Brooklyn - June 25

NYC, June 25

Despite having visited New York since 1982, and having lived here for three years, I've never been to Brooklyn. Ok, once to see a SERVAS host, once to bury a cat at the Quaker Cementary, and many, many times driving to JFK. But I've never really seen it, so today will be the day. Before going there, though, I first cris-cross my way over Central Park, and then down Lexington, Park and Madison Avenues, barely avoiding potholes that would make certain a painful crash. Then I take the bicycle on the subway,  which outside rush hours seems to be acceptable over here.
   After crossing Brooklyn Bridge the course is set for a custom motorcycle shop 45 minutes Detouring on this and that street and Prospect Park and sometimes the wrong way, gets me there after a couple of hours I'm there. No 'oh f***!!' situations with cars either, or with pedestrians, despite riding a lot on the sidewalk.

Used book store window in Brooklyn. Not everybody has gone mad over here.

Spent half an hour riding through this neighbourhood, where the dress code for men hasn't changed much for the last 100 years. Every. Single. One. is dressed like the guy in the lower left corner. Only the Hispanic construction workers and black delivery truck drivers wear mainstream clothes. 

Once I've talked to the owner of the mc shop, the next destination will be the amusement park on Coney Island, wondering if I'll find references to That Movie (I did, on a beach blanket). The rides are mainly of the type where people scream a lot, like roller coasters, but other things can be found too. Compared to the two Danish amusement parks this seems like a low-key affair, at least on this Monday.

Above and below: The street scene changes back to normal, and a few blocks from the ultra-orthodox Hasidic area, 'Iacona Custom Cycles' have their shop. The three custom bikes - based on two modern Sportsters and one old Triumph respectively - shown here are all of the one-eyed sort.

Above and below: No points for guessing which movie this clip refers to, but how many of you remember the final scene that took place at the Coney Island amusement park? (Hint; clicking of bottles and "....come out and playayay....")

Advertising a 'tattoed girl' really shows the age of the facade. 

The Q line takes me back to The Strand bookstore, possibly my favourite shop in the whole city. I want to get the Guggenheim Museum's book 'The Art of The Motorcycle' for Sean, as a thanks for lending me the bicycle. It is simply the best book available on the subject, in part for the writing, and in part for the photography. The first part includes a Ducati road test done by infamous gonzo journalist Hunter Thompson, the texts for each individual bike are very well written, and the bike pics are taken by people who usually photograph sculptures.