Looking to have a good time outside of Canarsie this summer? Good luck! Years ago, I was hesitant to walk around Canarsie Pier or Seaview Park
– only because they’re in relatively small spaces with no major
shopping centers or eateries nearby to enjoy. No, having a McDonalds,
bodega or supermarket nearby – to me – doesn’t count as being near a
‘major shopping area.’ Sorry – having dozens of Chinese food takeout
places and hundreds of nail/hair salons doesn’t count as a being near a
‘major shopping area’.
Park Slope, DUMBO, Williamsburg and countless Manhattan
parks and promenades are surrounded by coffee shops, clothing stores,
five-star pizzerias, gift shops and bookstores. The good news is, these
yuppie and upscale spots are nice getaways for locals who don’t have
access to fancy schmancy places. Unfortunately, you have to travel quite
a way to get to these spots –whether it’s by train or by car (and if
you’re driving around Downtown Brooklyn, good luck finding parking
without having to circle the same blocks for nearly an hour).
Once you get to that destination, you’re competing with worldwide
tourists and “local tourists” who crowd every space and make the
experience less enjoyable than it should be.
I recently did the “touristy” thing by spending time at South Street Seaport and Battery Park in the city. By eavesdropping on conversations, I was able to distinguish who was a native New Yorker
and who was a visitor. Someone, clearly from another state, proudly
told her child, “You can tell it’s New York…the water here’s not as
clean as it is in Florida…” Well
THANKS, lady, for making the obvious known - that our city is ‘filthy’
and you come from a much better environment. Other tourists are standing
in the middle of the street taking photos and yapping with each other
instead of paying attention to their surroundings and staying out of
pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
“Local tourists” – city folk taking advantage of sightseeing spots –
don’t show much respect either. You can hear their accents when they
curse at their out-of-control children and each other, showing arrogance
and letting everyone know their personal business (it seems like New
Yorkers are a lot louder and tackier…Did your cousin get arrested last
week and now they’re on their way to Rikers Island? Let EVERYONE around you know your drama!!!).
I’ve recently learned that the quietness of our community can be a
welcoming scene since all of the commotion and crowdedness is taking
place at the “nicer” and more “upscale” areas of the city. Several walks
around Canarsie Park and the pier were more low-key, tolerable and peaceful than crossing the street in Lower Manhattan or around Prospect Park – where you’re likely to be mauled by bikers and crowds of people with their head in the clouds.
I know – our recreational spots aren’t surrounded by quaint coffee
shops or a mélange of posh stores where you can pick up something unique
and stylish. Canarsie will never
be the shopping mecca of Brooklyn – but in many ways, it’s a reprieve
from those highly populated spots where you’re more likely to get
stepped on, cursed at and overwhelmed by tourists who want to enjoy the
ambiance more than you do! You’re more likely to find a place to sit,
lie on a blanket or get some quiet time if you head to a local
recreational area in Canarsie – or even Marine Park.
Sure we have a few bad seeds who make our recreational areas unpleasant
– but it doesn’t outweigh the rude visitors who travel in huge groups
and block you from crossing a measly street!
Let’s get real! Tourists don’t know the way of natives. As much money
as they bring in to the city, they create an overcrowdedness in places
where many of us just want to chill and enjoy the outdoors. Is it a good
thing they don’t know about our community parks and piers?
Since we ARE NOT a commercially driven community with thousands of restaurants and other fancy businesses, you won’t find a Canarsie
park in the front of a NYC visitor’s guidebook. Maybe we should keep it
that way – we’ll be able to enjoy the space of our quaint and
almost-undiscovered neighborhood.
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