Union St / President St (Crown Heights)

- August 20, 2025

After a couple of days in Prospect-Lefferts Garden, I moved north a few blocks and walked some streets in Crown Heights. For my childhood, Union and President Streets ran from Prospect Park to the Gowanus Canal and then they picked up again on the other side and continued down to the highway and then the water. I never went to the other side of the park to those streets. I couldn't tell you when I became aware that they continued on the far side (the east side) of the park.

First stop is Franklin Ave on the IRT, followed by a one-block walk over to Union Street. I took the second photo because I liked the side-by-side doorways, not because of the car. I mention this because of the car that's coming up. Third photo are the more traditional houses you find in this neighborhood.

At Brooklyn Ave, I passed St. Mark's Episcopal Church. There's a bus stop out front, so there were people standing about. Across the street was the car in the second photo. I couldn't not take a picture. More buildings follow.

The next two pictures show how a neighborhood changes. First, a mural of the Statue of Liberty, with wings of some kind, with an I (Heart) Bklyn sign, and the Heart is a social media graphic, mixing old and new. Second, you have one of the ugliest buildings I've seen in a while, looking like someone stacked a bunch of shoeboxes. The front it reminiscent of a collage of Polaroid photos stuck to a wall with absolutely no imagination whatsoever.

Lincoln Terrace / Arthur S. Somers Park interrupts Union Street and marked my turnaround point.

One block south, I'm ready to start the western-bound portion of the morning's walk along President Street. On this first block, the street was very wide (particularly for a one-way street) and some of the buildings were wide as well. Look at the curves on those buildings. Also odd was the placement of this tree (and it wasn't the only one) close to the fence. It's away from the curb and outside of the front yard, which are the two places you normally find trees like this.

Three more huge buildings. If these ever get sold, will they be ripped down and replaced with towers or will zoning laws prevent that?

A little after Franklin Ave, I passed over the Franklin Ave shuttle tracks. At the end of the block, we get to Washington Ave and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. (A day or two later, I'd be back here to meet someone, and naturally, we'd use different entrances and spend a half hour trying to find each other in the maze of paths inside!)

Across from the Garden is Dr. Ronald McNair Park. Dr. McNair was an American astronaut and physicist who died in the Challenger disaster in 1986. Also in the park is a monument to Joseph A. Guider, the Commissioner of Public Works and later the Brooklyn Borough President from the early 20th century (100 years ago).

That's all for now. Please buy, read, and review my books! Most are available on Kindle Unlimited! Ask your library to carry them!

I also write Fiction!

The NEW COLLECTION IS AVIALABLE! A Bucket Full of Moonlight, written by Christopher J. Burke, contains 30+ pieces of short stories and flash fiction. It's available from eSpec Books!
Order the softcover or ebook at Amazon.

Vampires, werewolves, angels, demons, used-car salesmen, fairies, superheroes, space and time travel, and little gray aliens talking to rock creatures and living plants.