All photos by Maerose Daniels

THE DESTINATION
Black Atlantic at Brooklyn Bridge Park

THE JOURNEY
I don’t have to tell you all how to get to Brooklyn, but I will note that if you have yet to try the new bike path over the Brooklyn Bridge, now’s a good time. You could also go out of your way and take the luxurious ride across the Williamsburg, and down through W’Burg to Dumbo.

THE DETAILS
The Public Art Fund (which has the amazing Wyatt Kahn installation up now in City Hall Park) has another wonderful show along the BBP waterfront extending across piers 1, 2 and 3: a group exhibit conceived by the artist Hugh Hayden. It’s up till Nov. 27.

The exhibition brings together new site-responsive artworks by Hayden, Leilah Babirye, Dozie Kanu, Tau Lewis and Kiyan Williams in a wide range of materials and concepts, yet all about identity in the US today.

“Black Atlantic will illustrate a counterpoint to a monolithic perception of Blackness, and is reflective of the multitude of ways in which individuals can create a new vision within the context of American culture that is expansive, malleable and open to all,” Hayden said.

This from the Public Art Commission: “The historic Brooklyn waterfront … was part of the network linking the continents of Africa and Europe with the Americas and the Caribbean. Black Atlantic — titled after the book by Paul Gilroy — explores these threads of connection and highlights the complex identities that have developed through the exchange of culture and ideas over centuries along transatlantic routes.”

There is excellent explanatory text at the show or here on the site.

PIT STOP
We went for ice cream, but my friend who lives just under the bridge voted for sandwiches at Almondine in Dumbo. OR…stroll down to Pier 6 for a drink or lunch at Pilot, the sister boat to the Grand Banks. (NB: Monday through Thursday, they don’t open till 3p. Friday through Sunday they open at 11.)

But the best plan might be to go in the afternoon and go old school: have a cocktail at The River Cafe (their house special is the honeyed lavender and grapefruit fizz), which opens at 5:30.

PRO TIP
Ride back on the NYC Ferry from Fulton Ferry Landing to Pier 11 on the East River or South Brooklyn line.