Glory Days

Boring stories of Glory Days are apparently on display not far from my crib.

On Saturday, I was walking down Pierrepont Street in Brooklyn Heights and suddenly noticed a beautiful old red brick and terracotta building for the first time. I have probably passed it dozens of times since moving to this neighborhood and for some reason never noticed it. I was ostensibly in a hurry to get someplace, do something, or possibly even avoid doing something urgently. Most likely I displayed Fast-Walker Tunnel Vision Syndrome (FWTVS, for short). FWTVS is a stress-minimizing coping mechanism that you develop over years in New York which allows you to funnel-out all non-essential aspects of the mayhem surrounding you in order that you might accomplish objectves. But on Saturday I noticed this wonderful relic from the 1800s and walked to the front of the building to see what it was. It turned out to be the home of the Brooklyn Historical Society. Unfortunately, it was closed when I passed by on Satuday. But when I came home I looked it up on the Net and learned that there are all sorts of source documents, photos, books and exhibits about the history of Brooklyn. Pretty interesting when you consider that Brooklyn's history spans George Washington's retreat down Fourth Avenue in the Revolutionary War to the impending temporary headquartering of the United Nations from Manhattan while the UN building undergoes renovations.

However, I also learned on the BHS website that they are currently displaying an exhibit celebrating the Trolley Wreck's 1955 World Series Championship (For those uninitiated to my hatred of the LA Dodgers, they were formerly housed in Brooklyn and they were originally called the Trolley Dodgers) . And the exhibit is also home to a previously mentioned World Championship banner. I'm planning on heading back over there next week and will give you a full report (with photos). It seems appropriate that the banner is housed alongside memorabilia from George Washington's time in my fair city.

Glory days indeed.