Unfortunately, these maps dated back to the early 1960s, even before the World Trade Center went up, so Sacajewa had to use her somewhat suspect "internal compass" to locate some of the buildings on these bronze relief maps.
While "Sac" was busy with her trailblazing ways, I was going into photo overdrive, taking "artsy" shots of the "arch" of the Brooklyn Tower and whatever else struck my camera's fancy... 
...while the OG was trying to pretend he didn't know either one of us.
We started walking downhill, moving ever closer to the Brooklyn waterfront. I took a parting shot at duplicating the Joseph Stella drawing...
Close, but still no cigar!
Close, but still no cigar!
As we got closer to land, we noticed some interesting writing in the walkway, which had turned from wooden slats into concrete...
Isn't this a warm (and informative) welcome to Brooklyn? Well -- not all of Brooklyn (actually, the areas right around the Bridge). Certainly a bit more welcoming, and helpful, than the signs motorists crossing the Bridge from Manhattan to Brooklyn get to see. 
The area around us on this side of the bridge was a bit less picturesque than on the Manhattan side, but not without its unique BQE charms.
The key to this side of the bridge is to "look up."
And, while we're looking up, let's talk about the glass clocks found at the top of the building (name unknown) between the Brookly and Manhattan Bridges. I am sure the building is now "high priced" apartments (probably owned by Jehovah's Witnesses, like much of the real estate in this part of Brooklyn)...but why would anyone have gone through the trouble and expense of building glass clocks at the top of what was once either a light manufacturing or warehouse building? I have always marveled at the fact that you could see right into the clocks. Without question, they are the coolest windows in all of New York City! Can you imagine the view from these windows? And, why don't I live there?
The key to this side of the bridge is to "look up."
And, while we're looking up, let's talk about the glass clocks found at the top of the building (name unknown) between the Brookly and Manhattan Bridges. I am sure the building is now "high priced" apartments (probably owned by Jehovah's Witnesses, like much of the real estate in this part of Brooklyn)...but why would anyone have gone through the trouble and expense of building glass clocks at the top of what was once either a light manufacturing or warehouse building? I have always marveled at the fact that you could see right into the clocks. Without question, they are the coolest windows in all of New York City! Can you imagine the view from these windows? And, why don't I live there?From those lofty thoughts down to reality at "ground zero." Our "ground zero," which is decending from the Bridge to the Brooklyn waterfront street level. 
Not exactly what one would expect after the lovely welcome on the bridge path itself. But, I like to think this exit harkens back to when the Brooklyn waterfront was a much more sinister part of town...full of dive bars (in the 1900s sense of the words -- not the dive bars of our college days), flop houses and other real "dens of iniquity" that catered to the sailors, teamsters and longshoremen that hauled cargo, mundane and exotic, from every seaworthy vessel from frigates to "superfreighters" that tied up at the Brooklyn piers. Certainly, "On The Waterfront" is the quintessential record of this place in the late 1940s (when the unions ruled and were rife with mobsters). Hustlers, crooks, prostitutes, sinners (and the occassional saint) roamed the streets...and I believe nothing really changed much until many of the piers were closed down in the 1970s. After years of urban blight, citywide gentrification of these empty areas in the 1990s led to what is there today...pretty much, another urban oasis (a little like we saw on our walk down the Hudson River).
While you can see a few remnants of the bad old days in some of the buildings still standing, the vast majority of the area has been "repurposed" into the Fulton's Landing area and DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), filled with parks, historical buildings, artists lofts, music venues and "family-friendly" apartments. Though I had visited Fulton's Landing before, DUMBO was really virgin territory for me to explore...an exciting thought as we decended those concrete steps, with cold stone walls on either side and turned towards the light. 
Not exactly what one would expect after the lovely welcome on the bridge path itself. But, I like to think this exit harkens back to when the Brooklyn waterfront was a much more sinister part of town...full of dive bars (in the 1900s sense of the words -- not the dive bars of our college days), flop houses and other real "dens of iniquity" that catered to the sailors, teamsters and longshoremen that hauled cargo, mundane and exotic, from every seaworthy vessel from frigates to "superfreighters" that tied up at the Brooklyn piers. Certainly, "On The Waterfront" is the quintessential record of this place in the late 1940s (when the unions ruled and were rife with mobsters). Hustlers, crooks, prostitutes, sinners (and the occassional saint) roamed the streets...and I believe nothing really changed much until many of the piers were closed down in the 1970s. After years of urban blight, citywide gentrification of these empty areas in the 1990s led to what is there today...pretty much, another urban oasis (a little like we saw on our walk down the Hudson River).
But that is the tale of the next installment of this Bonus Blog...
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