Customer Reviews

Brooklyn!, 2nd Edition: The Ultimate Guide to New York's Most Happening Borough

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I took this great book inside my car while visiting relatives who lived in Brooklyn. My kids (and I must admit, myself) were fascinated by the many things listed that one can do with their family. We went all over Brooklyn, touring around by ourselves, seeing many things, like the Zoo in Prospect Park, and the thousands of roses in the Botanical Gardens. Basically, this book is a must for anyone planning on either visiting or living in Brooklyn, or even someone living in the Bronx or Manhatten. This book provides the reader with livid descriptions and wonderful, humorous text. Great for a family or even a single person. There are listings for almost anything!

Here's Library Journal wrote, 5/15/99:

"This second edition of the 1991 guide Brooklyn: Where to Go, What to Do, How to Get There (St. Martin's) provides thoroughly annotated descriptions of attractions, shopping and especially restaurants in New York's "most interesting, most human-scaled borough." Organized by neighborhood, it also catalogs events, "Best Bets," and children's "Best Bets." The restaurant listings, while more enthusiastic than critical, do reveal the enormous range of ethnic food in Brooklyn, from Cambodian to Mexican to Turkish. The book has depth: A mini-essay on the "Russian Night Club Experience," another on the emerging artists' community in Williamsburg, a list of basement stores run by stay-at-home Orthodox Jewish women in Borough Park, and mention of a church whose choir won a 1996 Grammy Award for gospel. While this is a tremendous resource, it is geared more to locals and frequent visitors--the author doesn't lay out, for example, a one day tour for neophytes (thought tour companies are listed). For collections where interest in New York City is strong."

So, what's not to like?

Wow. And I thought I knew Brooklyn. This book is a keeper - keep it near the phone or in the car. I'm constantly opening it for addresses, phone numbers or just ideas. Brooklyn is huge and this book brings things down to a manageable size.

This delightful guide to Brooklyn tells all - from insights into major attractions to tips on off-the-beaten-path restaurants and shops. It's an invaluable resource for out-of-towners like me. And given the cornucopia of insights it offers, I imagine that even veteran Brookynites will find it an exciting new source of things to do and places to visit.

I think this book is a great resource for someone who is new to the area. It gives a listing of various events, businesses, etc. in Brooklyn. It divides the borough up by neighbhorhoods which makes it user-friendly. I recommend this book for someone who is new to the Brooklyn area.

If you're planning to move to Brooklyn and you have no idea which neighborhood you'd like to live in this book might be for you -- otherwise, don't bother! The author doesn't go beyond the basic stereotypes for each neighborhood, i.e. "Greenpoint sure is clean! All those Poles!" or "Williamsburg is full of artists!" and the bar, gallery, and restaurant listings are very out of date. I think "real" Brooklyners (not me!) would be even more disappointed than I was with this book.

This is my second purchase of the same book. I accidentally left the first one on the R train heading to Bay Ridge. It killed me because I had all my little notes of some of the sites I visited when checking out the recommended sites in the "Guide". I was born in Bushwick and worked in my Dad's german restaurant on Myrtle Avenue until I was 16, before we moved to Connecticut in the mid-70's. Brooklyn was not too pretty then. That's when you could pick up a brownstone, as my dad says, "fa nothin'..."! Anyway, for the past 5 years, I have been seriously trying to reconnect to my Brooklyn past with my(3)teenage kids, who are learning that Manhattan is not necessarily the center of the universe. This guide has introduced me to areas I didn't know existed, "Little Pakistan", M&I International, even "Bed-Stuy", which was off-limits for me when I was growing up. The "Guide" cuts the right appeal for the first timers as well as the experienced Brooklynite. And, don't kid yourself, even if you have lived in Brooklyn all your life, there are still places to check out, places to eat, etc. since Brooklyn is always on the "move". If you use Brooklyn "NFT" in conjunction with this Guide, you've got all the information you'll need to explore Brooklyn.

I've owned both of the previous editions of this guidebook and the new one is the biggest and best yet. While I've hit a lot of these places before, the authors seem to have found a few new ones that even this veteran of Brownstone Brooklyn didn't know about. What I enjoy most is taking the book along and just cruising a new neighborhood from one end to the other. That's how I discovered Brighton Beach, with this book under my arm. I give this one a two-thumbs up and five stars. Want to know Brooklyn? This is the book!

This book is the best resource for everything-Brooklyn! This book puts Zagats to shame. It is the perfect guide to key Brooklyn neighborhoods, and you should not leave home without it! In fact, I keep a copy in my car, just in case... If I could give a book a 6 star rating, this book would get it!

This is still the most comprehensive guidebook to old and new Brooklyn. And, a little birdie tells me that there's another one in the pipeline...