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Friday 8/18: Borough Park, Sunset Park, & Bensonhurst

Distance: 7.88 miles
Time: 1:00
Pace: 7:37
Temp: 74
Dewpoint: 66
Weather: mostly cloudy

click on image for interactive map

Unique Miles Today: 7.75
Total Unique Miles: 269.66
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 15.48

Route: I started at McDonald and ran south on Bay Parkway to 59th, west to 19th Avenue, south a block to 60th, then west all the way to 2nd Avenue, down a block and then back on 61st Street to New Utrecht. I went south on New Utrecht to 71st, east to Avenue O (with a left-right jog on Bay Parkway) which turned into 24th Avenue, which I took to McDonald before finishing up by heading east on Avenue N, and south a few yards on Ocean Parkway before heading back west on Ryder and ending at McDonald.

Notes: It'd been a while since I'd been in Sunset Park or Borough Park, so that's where I went today. The humdity was up noticeably, at least judging by the quickness with which I sweated through my shirt, an indicator nearly as accurate as any hygrometer. Still, it was a pleasant and geographically uncomplicated run consisting mostly of a flattened loop taking me down toward the waterfront and back. And although it doesn't have quite the broad spectrum of varied housing and landscape that I witnessed yesterday in Canarsie, Sunset Park is another part of Brooklyn I really enjoy running in. I know it's a cliché to use the word "vibrant" to describe a neighborhood (a word that can also carry a tinge of ethnological imperialism), but the truth is that in my experience it's a very apt adjective -- whenever I've been there, I'm always impressed just by all the people out shopping, walking to work, buying fruit and vegetables, whatever. It just seems like there's always a lot going on, and I like that.

Anyway, I've been noticing a lot of suspicious looks when I've been taking pictures lately. I'm not sure if I'm simply becoming more self-conscious or if people are more wary given the recent terrorism-related news. I'd love to hear from any other NYC or Brooklyn photogs out there about their experiences in this realm, especially after reading about that one kid's expericence being detained by the NYPD after snapping some pictures on the A train while heading out to Rockaway. A cursory examination of the online evidence indicatess that both sides probably handled themselves pretty well, though the photographer in question seems to have gone a little overboard afterwards (I mean, cops stop people for things all the time, and he was let go after 15 minutes of questioning with his camera and pix intact), but as someone who travels all over the borough (by train and, obviously, on foot), I follow all of this with a certain interest. Opinions and observations welcome.

And speaking of pictures... here's today's installment. Have a great weekend.