From where I live, on the Upper (upper) West Side of Manhattan, getting to the park on the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge would normally be trivial. Take the 2 or 3 express train down, go under the East River, get off at Clark Street in Brooklyn, walk a few blocks. But here’s the problem with doing that today: The line ends at 34th Street — about 70 blocks from my house, but still about 50 blocks and one river from Brooklyn.
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My normal commute is from the bedroom to the living room, somewhat less difficult than, say, those trying to make their way in from Brooklyn. So in order to get a sense for what a commute might be like — or, really, what getting around the city at all is like — I decided to live-blog a trip to Brooklyn Bridge Park, using whatever transportation methods I can.
A note. My house never lost power or water. I don’t live in a devastated region like Breezy Point or Hoboken. This is a challenge in a hey-that-might-be-interesting sense, not an oh-god-now-what sense. Why is that important to note? Because a) guilt and b) I want to be very clear that I don’t consider my afternoon schlep downtown any sort of hardship. Hopefully, though, it will be informative — to you and to me.
And off I go.
http://storify.com/pbump/my-trip-to-brooklyn-bridge-park