This upcoming weekend will be the inaugural BrittCon Event, 2008 in none other than New York City.  Since BrittCon is in my hometown… I figured I would help prepare BrittCon attendees by giving them a little information about touristy stuff from a local perspective.  All of this is information will be broken down by borough.

Brooklyn

The borough of Brooklyn lays to the south of the island of Manhattan.  It is connected to Manhattan by the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, The Williamsburg Bridge, The Manhattan Bridge, and the world reknowned Brookly Bridge.  It is also the only borough connected via the Verrazano Narrows Bridge to the borough of Staten Island.

While there are a number of interesting things in Brooklyn to see, the one outstanding landmark that stands out in my mind is the area known as Coney Island.  The reason is that because of purchases and land development by Thor Equities, this will be the last year that Coney Island will be open in its natural unsanitized and ungentrified state.  This will be the last year that you will be able to see such attractions as Shoot The Freak, The Circus Sideshow/Freakshow, AstroLand Park, and the dozens of other store front attractions that are lined up along Surf Avenue and the boardwalk.  Some attractions such as The Cyclone and the Original Nathan’s will undoubtedly be reincorporated into Thor Equities new vision of the boardwalk, but half the charm is in what surrounds them… not necessarily what they actually have to offer.

Outstanding Coney Island Attractions

•The Cyclone - Scream your head off not from the ride… but the SOUND the ride makes… like the ride is collapsing!
•Shoot The Freak - Let your aggressions out on someone willing to take it for a change
•The Original Nathan’s Famous - July 4th the annual hot dog eating contest will be held there again.  No purer piece of Americana can be found than the Mustard Belt
•AstroLand Park - Great for the cheap thrill at the expensive price.
•The Coney Island Sideshow - They feature women with more facial hair than I have.  Needless to say, I don’t go.
•The New York Aquarium - An aquarium… by the ocean.  How novel!
•Deno’s Wonder Wheel - This is a must for teenage make-out sessions and for easter-egg meteors hitting the ocean in overhyped monster movies… and not expected to survive after this year.

Coney Island Food Features

•The Original Nathan’s Famous - Cheese dogs + cheese fries… with bacon.  ‘Nuff said.
•Totonno’s Pizza - Over on Neptune Avenue and West 15th Street, but this IS New York pizza.
•Taco Bell - Yo no quiero Taco Bell?  Right across the street from Nathan’s
•The Grill Works - a few paces from Nathan’s but on the actual boardwalk, it’s usually freshly made and good fare along the lines of a Mexican Grill
•The Candy Shoppe - On the opposite end of the Nathan’s block (doesn’t it seem like all food revolves around there?), this is a must stop for freshly made confections and retro candies not readily available elsewhere

Travel

Car: The easiest way by car is to take the Belt Parkway to the Ocean Parkway South exit.  Sticking to the main road, Ocean Parkway will loop you onto Surf Avenue at the end.

Train: The notorious F Line stops at the Stillwell Avenue Station which is diagonally across Surf Avenue from the Original Nathan’s Famous restaurant.  The F Line’s notoriety comes from the fact that it originates in Jamaica, Queens, goes through Manhattan, and ends in Brooklyn… making it notorious as a tourist line.

Other Brooklyn Destinations

•Brooklyn Botantical Gardens - Located in Flatbush, it’s great if you like flowers.  It sucks if you have allergies.
•Brooklyn Museum of Art - Located near Grand Army Plaza, their exhibits are fascinating… but their air conditioning is unreliable.
•Prospect Park/Prospect Park Zoo - It’s a park with a zoo.  It’s in Brooklyn.

So that pretty much wraps up Brooklyn.  Tomorrow we’ll discuss my favorite borough in the whole world… Queens.