Posted August 16, 200618 yr this is one of several jewish neighborhoods in brooklyn (duh!) and it is located in south williamsburg (not to be confused with hipster northside and southside williamsburg above it). south berg is a no-mans land for outsiders below peter luger's steakhouse, basically between the williamsburg bridge and downtown brooklyn. here the people are satmar hasidic jews, a sect which originated in romania. besides being very religious they are most well known to jews for being vehemently anti-zionist -- i know, go figure right? there are about 120k satmar followers worldwide & another trivia bit, if their kids were in public schools it would be the 4th largest district in ny state. wiki info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satmar marcy ave j,m,z subway stop a peek at the nabe from the platform bqe down there trains and busses nice brown patina you can bank on it we are on the hipster fringe - sorry i'll get us out of here :laugh: old school diner nice old block loves it two beauts if you cant afford lugers, "diner" is great the women are all home pushing baby carriages around the nabe, its an incredible sight this is broadway & kent ave next to the east river wow fake sneaks lee ave is the main drag in this hood new stuff wow, they are putting brooklyn back together again who can resist a pointy corner? :clap: some housing an old pub? eh, wouldnt get any business in this nabe anyway heh school kids you might notice the odd balconys, they are for some kind of religous purpose i dk what some pj's around too *** well there it is, some hassidic brooklyn. i hope you enjoyed a unique hood ***
August 16, 200618 yr Yay for jewish nabes! :) I can actually read some of what is written on that schoolbus. All those years of Hebrew School paying off.
August 16, 200618 yr ^ for cryin out loud i live out here, 'bout time i did a thread on a jewish neighborhood, eh? :laugh:
August 16, 200618 yr You're jewish as well? We have pretty good representation this forum :) Isn't that right ColDay?
August 16, 200618 yr ^ no, all that hebrew writing is greek to me. i just meant i live in nyc & given it's nyc it is more than about time i (or someone) did a thread on a hassidic nabe out here don't you think? i mean come on right? :wink: it's like that old catskills joke: rabbi walks into a bar with a frog on his shoulder. bartender says, "hey, where did ya get that?" the frog says, "over in brooklyn, they got a million of'em." baa-dump! rimshot! thank you and goodnite! :laugh:
August 16, 200618 yr Very cool. Reminds me of a book I had to read in college, Chaim Potok's My Name Is Asher Lev.
August 16, 200618 yr Nice shots. It's like traveling back in time....a little like going to Amish country in the city. I had a friend move back to Cleveland from NYC a few years back- she bought a house in Clev. Hts. near Severance and to this day calls her street Crown Heights because the demographics (black and ultra-Orthodox) are identical. But no riots.
August 16, 200618 yr ^ no, all that hebrew writing is greek to me. i just meant i live in nyc & given it's nyc it is more than about time i (or someone) did a thread on a hassidic nabe out here don't you think? i mean come on right? :wink: it's like that old catskills joke: rabbi walks into a bar with a frog on his shoulder. bartender says, "hey, where did ya get that?" the frog says, "over in brooklyn, they got a million of'em." baa-dump! rimshot! thank you and goodnite! :laugh: I take back anything nice I said about you ;)
August 16, 200618 yr OY!!! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
August 16, 200618 yr That neighborhood can be a little creepy. I once took a wrong bus from Downtown Brooklyn trying to get to Williamsburg north of the bridge. When the bus started going east at some point I hopped off right in the middle of that neighborhood and walked a couple miles up Bedford. It was Passover and everyone was out. Packs of men and boys together dressed alike, and women and girls together with wigs on. Never men and women together. You feel invisible because no one acknowledges you at all. You really feel like a true outsider. Thanks for the tip on the weird balconies too, I wondered about the randomness of them, even in newer construction. Thanks for another good tour
August 18, 200618 yr My guess is that the weird balconies are for Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, a seven-day agricultural festival. During this time, observant Jews dwell--eat, sleep, and entertain--in temporary outdoor structures often called booths. I figure, lacking private yards, the balconies make an easy "sukkah."
August 18, 200618 yr My guess is that the weird balconies are for Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, a seven-day agricultural festival. During this time, observant Jews dwell--eat, sleep, and entertain--in temporary outdoor structures often called booths. I figure, lacking private yards, the balconies make an easy "sukkah." ah ha -- i believe we have a winner -- thx for the info! link to judaism101 explanation of sukkot: http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday5.htm
August 18, 200618 yr Thanks for clarifying...now the real question...how does one go about getting a building permit to hang a makeshift balcony off the front of ones brownstone in New York City!
August 18, 200618 yr The balconies appear to be real-life, bona-fide balconies; just possessing relatively odd dimensions in order to contain the sukkah when that time of year rolls around. mrnyc, how about some follow-up pictures later this year to test our theory? Sukkot begins 6 October, I believe.
August 19, 200618 yr if i think of it and have time and the weather permits i will be glad to do it. i seriously want to eat at gottliebs's so it will happen - heh! also, lets see who's hangin out on those balconys, eh? btw if anyone happens to be in town and in a hassidic nabe this is sukkot: Jewish Year 5767 : sunset October 6, 2006 - sunset October 13, 2006 as for feeling like an outsider here - yep it's equal to an urban amish nabe. be respectful, expect some cold shoulder and hairy eyeballing and you will be fine. i talked to some of the women, who naturally were wondering what i was doing taking pictures, and i had to dance a little, but in the end they were very nice.
August 29, 200618 yr who can resist a pointy corner? Apparently some are -- looks pretty forlorn! In fact, I was surprised to see that much decay in that 'hood. Great grit, tho! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
August 29, 200618 yr MrNyc you have no idea how much I envy you for where you reside. It looks like an interesting place with a lot of history. Thanks for sharing the pics. *Looks up vehemently on dictionary.com*
August 29, 200618 yr These pics rock my world (I'm Jewish too). New York is such a mecca for the Jew Crew.
November 11, 200717 yr i have an update: a friend of mine lives in an apt building in the middle of this neighborhood. the jewish folk live on the bottom floors and there is a daycare or school in the building. they rent out the upper floors to non-jews. there is a middle courtyard where the balconies hang off. anyway, i was there in october for a party and it was during sukkot and let me tell you those balconies were rockin. the whole family stays outside eating and singing and saying prayers all night long. and...shhh...some of them get a bit drunk too, heh. sorry no pics! ps -- the friend who lived there also said on another holiday they first raise chickens from peeps/chicks to adulthood in cages and then on a certain day they wave them over everyone's head and pray. then, first thing the next morning they slaughter and eat them. the point is chicken is supposed to take in your sins. she said the squaking is terrible and streets look like a bloodbath on that morning! yikes.
November 11, 200717 yr My guess is that the weird balconies are for Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, a seven-day agricultural festival. During this time, observant Jews dwell--eat, sleep, and entertain--in temporary outdoor structures often called booths. I figure, lacking private yards, the balconies make an easy "sukkah." i thought this was a "new" thread and I was like, "i know its for Sukkot!" Then i realized this thread is old and I'm not very helpful. Nice bridge yo.
November 11, 200717 yr yeah its an update of an old thread. without any new pics tho, sorry. i was mc hammered that party night and thankfully did not have the camera on me. i forgot about it until someone reminded me recently.
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