ENY

The Crescent station in my neighborhood in particular is not regarded as simply a “stop”, it is green with life and full of GO. Filled with productivity, and movement! Not just from the cars and buses on the intersection but more importantly the consumers who shop. The people here are of all backgrounds and with dreams, and a want to get their lives and families on a sturdy foundation.
I decided to take the photograph from a more elevated source of the famous L-curve, a twisting area of the above J line. As you can see it isn’t rural and there are only three and a half trees. The intersection of Crescent and Fulton are bombarded with stores, two of every kind, family owned small businesses that make a big difference in the community. There are banks, several clothing stores, mini markets and fish markets, and competitive pizzerias of which the Mexicans outperform the Italians. The pharmacy is also a corner drug store that has been there for more than eighty-two years, yeah. Along the route you will also find more interactive and tech-based business like the arcade and web café that makes the internet available to the public. There are some commercial stores but the family owned stores heavily outweigh the Big Man and add to the pressure in variety and style. It doesn’t end where the stop sign stands neither; across the Atlantic and into Liberty Avenue you can literally hear the cash registers ring. For most that live here, we would all agree this part of town is developing and vital, including the liquor store. Areas like these define what New York City is and strengthen the first step in the land of opportunity.
The picture does not capture the feel of my home though. You have to truly be there to learn how friendships were made and stories told. You had to have lived in East New York during the blackouts, the robberies, carnivals, and block parties to understand it all, and if you do want to know more here are a couple of sites dedicated to archiving my neighborhood. Check out http://tapeshare.com/ for present-past comparisons of my area. For old photos all around Brooklyn visit http://brooklynpix.com/