Williamsburg

Here's a trip down memory lane in The New York Times (or as I call it, "The Times") about my old neighborhood, Williamsburg Brooklyn:

For those who remember the Williamsburg of long ago, or even a decade ago, walking its streets can be disorienting, like running into an old friend who has had extensive plastic surgery. In a dramatic transformation, more than 500 condominium buildings have sprung up there since 2005, and much of the north side has become an upscale shopping district.

There have been many Williamsburgs over time. It was a place of tenements in Betty Smith’s “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn”; a haven for Jews escaping persecution in Europe; a stronghold for Puerto Rican, Dominican, Polish and Ukrainian immigrants.

I'm always bummed at how little I'm starting to remember from my days living there, and it's gonna be really depressing when the day comes that marks me being gone from Brooklyn longer than I loved there, but I also feel really lucky I was dropped in the middle of this wonderful, crazy place at it's absolute artistic & fun peak before it really went off the rails with the condos etc. It was the best of times, it was the best of times.

Me on leaving back in 2012.