NY Times Takes A Peak At Southern BK, NYC's Riviera

The New York Times posted a feel-good piece this morning about the Southern Brooklyn waterfront, dubbed “New York City Riviera.”

The reporters took a boat tour of the Jamaica Bay waterfront, pulling up alongside barges, boats and marinas to talk to those who live, work or play on the water. And what they found was a diversity consistent with the rest of Southern Brooklyn: a Jamaican family stationed on a houseboat; an Orthodox Jew in mid-prayer, dismissing himself at the end of his interview to deal with a hangover; a Ukrainian fisherman; a contractor from the Alps.

Despite the various backgrounds, those interviewed agreed on one thing at least: the waters of Jamaica Bay – stretching from Sheepshead Bay to the Rockaways and farther into Queens – is New York City’s pristine outback for outdoors-men and mariners.

“It doesn’t come any better than that. You wake up every day to this beauty and the seagulls,” said one of the interviewees.

“They say you have to enjoy the moment — this is the moment,” said the contractor, while preparing to inspect the Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge.

Those of us in Sheepshead Bay sometimes forget the stunning resources that border our community. Do you get out into Jamaica Bay and the Gateway National Recreation Area often? What do you like to do when you’re there?