My son in 4 or 5 years (or maybe my Dad when he was 17)

Just my son and I.  We wanted to see the fleet, but everyone else in the world was already on there, so we kept riding and had a great lunch at the Central Park Boat House.  I still don't understand why any one would eat a dirty water dog, when you can eat off a plate, in a chair, under an umbrella.  Anyway, this was our ride.

The Brooklyn Bridge, The West Side Bike Path and Central Park were unremarkable. They were so think with tourists that riding was almost impossible.  (We actually had to dismount on parts of The Bridge and in front of the Intrepid.)

But the ride got interesting on the way home.  Back in Brooklyn, I jammed on the brakes at 108 Wyckoff Street.

This must be the home of Susan Gardner

here are some details

A little deer

A happy face

This is Brooklyn, there is always HOPE.  When I was 12 years old Boerum Hill would never be a place where I would go for a bike ride.  I would have been mugged in a New York Minute.  But, because of urban planning, the neighborhood was turned into a place to live again. Individuals did not bring Boerum Hill back, a government plan did.

But I digress.  If you look to the upper floors you can see what the building used to look like.











We also took a break as we crossed the Carroll St Bridge.  We took some photos.

Any Person Driving over this Bridge Faster than a Walk will be Subject to a Penalty of Five Dollars for Each Offence.

Who gong to chain their bike to a functioning draw bridge.

I told my son that when he runs away from home he will live in under the bridge.  He said he knew that that was a sewer and that poop comes out if it when it rains hard.  Smart kid, those white flecks are little bits of toilet paper.

The Gowanus is bad when the rats die

This bridge, on Carroll Street spanning the Gowanus Canal, was built in 1889 by the Brooklyn Department of City Works (when Brooklyn was a city) and is one of two retractile bridges left in New York, and one of four left in the United States (another can be found on Borden Avenue crossing Dutch Kills in Hunters Point, Queens). A retractile bridge slides along a track to allow the bridge to move and ships to pass.

The Carroll Street Bridge was featured in a hilarious sequence in the 1985 movie Heaven Help Us, starring Andrew McCarthy and Donald Sutherland… Thanks Forgotten New York

I have seen the bridge open, they always get out of the booth and make sure nobody is crossing.  Click this for my photos.