From Hell's Kitchen to Gravesend

Having grown up in Hell’s Kitchen (oh excuse me, Clinton) Manhattan it came as quite a shock to me to realize that I could not actually afford to live there anymore. After failing to convince my parents to move to the suburbs and my husband nixed the idea of paying $1,500 for a closet-sized studio (it’s doable) I grudgingly agreed to settle in Brooklyn, near the second to last stop to Coney Island on the N line, in a neighborhood called Gravesend. My commuting time jumped up to an hour, make that two after 11 p.m., and I waved goodbye to late night takeout. But, having lived here for a little over a year now, I’ve finally stopped thinking of this neighborhood as the end of the world (although friends and family make it seem like it when you ask them to visit) and I’ve started to appreciate all that this working class immigrant neighborhood has to offer: great history, good food and stores with character. So this blog is to you Gravesend!