hey, never apologize dot! brooklyn is an incredible city unto itself. who needs stinkin' manhattan. kings county rules! people from brooklyn have a certain sense, rather grip on reality far greater than the average guy. i don't know why, but that's the way it is.
i was born in bay ridge, and baptised in olph; visited grandma in flatbush every year; took many fishing trips out of sheepshead bay; lots of drives out to rockaway, to visit summer relatives. i still have (my mom's norwegian side) relatives from park slope to, can you believe it, gentrifying red hook.
red hook! it's been the armpit of n.y. since they closed the wwii shipyards.
i went back recently for an uncle's funeral and was amazed at the ethnic diversity on each block. just up the avenue from his apartment was a strip of stores. a polish bakery, next to an asian market, next to a halal meat market, next to a scandinavian bar, next to a hispanic electronics reapir place.
i was amazed. the neighborhood was pretty nice. not what it looked like brooklyn would become back when we left, in the late 60's.
you should come back some time.