Brooklyn Gets New Respect From Tourists
“Aaaaay! Aaaaay!” shouted a man on the street. “Yerrinbrukliiiiiiiiiiiiin!”
Three dozen passengers on a tour bus looked puzzled. This utterance in the local dialect--roughly translated as “Hey, you’re in Brooklyn!”--was not found in any phrase book.
They looked at their tour guide, Arturo Quinones, a native of this exotic place, for enlightenment.
“Brooklynites always say hello,” explained Arturo.
New York Apple Tours, which has long covered Manhattan, began sending buses to Brooklyn last year.”You have to head away from Manhattan to see the way people really live,” said Alan Whelan of London, on Quinones’ tour.
Of course, some tourists are unclear about where they’re going. Anja Lonstrup of Copenhagen was hoping “to see everything! Harlem and everything!” Big problem: Harlem isn’t in Brooklyn.
But Brooklyn does offer great views of Manhattan (from a pier near the Manhattan Bridge), plus the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Prospect Park--and the Brooklyn House of Detention. Also on the tour: the borough’s plentiful brownstones.
The daily two-hour Brooklyn tour is $21 for adults, $12 for children under 12. Reservations: telephone (212) 944-9700.
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