Wen and I went for a huge walk around Brooklyn today. In honor of a recent NY Times article on Crown Heights, we decided to wander over and check out the historic district (PDF).
It - plus surrounding Bed Stuy - are a truly unique area and well worth a visit; here are some photos.
The historic district starts with a couple of gorgeous old apartment buildings - The Bedfordshire and The Imperial.
Around the corner, it's time for homemade iced tea. Note the peeling paint; what makes Crown Heights so interesting is that there's a huge variability in both the architectural styles and also the quality of the buildings. Abandoned buildings sit next to million dollar row houses.
There are many, many local churches (almost all Baptist or Pentecostal):
We paused for shaved ice; well worth the $1.
This guy could have used some shaved ice; it was damn hot.
A couple more photos, showing the local character:
The Brooklyn Public Library (Eastern Parkway Branch) is right on the edge of Crown Heights:
And finally, a shot of the Union Street Bridge's administrative building. Not anywhere near to Crown Heights, but I liked the photo.
