It was a Saturday afternoon. I had just gotten off the N train at 8^th Avenue and 62^nd Street. To my left stretched one of the busiest few blocks in the neighbourhood, despite the cold. The bright awning signs and storefronts were a marked contrast to the dark winter jackets of the people walking outside. 8^th Ave, in the heart of the Chinese half of Sunset Park is packed with bakeries, restaurants, and grocery stores, and very little of anything written, if anything at all, is in English. But most of all, 8^th Ave has people. Mothers with small children, young couples, old couples, groups of teenage kids – they were all out buying food or walking down the street or getting up to whatever antics they wanted, bundled up in fluffy winter jackets despite the cold. The avenue is certainly busier when it’s not freezing outside.

I stopped for a snack at a packed little bakery. The cakes were quite good and unlike traditional Western sweets, the passion fruit tea was sweet and tangy, and almost every seat was filled by people getting a cup of coffee or hot chocolate and a cake, trying to escape the cold for a little while. The clientele in here were elderly people, young children, or young couples, mainly. I felt a little out of place in my giant, lime green winter coat, my white hair, and my pale skin.

A quick look down either avenue block showed residences, each a slightly different colour but all built in the same fashion. They were markedly quieter compared to the hectic nature of 8^th Ave, and even 7^th and 9^th Ave were much less busy. Traffic was mostly on 8^th.

I walked down to Greenwood Cemetery, my favourite place to visit in Sunset Park. It was completely dead inside – pun absolutely intended. The cemetery was peaceful and a little frozen over, and I enjoyed the quiet. In the middle of the cemetery is a crematorium and a little koi pond around a very sleek, modern urn house that held crematory urns in little glass boxes. As I discovered talking to some of the staff there, it’s a rather recent addition, prompted by the influx of Chinese immigrants into the neighbourhood.

It being a Saturday, and a cold one at that, none of the tours were going on. It seemed like I was the only person in the cemetery. I distantly saw a funereal group, but decided to give them space. The only people in the graveyard were the ones who had business there.

I left Greenwood and walked down to the 45^th Street N/R station, scoping out the location of the community hall. I passed by Sunset Park on the way. It was somewhat small, compared to the vastness of Greenwood, and pretty empty as well. Apparently it’s a popular dog park, as I saw a few puppies walking to the train. Like most of the neighbourhood, it’s probably more vibrant when it’s not so cold.

Visiting Sunset Park was something of a nostalgic experience for me in terms of community and environment. My family is Dominican, and most of them have relocated to New York in the last couple of decades and began establishing families in uptown Manhattan, in a neighborhood known as Washington Heights. It became immediately apparent to me that the latin-american immigrant culture was just as powerfully represented here as it was in the neighborhoods in which I spent much of childhood. I was greeted right off the bat to what I consider to be a staple of latin neighborhoods, the latin bakery. Here I found baked goods that I hadn’t gotten a chance to enjoy since the last time I visited my Aunts a few months ago, and while Sunset Park’s Las Rosas bakery’s coffee and bread pudding might be amazing, I still have an admittedly biased preference towards the ones I get on Dyckman in the heights. I failed to ask the patrons their ethnicity, as I am now retroactively curious if the different manifestations of the same carribean treat were due to slight cultural differences as opposed to simply a matter of craft.

Close by to the bakery was a Peruvian chicken restaurant, a clear sign of the dense variety of cultures within the latin american communities of New York. There was also the classic Limousine Car service business. My grandfather was responsible for opening and operating one of the same vein in the Heights, so I am quite familiar with the role these businesses play within the community. As a whole I felt very at home within the culture of those few blocks at least. The differences in architecture between the two neighborhoods manifests itself in Sunset Park feeling more open, definitely less crowded, but the space also made the neighborhood feel slightly more menacing to me once the sun began to set. I walked to the neighborhoods titular park.

I noticed on the way the transitions from latin to chinese businesses. I dont think I ever made it into the Chinatown proper, but I definitely saw the influence of the community spreading into what seems to be the predominantly latino sectors of the neighborhood. The park itself is beautiful but by the time I made it there  it was already dark so I don’t think I was able to appreciate much of the primary interactions that would typically take place in a park during the daytime. It would be interesting to see how the different cultures come together and interact socially.  I could still, however, appreciate the amazing view.

The cold in general made it very difficult to appreciate much of the communal aspects of the neighborhood as I imagine most people were in doors avoiding it, and I myself had my face buried in my hood most of the time. I am planning on visiting again in better weather for sake of appreciating the park. That was quite the discovery for me. I’d only first heard of it through articles I read in preparation, and having seen the view I don’t understand how it isn’t a more popular attraction.

I never really knew much about Red Hook before travelling there, so I didn’t particularly have many expectations or conceived notions about the area. Perhaps my first surprise was learning how difficult it was to actually reach Red Hook. The most common way to get to Red Hook is by taking the bus and walking further into the area. I decided to take the shuttle bus from Borough Hall to the IKEA and begin my observations around and within the building itself.

I reached the IKEA at around 5pm on February 18th. The streets themselves were pretty void of people except for those lining up to get on the bus or those who were walking into the store. I feel like this probably had a lot to do with the fact that it was freezing cold outside. Across from IKEA was a patch of green space in front of another building as well as a lot full of buses. Many of the lots that I could see from the distance had graffiti on the gates. IKEA actually seemed to contrast its surroundings quite a lot. It seemed to be a huge reason that people were coming to Red Hook in the first place. Most of the buildings that were within spotting distance from IKEA had “For Rent” signs and generally seemed like older buildings.

Since there weren’t many people outside, I decided to go inside of the store to see the different individuals that possibly lived around the area. I noticed there were a lot of families with young children in the stores, many Hispanic and Caucasian. There were also many couples in their twenties looking around. I don’t know how clearly these observations represent the population of the area since the main public transportation routes to Red Hook stopped right in front of the store. Many of the visitors of the store might possibly be from other areas.

By around 6pm, I decided to start walking further down Bread St. Most of the contents of the street confirmed the images that I saw from afar. The streets were mostly covered with older buildings in between large lots that were filled with buses, cars and the like. Again, I feel like the lack of individuals I saw wandering about most likely had to do with the fiercely cold weather. Although the area that I was walking through seemed slightly barren, I feel like there would be more people roaming about during summer or perhaps earlier in the day.

As I was taking the shuttle bus back to Borough Hall around 7pm, I saw a lot of apartment buildings clustered together, but I couldn’t clearly get the street names. The apartment buildings seemed to be in the same condition as most of the other buildings.

However, I feel like the most surprising thing about Red Hook, is the view. When you look far out into the distance, you can clearly see the Statue of Liberty and a really beautiful glimpse of the Verrazano Bridge.

Heading to East Harlem on February 20th around 3:30pm, I looked up the location on HopStop, which directed me to take the s79 to 86^th street, then the R train to Atlantic Ave followed by the 2 train to Time Square and finally the 6 train to 116^th street. I exited near the intersection of E 116TH ST (Luis Munoz Marin Blvd) and Lexington Ave. As I exited the subway, I could immediately smell pizza, which was coming from Sam’s Famous Pizza. The area was covered in snow except for the streets, which were congested with automobile traffic. The sidewalks, on the other hand, didn’t have that many people since it was extremely cold. Traveling down Lexington Ave, towards 115^th street, there were a number of small, old “mom and pop” type stores like Raysol Farmacia, Kodak Film services…etc. As I approached 115^th street, I immediately recognized “chain stores” like MetroPCS. The area began to look much more commercialized. There was also a Department of Health around the corner on 115^th Street. The smell of food began subsiding from the air as I moved away from the small, unmaintained stores that mainly sold food & produce. Walking further down Lexington Ave, past E 115^th street, I passed by a playground. I decided this would be a good area to spend some time in and observe the people.

The playground seemed like any other playground, filled with benches, a slide, a jungle-Jim as well as a basketball court separated by a gate. The playground was in an area directly adjacent to a number of apartment complexes, which reminded me a lot of those found on Tysens Ave on Staten Island. Although much of the playground was covered in snow, there were still a number of children playing, some even playing in the snow. The playground seemed to be a positive influence on the community, encouraging adults and children to exercise, even in below freezing temperatures.

After spending around thirty minutes in the playground, I headed past the apartment complexes. Although there weren’t many people outside, the ones I did notice were mostly middle-aged men and women (most likely out to shop for necessities or possibly coming home from work). They were mostly Puerto Rican and African American, though I did notice some Italians. Many of the stores in the area, particularly the “mom and pop stores” were based on these cultures. Once I hit E 117^th Street, I decided to walk down toward 3^rd Ave. As I walked down, I noticed a number of houses under construction. Once I crossed 3^rd Ave, I noticed a number of stores, some new like a McDonalds and others were based on the culture of the area like Wok Express, a Chinese restaurant suggesting an Asian population.

Before heading back to the 6 train, I met up with fellow teammate Julia at 4:30 at Cuchifritos on E 116^th Street between Lexington Ave and 3^rd Ave. The menu consisted mainly of traditional Puerto Rican cuisine. Even though there were some new stores in the region, it was nice to see that the neighborhood hadn’t been engulfed by gentrification. There were still restaurants like Cuchifritos that offer traditional meals. I had never been to East Harlem before but it was clear that gentrification is beginning to appear in some areas, while others still maintain the feel of ethnic enclaves.

I took my trip to East Harlem around 2 pm on Friday, the 20^th of February. It took a little over an hour to get there from my house. I took the B train and transferred to the 6 train on Broadway.  I got off at East 116^th Street. This was the street I focused on while exploring East Harlem. As I walked towards 3^rd Avenue, I saw many small businesses such as delis, nail salons, and a dentist’s office. There was an abundance of fast food places including Taco Bell, Burger King, a pizza parlor, and a restaurant called Cuchifritos. There were also apartments on the upper floors of the stores.

As I made my way towards 2^nd Avenue, I began to see more Mexican restaurants and also one Italian restaurant called Nocciola Ristorante. There were more barber shops on this part of East 116^th Street as well. I also started seeing more stores and signs with Spanish words. One photo store was called Numero Uno Photo. There were also more fast food places. I walked one more avenue down and saw a juice bar and two more barber shops. The people who walked around me were of different ethnicities, but the majority was Latino. Most of the people were middle aged men and women. It was extremely cold outside so there weren’t too many people walking down the sidewalk. The four-laned streets were busy though. I made my way back but also turned on 3^rd Avenue so I could walk down East 117^th Street for a few blocks. This was a residential street with old looking multi family houses. I didn’t see anyone as I walked down this street. Despite this being a quiet residential block, I did see a McDonald’s as I got to the corner. I also saw a few churches while walking around. On East 117^th Street I saw one church called St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church. There were more multi family houses on this street.

After all of the walking, I went back to East 116^th Street and I went inside the Cuchifritos I passed by earlier. I met with one of my group members, Fatema, at this Puerto Rican restaurant at around 4:30 pm. The restaurant had a cozy environment with a long counter and seats for staying and eating. While the staff were all Spanish speaking, the people who were eating there were of mixed ethnicities. There were fried Spanish dishes being served at Cuchifritos. I tried the meat stuffed plantain while I was there. It was surprisingly cheap with the price being only $1.50. Most of the food on the menu was very affordable.

Even though East Harlem is located in Manhattan, the area of the neighborhood that I walked through reminded me more of Brooklyn. The small businesses and local restaurants were the reasons why. Even though the area’s population is predominately black and Latino, I did see people of mixed ethnicities walking through the streets and also at the restaurant I went to. With the abundance of Latin American restaurants settled in East Harlem, one can also see other restaurants with different cuisine making their way into the neighborhood. An example of this is the Italian restaurant I saw and the few Chinese restaurants that were scattered around the streets I passed. One can clearly see more cultures popping up in this neighborhood.

If one wishes to visit Crown Heights, the Nostrand Avenue stop on the A or C subway line will drop you off right at the northern most tip of the neighborhood, at the intersection of Nostrand Avenue and Fulton St. Another option would be to take the 2, 3, 4, 5, Q, B, D, N or the R to the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center Station. From there, one can walk eastward along any of the streets cutting across Flatbush Avenue between the Barclay’s Center and Grand Army Plaza. This route, while admittedly more time consuming and tedious, captures the gradual shift from gentrified Flatbush to Crown Heights. I decided to take this route, walking along St. Marks Avenue from Flatbush Avenue to Nostrand Avenue.

From my time spent in the neighborhood, no other institution seems more central to the Crown Heights community than religion. During the course of my walk, a string pizzerias and delis popped up and then receded every few blocks. However, this food desert doesn’t lack houses of worship. Baptist and Methodist churches come in the form of derelict storefronts and crumbling stone churches.

Location 1: Royal Bakery & Roti House at 618 Nostrand Avenue

Date: February 12^th

Time: 4:05 – 4:25PM

The Royal Bakery, according to Yelp, is “where the locals go”. The traditional Trinidadian bakery offers coconut rolls, roti and sponge cake. Behind the counter stood a Trinidadian woman and at the far end of the counter was another man engaged in conversation with a male customer. Hanging on the wall behind the men was the flag of Trinidad. The woman took my order (two coconut rolls) and granted me permission to take photographs. There was no seating area so I remained standing. While there, the main event was the conversation between the two men, who spoke of politics. Occasionally the woman would interject with her opinion. For the duration of my visit, the place quiet with little foot traffic. The few customers who did shuffle in were regulars, as indicated by their casual relationship with the employees.

Who is here: The locals (Yelp didn’t lie.)

Location 2: Connecticut Muffin at 615 Nostrand Avenue

Date: February 12^th

Time: 5:30 – 6:30PM

The Connecticut Muffin located at the corner of Nostrand Ave and Bergen St., struck me as being oddly out of place. I recognized the coffee house franchise from its two locations in Park Slope. The café is spacious, with several round tables and one large communal table. The space is large enough for customers to keep to themselves. At 5:30, when I walk in, there are only two women sitting in the café, both charging their phones. I order a small coffee and become the third patron to do so. The large selection of pastries offered remains untouched as right outside the glass doors, lay authentic and inexpensive bakeries like Royal Bakery. Over the course of an hour, one group of three white males walk in and joke with the barista. Shortly after, another group of three walked in. After an hour, I left the establishment, witnessing no major shift in mood or occupancy.

Who is here: People who want to charge their phones and to drink crappy coffee.

Who is not here: The locals.

Living in Borough Park, I was very fortunate to be assigned to Sunset Park, a mere thirty-minute train ride away. I ventured to the neighborhood twice enabling me to get a clear picture of what it was like. The first time I went was on Wednesday, February 18, around 5:45 PM to attend a community meeting of Community Board 7. I took the R train and got off at 45^th street and 4^th avenue. Upon exiting the train station, I saw a moderately busy street. Fourth avenue consists of a wide street with cars rushing back and forth and a large variety of stores. There was a peculiarly large amount of bodegas and delis. There were also other commercial shops such as clothing stores, restaurants, and shoe stores. I had known previously that this part of Sunset Park consisted mainly of Hispanic people; however, I did not realize how much of Hispanic culture permeated the neighborhood. Nearly every person I saw was Hispanic and many of the restaurants served Hispanic cuisine. Coming off of 4^th avenue were residential streets with brownstones of different colors, not like the uniform looking ones you see in neighborhoods like Fort Greene and the Upper West Side.

Walking to the community meeting, I noticed that the houses on the side streets were built on a pretty steep hill. After the community meeting, my GPS unfortunately led me in the wrong direction to the train station; however, I was able to see a much talked about thoroughfare at the meeting: 3^rd avenue. Third Avenue is not a place one wants to be at night. As I approached the avenue along 34^th street, I started to feel a bit on-edge. Unlike the streets leading up to 4^th avenue, those between 3^rd and 4^th are very industrial looking with a few small junkyards and not a lot of people. Third avenue is right under the Gowanus Expressway. Cars travel down this street at very high speeds, and there weren’t many pedestrians. Unfortunately most of the stores were closed, but there weren’t as many as there were on 4^th avenue.

The second time I went to Sunset Park was on Sunday, February 22, around 5:00PM. I started off at 55^th street and 5^th avenue and continued walking up 5^th avenue toward Sunset Park. Fifth Avenue on a Sunday is extremely busy. There were large amounts of people, mostly families, roaming the streets going from store to store. Fifth Avenue had even more stores than 4^th Avenue. In addition to clothing stores and supermarkets, it had a lot of pharmacies, phone stores, taco joints, and, surprisingly enough, quite a few pawn shops. There were many street vendors as well, selling anything from food to jewelry. As I walked I heard a lot of Spanish music, saw a few murals, and passed by many schools and churches. The park was absolutely beautiful. With a great view of the neighborhood and Manhattan, it’s the perfect place for families to enjoy, which is exactly what they did.

I began my tour of East Harlem by taking the D train to Morningside Park, getting off at 125^th street. I had previously decided as Morningside Park as my first destination because it is East Harlem’s largest park and a historical landmark, having been designed by the same designers as Central Park. The park itself resembled Central Park, but with more open spaces and fewer trees and hills. The weather was bitterly cold, but quite sunny. I was surprised by the number of people who had braved the cold to spend time outdoors. Particularly lots of families with children, particularly lots of single women with children. Whether these were mothers or nanny’s, it was hard to tell, but as it was noon on a Friday, it is likely many people were at work. The park-goers were fairly diverse, along with women and children, many of whom were black or Latino, there were several groups of students (Columbia presumably) taking a stroll or chatting on the grass. Again, why they would do this is 15 degree weather is unfathomable to me.

After a while outside, I decided to leave the park and grab food. I exited the park and walked around, simultaneously trying to take in my surroundings and find an appetizing place to eat. Just outside of the park, I ran into a very large, gothic style church. I couldn’t find signage to indicate the denomination (I looked it up when I got home, the Holy Rosary Church, Catholic.) As for the food, the area was overwhelmingly Latin American and Mexican, though with a few other cuisines (primarily Asian) mixed in. Not only were the cuisines a strange mix, but the restaurants themselves were also an odd mix of upscale/hip and more rundown bodega style. The gentrification occurring in the area is impossible to miss. I also took note that while the park was busy on the Friday afternoon, the streets were considerably more empty. Those who were on the street were older black women, Latino men and women, often young. The Columbia students did not wander from the park apparently. I passed many corner stores and barber shops. Based on the culinary choices and the signage of the buildings, the area appeared to be overwhelmingly Hispanic, although the area was clearly diversifying.

I passed a restaurant called East Harlem Café and decided to duck in. The café was clearly a newer business, catering to a hip, young crowd with overpriced coffees and kale things. Perhaps a poor illustration of the neighborhood’s historical flavor, it is a harbinger of the gentrification already in process. The fact that the owners were so bold as to name it East Harlem Café demonstrates how these new residents and establishments have begun to make the neighborhood their own, bit by bit. It was very strange to sit in a trendy café, surrounded by rather affluent hipsters and the latest in indie music, watching generally poorer residents pass by, with Latin music blasting from many passing cars.

Getting off the 4 train at Utica Avenue was like a new adventure waiting to happen. At the intersection of Eastern Parkway and Utica Avenue were the crossroads of two very diverse and interesting communities. Walking along Eastern Parkway was a very beautiful residential neighborhood, but walking along Utica Avenue was mainly a commercial area with building and stores that looked like they have been part of the community for many decades. Both these areas of Crown Heights seemed very established and it would be an interesting walk to see how the two neighborhoods differed.

It was a Sunday afternoon, the day after a mild snowstorm. It was a beautiful day, the sun was out and it was warm enough to wear only a light coat. My first impression from exiting the train was a sense of relief. I’m going to be honest, from the stories I had heard and the news I had seen, I was a little anxious about coming to visit Crown Heights. But when I walked out and looked around, the neighborhood seemed similar to the area around Brooklyn College. I first began my exploration by walking down Eastern Parkway. The street was very wide and large homes lined the avenue. The homes seemed modern, and were very grand; with beautiful entrances, three floors, and neatly painted decks, balconies, and meticulous front yards. Even the snow was perfectly plowed! It looked like a scene out a movie, where everything was just perfect. I took a seat on one of the benches that lined the street, and waited. Since it was a nice day, people were out and about. A good deal of homeowners were still shoveling snow out of their driveways and walkways. I did see some mothers steering strollers down the sidewalk with their children. Everyone was in a good mood because it was so lovely out, so I believe I chose a nice day to visit. The population that was mainly prevalent was Jewish. I even saw a synagogue which means that the Jewish people have been living there for a long time. Overall in that part of Crown Heights, the general atmosphere was of calmness and I felt a sense of pride at having such a nice residential neighborhood.

The next part of Crown Heights that I went to was Utica Avenue. When you get to the intersection of Eastern Parkway and Utica Avenue, the scene completely changes. All of a sudden, all of the grand houses are gone, and are replaced with small businesses based out of older brick buildings. There were literally hundreds of stores lining the street, from a laundromat to a 99¢ store to a small deli on the corner to a wonderful little corner store named ‘Al Heights Crown’. It seemed to me that stores were on the first floor of three story brick buildings, and the other two floors were used for housing. The buildings seemed old; the color of the brick was faded, and the entire building was covered in a uniform layer of dust, grime, and dirt. The population of the neighborhood was mainly African American and Caribbean. It was hard to tell which population was more prevalent since I didn’t really communicate with anyone. Also, I did notice some graffiti on an older building that looked like an old abandoned auto shop. I walked around for about 25 minutes and kept seeing the same pattern over and over again: African Americans/Caribbeans walking around, going about their daily shopping needs. The atmosphere in that part of Crown Heights was very casual and busy, because everyone was running errands.

my adventure in sunset park began on the corner of 51st street and 5th avenue, directly across from a wall-covering graffiti mural with enough effort put into it that it may have been painted legally, as it would’ve been difficult to create such a massive piece of art without being noticed. Large-scale graffiti of a similar style turned out to be a surprisingly common theme in the area, where collections of elaborate tags could be seen everywhere, making more of an effort to celebrate the surrounding Hispanic culture than to cultivate any kind of gang behaviour.

In fact, Hispanic culture was a very common theme all over fifth avenue. The majority of people walking around the area appeared to be Hispanic, and many of the stores lining the avenue were clearly owned by or targeted at Hispanic demographics. Finding these Hispanic stores grew far easier as I walked down the avenue to smaller numbered streets. While the area closer to 51st street was dominated primarily by higher-end cell-phone stores (I noted two T-mobile stores within two blocks of one another), the area closer to 43rd street was populated by mostly mom-and-pop grocery and clothing stores.

Surprisingly, along with this drastic increase in Hispanic stores came an equally drastic decrease in people. 51st street was crowded with tons of people (especially for a Sunday, which I usually associate as being a quiet day) bustling and moving about, it grew very difficult to find anybody in the 43rd street area.

After exploring the vibrant community around fifth avenue, I ventured over to the titular Sunset Park, where I encountered quite a few interesting sights. Most immediately was the sight of children with their families sledding down a snow covered hill at the front end of the park. It was clearly a family experience, and everybody seemed to have a fun time taking advantage of the weather.

Climbing up to the top of the hill, I encountered the second interesting sight. There was a wonderful, spanning view of all the buildings (some decaying, some newly renovated) below me, but what struck me was a church steeple shooting out of the skyline commandingly. Many Hispanic communities are very religious (not to paint in too broad of a stroke). This unmissable landmark is a fantastic symbol of just how seriously the Sunset Park takes its religious practices.

The sight that struck me most was on the way out of Sunset Park, however. I had only seen the Hispanic population up to that point, and had been searching desperately for a sign of the neighborhood’s greater diversity. As it would turn out, this came to me in the form of a literal sign. A standard “No Smoking” sign was posted on a fence at the outside of the park, translated in English, Spanish, and Chinese characters (likely either Mandarin or Cantonese). All three lines of text were equally sized, and none stood out as being more important than the other (translated signs will often offer their translations in smaller, seemingly less important, text). Although I only saw a small chunk of Sunset Park’s demographic in my most recent visit, the neighborhood is certainly populated by a highly diverse group of people who are all respected by one another.