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Brooklyn

Brooklyn Botanic Garden
900 Washington Avenue, at Eastern Parkway, Prospect Heights (1-718 623 7200/www.bbg.org). Subway: B, Q, Franklin Avenue S to Prospect Park; 2, 3 to Eastern Parkway-Brooklyn Museum. Open mid Mar-Oct 8am-6pm Tue-Fri; 10am-6pm Sat, Sun. Nov-mid Mar 8am-4:30pm Tue-Fri; 10am-4:30pm Sat, Sun. Admission $8; $4 seniors (free Fri), students; free under-12s. Free Tue. Credit MC, V.
This 52-acre haven of luscious greenery was founded in 1910. April is when Sakura Matsuri, the annual Cherry Blossom Festival, takes place, where prize buds and Japanese culture are in full bloom. The recently renovated Eastern Parkway entrance and the Osborne Garden—an Italian-style formal garden—are also well worth a peek.

Brooklyn Bridge
Subway: A, C to High Street; J, M, Z to Chambers Street; 4, 5, 6 to Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall.
One of New Yorkers’ most beloved structures, this marvel of 19th-century engineering connected Manhattan with Brooklyn and became an important symbol of progress. The first to use steel suspension cables, the bridge was the vision of German-born civil engineer John Augustus Roebling, who died before it was completed. The 5,989-foot-long transverse, running from downtown Brooklyn to Manhattan’s financial district, offers striking views of the Statue of Liberty and New York Harbor. If time permits, it’s well worth a stroll across the pedestrian walkway.

Brighton Beach

Brooklyn Heights & Brooklyn Promenade
Subway: A, C to High Street; 2, 3 to Clark Street.
The streets of Brooklyn Heights—particularly Cranberry, Hicks, Pierrepont and Willow—are lined with well-preserved Greek Revival and Italianate row houses dating from the 1820s, a legacy of the area being designated Brooklyn’s first historic district in 1965. Today, both Henry and Montague Streets are crammed with shops, restaurants and bars. At the end of Montague, the Brooklyn Heights Promenade offers spectacular waterfront vistas of Manhattan, especially on the Fourth of July when the Macy’s firework display lights up the harbor sky.

Brooklyn Historical Society
128 Pierrepont Street, at Clinton Street, Brooklyn Heights (1-718 222 4111/www.brooklynhistory.org). Subway: A, C, F to Jay Street-Borough Hall; M, R to Court Street; 2, 3, 4, 5 to Borough Hall. Open noon-5pm Wed-Sun. Admission $6; $4 seniors, students; free under-12s. Credit AmEx, MC, V.
Founded in 1863, the society is located in a landmark four-storey Queen Anne-style building and houses numerous permanent and ongoing exhibits, including ‘It Happened in Brooklyn’, highlighting local links to crucial moments in American history. A major photo and research library—featuring historic maps and newspapers, notable family histories, and archives from the area’s prominent abolitionist movement—is accessible by appointment. Boat tours of the waterfront in summer are fun and fascinating.

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway, at Washington Avenue, Prospect Heights (1-718 638 5000/www.brooklynmuseum.org). Subway: 2, 3 to Eastern Parkway-Brooklyn Museum. Open 10am-5pm Wed-Fri; 11am-6pm Sat, Sun; 11am-11pm 1st Sat of mth (except Sept). Admission suggested donation $8; $4 seniors, students; free under-12s (accompanied by an adult). Free 5-11pm 1st Sat of mth (except Sept). Credit AmEx, MC, V.
Brooklyn’s premier institution is a tranquil alternative to Manhattan’s big-name spaces. Among the museum’s assets is a rich, 4,000-piece Egyptian collection, which includes a gilded-ebony statue of Amenhotep III and, on a ceiling, a large-scale rendering of an ancient map of the cosmos. You can even view a mummy preserved in its original coffin. The impressive European painting collection, including masterworks by Cézanne, Monet and Degas, has returned to the two-story, skylit Beaux-Arts Court, following restoration of the light-suffused centerpiece of the landmark building. On the fifth floor, American paintings and sculptures include native son Thomas Cole’s The Pic-Nic and Louis Rémy Mignot’s Niagara. Don’t miss the renowned Pacific Island and African galleries (this was the first American museum to display African objects as art). In spring 2007 the museum opened the Elizabeth Sackler Center for Feminist Art; at its core is Judy Chicago’s monumental 1979 sculpture The Dinner Party, arguably the movement’s most famous work.

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