Born and raised in Brooklyn, Anna’s borough heritage goes back three generations. Though she’s lived and traveled elsewhere, she is always happy to get back to the “borough with attitude”:
1)What do you like about Brooklyn compared to other places you have lived or visited?
I went to college in Massachusetts where I spent the better part of five years getting heckled by Red Sox fans. In my travels throughout New England, I was surprised how unwalkable most other cities seemed in comparison. I love strolling around Brooklyn’s great, diverse neighborhoods.
The subway also provides me a freedom I took for granted growing up, but don’t anymore. So like most of my friends growing up in Brooklyn, I was in no hurry to drive and never learned in high school. Since I never needed a car, what was the rush? In Brooklyn, you can walk a few blocks and find yourself in a totally different neighborhood, with different cultures and ways of living.
The diversity also makes for some great food choices. New York seems to have brunch down to a science, although it is torture on Saturday morning when you are nursing a hangover and waiting on line for eggs and coffee. When it comes to good eating, I am always willing to wait in line for dim sum at Pacificana in Brooklyn’s Chinatown, brunch at Buttermilk Channel and pizza at Grimaldi’s.
2) What did growing up in Brooklyn give you that you feel was special?
For much of my childhood I was a member of the Brooklyn Youth Chorus (http://www.brooklynyouthchorus.org/home), a semi-professional children’s group that gave me the opportunity to work with the New York Philharmonic and perform in Carnegie Hall, as well as other beautiful venues in the city and overseas.
3) What else do you think Brooklyn offers that is noteworthy?
Brooklyn has amazing opportunities for performers, concert goers, food, you name it. In the summer I often walk to shows in Prospect Park as part of Celebrate Brooklyn (http://www.bricartsmedia.org/performing-arts/celebrate-brooklyn).
The Brooklyn Academy of Music has free music on Friday and Saturday nights at the BAM Cafe. There is also free admission, dancing and films on Saturday nights at the Brooklyn Museum (http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/visit/first_saturdays.php), though it can get hot and crowded quickly.
4) What do you do for a living? Do you think this relates at all to growing up in Brooklyn?
I work in publishing and have certainly been influenced by the literary community in Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Book Festival (http://www.brooklynbookfestival.org/BrooklynBookFestival/festival.html) each fall showcases an increasingly impressive roster of local authors.
5) Any other notable Brooklyn experiences?
Once showing out-of-town friends around, we ran into the rapper Fat Joe eating ice cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. It didn’t hurt my street cred.
As a former Brooklynite, I must say I loved Anna’s insights, and I learned some new things even I didn’t know.
Me too. I love how she put that into perspective.