's ideas for re-inventing the space and making it more accessible to the public.

Stacey and Bea stroll through the various designs for renovation of the plaza.

After walking through the plaza we entered Prospect Park and sat for a while looking out at serene Long Meadow which, as its name suggests, is a lovely and popular field that attracts hundreds of people on a summer weekend. Now, on an early Autumn morning, it was quite empty. It's green lawn ran south, off into the distance.

Bea was impressed by the Soldier's and Sailor's Memorial Arch that is the anchor of Grand Army Plaza. The arch commemorates the fallen soldiers of the Civil War.

Enjoying the beauty of Prospect Park's Long Meadow ... and resting a bit.

On our way back we stopped at our usual haunt, Prospect Perk coffee shop to give Bea a flavor of our routine. Then back home for a rest. We would head back out again, this time by car, to visit Fairway market in Red Hook. We wanted to show Bea what's happening in these previously rundown neighborhoords as our borough reinvents itself with younger (and more prosperous) folks move in.

At our usual hangout: Prospect Perk on Flatbush Avenue.

We arrive at Fairway, an upscale gourmet supermarket, which has installed itself in renovated Civil War era warehouses, attracts customers from all over despite its remote location.

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