Practically In My Own Backyard

Sunday 1/7, Run #105: Greenpoint & Williamsburg

Distance: 9.86 miles
Time: 1:15
Pace: 7:36
Temp: 45
Wind Chill: 40
Weather: sunny

click on image for interactive map


Unique Miles Today: 9.06
Total Unique Miles: 817.01
Percent of Brooklyn Run: 46.89

For the complete route, click here

Notes: Sure enough, after writing just a few days ago about how I was going to assiduously begin working on filling in some streets out in the eastern parts of the borough, I decided to scrap those plans and stay close to home. The subway doesn't run as often on weekends, and of late I've just been getting kind of tired of spending so much time sitting on trains or waiting on platforms. By starting and finishing right here in Greenpoint I was able to sleep in a little longer, get in a good number of miles, and still get home well before I would otherwise. I'll probably regret it down the road, but it sure seemed like a good idea this morning.

Like my short neighborhood jaunt a week ago, I was able to see a pretty diverse swath of Brooklyn while never straying more than a mile and a quarter from home. Near the East River, of course, there were the requisite old factories and industrial fixtures and warehouses (both functional and residential), but my route also took me into some of the more residential parts of Williamsburg, down alongside the Williamsburg Bridge (one of the three that connect Brooklyn to Manhattan) and up Meeker Avenue, which runs pretty much under the elevated Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Many of the miles, however, were spent on the north side of Williamsburg, a neighborhood I'm pretty ambivalent about. Allegedly, it's where a sizeable contingent of young artsy types and hipsters live and socialize, but it also can seem at times like a bizarre kind of urban theme park, where a surprising number of (oddly homogeneous) twenty-somethings in indie-rock haircuts and thrift-store duds drink expensive coffee or ride their fixies up Bedford Avenue. The party may be over soon, though, since it's already an expensive area and the ongoing rapid gentrification will continue to alter the neighborhood pretty drastically in the near future.

Regardless, the weather was a bit more seasonable than yesterday, there was plenty to see, the run itself felt pretty good, and I didn't spend all day on the subway. Not bad at all.

Pictures:


Bedford Avenue


N. 8th Street


Just off Marcy Avenue


Looking west from the foot of S. 5th Street


Jackson Street