Brooklyn Is Pretty? On the Surface, Sure.
It's that time of year. It's warm, it's sunny, and it's not too humid yet. Barbecuing seems the perfect way pass a Sunday; a front-stoop beer is the perfect end to a long of work. It's the time of year, in other words, when the leafy blocks of brownstone Brooklyn start looking utterly enticing, even to many dedicated Manhattanites. But wait! Are things really as peaceful and tranquil on those blocks as they seem? Perhaps not. This week's Brooklyn Papers report some shocking news:
COVERT SURVEILLANCE, cutthroat competition, midnight attacks, strategic plotting — more the stuff of a Tom Clancy novel than a gardening competition. But then again, winning the annual "Greenest Block in Brooklyn" contest is no easy feat. Sharp gardening shears — and a willingness to use them — are required.
Indeed, the article reports perhaps-strategic vandalism of one of the top-contender blocks, and it says that the finals often end up in a "near-brawl." All of which is far too much for us. We'll take good old low-pressure Manhattan.
