The famous muscleman Charles Atlas was reportedly the model (photo) for this sculpture, the last of Pietro Montana's three Brooklyn World War I monuments. You can see the other two here and here.
This was one of the city's early 20th-century farm gardens, where, as a vehicle for personal development, children learned how to grow crops and flowers. Fannie Parsons, the pioneering force behind the program, put it this way: "We teach them honesty in their work, neatness and order, justice as well as kindness to their neighbors. I assure you that all the virtues can be taught from a little patch of ground not eight feet square."
After enjoying decades of popularity, the movement finally lost its steam, and by the 1970s all the farm gardens in the city had closed. This one in Highland Park, however, was revived in 1989 for the students of PS 140 here in Brooklyn, and it remains open to this day, although it seems to be more of a family garden at this point.
In reading about the farm garden program, I came across a couple of great historical images: this 1936 photo of kids hard at work here at Highland Park, and this terrifying Children of the Corn shot from a Manhattan garden in 1902.
Welcome to the melancholy life of Queens chrome. Is all that flashiness just a futile attempt to cover up some deep-seated self-esteem issues?
The fine establishment in the foreground is not the only pawn shop located on Rockaway Boulevard outside the casino. Well, technically it's a racino, because it's connected to...
The casino is not even 15 months old, but the Big A has been here since 1894.
Here at Aqueduct, you can put money on simulcast races taking place around the country. Since the collapse of the city's OTB parlors in late 2010, Aqueduct has been the only place in NYC where you can go to (legally) bet on the horses in person.
I can't say I saw much in the way of collars around here. Perhaps this restriction dates back to the days when you actually had to pay to get into the Club. Since the fall of 2008, admission to the entire facility has been free.
This was much less dramatic than I had hoped. I didn't even see a single person angrily rip up a ticket!
The NY Times published a piece contrasting the patrons of the racetrack and those of the casino. I don't know how representative it is of the two clienteles, but it is a good read.
You can see the silhouetted ghost of the Rockaway Beach Branch running across the top of the embankment.
