brooklyn 1

brooklyn is much more spacious than manhattan. It sits just to the east, across the harlem river, joined by the williamsburg and brooklyn bridges. the distance is deceptive, needless to say. a 40 minute train ride isn't too long but stepping off i felt like Neil Armstrong; a month in Manhattan doesn't prepare you for this. what struck me was the emptiness. i don't mean that there is a surfeit of space but that the city in brooklyn does not acknowledge you the way it does in Manhattan. it carries on its way of life as if you weren't there. manhattan is for consumers: walking down broadway you notice that every sign was written for you, but in brooklyn the signs signify nothing but the life you aren't privy to.
Hence I felt a sense of tranquility, knowing that as I walked down the streets of brooklyn I only existed in my mind.