Edited by author 04-26-2004 05:07 PM
Yes, Brooklyn is indeed a mysterious land. In 1935, Thomas Wolfe wrote a story "Only the Dead Know Brooklyn". The title serves to deepen the mystery. The implication is that no one who is living has an adequate knowledge of the place. The title was so good that another Thomas, Thomas Boyle, re-used it in 1989 for a mystery novel set in Brooklyn. Boyle demonstrates a great knowledge of the borough in his writings although he is from Pennsylvania. I met him at a book signing and thus have an autographed copy of his book.

Brooklyn has been a living paradox for the last century or so; it is a part of New York City, but also a place apart. For most of its history, it was a separate city. However, not long after the Brooklyn Bridge was built, the voters of Brooklyn decided to join New York City. (Perhaps the vote was rigged.) Growing up in Brooklyn, we never said that we were going to Manahttan. The phrase was "going to New York". This was used even though we were residents of New York City and New York State. Clearly, we were our own place. -Paul