Day Seven - Brooklyn!

This morning I took the F Train a LONG way downtown, to meet Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. Mr. Markowitz is really, really friendly and he insisted that I call him Marty.

MARTY AND ME

Marty has been elected to his position three consecutive times. He told me that while he has been serving the people of Brooklyn, he has accomplished many things. I learned that he has enacted programs to boost civic pride, improve health, promote tourism and empower young Brooklynites. As a longtime advocate for seniors, he told me that he has also fought vigorously to keep Brooklyn senior centers open when they were threatened with closures due to budget cuts. Marty’s efforts to save Brooklyn’s financially troubled medical institutions resulted in the preservation of maternity and pediatric units at Long Island College Hospital as well as the critical services provided by school medical clinics. Marty has also called for increased parental and community engagement in schools and has supported policies that improve graduation rates and prepare Brooklyn students to compete and succeed in the global economy. He was also instrumental in creating two new schools in Brooklyn: the High School for Innovation in Advertising and Media and the Brooklyn Academy of Global Finance.

After my tour of his office, Marty invited me to Coney Island! I learned from Marty, that Coney Island is a New York City neighborhood that features an amusement park area that includes about 50 separate rides and attractions. It is not a centrally managed amusement park like Disneyland or Six Flags, but rather a group of independent attractions, all together in the same area.

ME AT THE CYCLONE - LOOKS SCARY!

While we were in Coney Island, I got to ride the world famous Cyclone! The cyclone is considered to be the father of America’s roller-coaster revolution and it is the most popular attraction at Coney Island! The Cyclone made its debut on June 26, 1927. This wooden roller coaster starts with an 85 foot tall, 60 degree drop and then shakes, rattles and rolls through 6 turn-arounds and 8 more drops! I thought it was WAY scarier than the coasters at Canada’s Wonderland because there are no shoulder harnesses, so it feels like you are going to fly right out!

The other most famous place at Coney Island is "Nathan’s Famous Frankfurters". Marty took me there for lunch! Nathan’s is famous all over the world for its hot dogs, which still only cost 99 cents!

Nathan’s Famous was founded by a Polish immigrant, Nathan Handwerker, and his is truly an authentic “only in America story.” He started his business in 1916 with a small hot dog stand in Coney Island, New York. He sold hot dogs that were manufactured based on a recipe developed by his wife, Ida. Today the Handwerker family are multi-millionaires!

  

After eating two of the yummiest hot dogs I have ever tasted, Marty gave me another surprise and took me to the Brooklyn Aquarium!

ME AND A SEA TURTLE

Marty explained to me that the Brooklyn, or New York Aquarium opened in 1896, and stands as the oldest continually operating aquarium in the United States. Now located on the boardwalk in Coney Island, Brooklyn, this 14-acre New York institution houses over 350 species of aquatic wildlife and attracts hundreds of thousands of people each year.

Fun NYC Factoid:

Every 4^th of July, Nathan’s hosts an annual hot dog eating contest. Contestants eat as many hot dogs as they can in 10 minutes. Last year the winner ate 68 hot dogs (including the buns)! I learned that as a trick to eating more hot dogs in less time, the contestants take the frankfurters out of the buns and eat each part separately. They also dip the buns in water so they can virtually swallow them whole and waste little time on chewing!

2010 Winner, 68 Hot Dogs!