Quick Facts about Brooklyn
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1 out of every 7 Americans can trace their family roots through the streets of Brooklyn.
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The Home of the Brave: A third of the first responders (F.D.N.Y and N.Y.P.D.) who died on 9/11 either lived or worked in Brooklyn.
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TV and Movies: Welcome Back Kotter, Moonstruck, Saturday Night Fever, The Honeymooners, Do the Right Thing, The Warriors.
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Home to Vince Lombardi, Red Auerbach , Barbra Streisand, Sandy Koufax, Jay- Z, Michael Jordan, Eddie Murphy and Brother Edward Sheehy
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The Brooklyn accent and Famous Brooklynisms: Fuggedaboudit....Never mind, Fugazy..... Not on the up and up, Gavone.... someone who eats a lot, Oy Vey.... dismay and exasperation
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Brooklyn's Gentrification, the new Barclay's Center and site of the Atlantic Ten Men's Basketball Tournament
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Immigrants who arrived to Ellis Island developed many of the America's iconic foods: the thin-crust, coal-oven Pizza, the dense and creamy cheesecake, the hero, and the bagel, all of which are intrinsically connected to Brooklyn. You can sample a world of food and attractions.
Information about the Barclay’s Center
Barclays Center (Home of the Atlantic Ten Basketball Tournament, the Brooklyn Nets and in 2015 the New York Islanders)
620 Atlantic Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11217
Parking is extremely limited. Parking can be purchased in advance for the Atlantic Ten Tournament at
http://www.barclaysparking.com/
http://www.barclayscenter.com/getting-here
Brooklyn's Top 10 Eateries! (within 5 miles of the Barclays Center)
Unique menu items and specialties bring a taste of Brooklyn to Explorer fans inside the Barclays Center, showcasing the very best the borough of Brooklyn has to offer.
L&B Spumoni Gardens (Pizza) located at (Sec 206/207/225/226). Known for their Famous Sicilian Pizza, the square slices, which means that the crust is thick and puffy and the cheese is under the sweet tomato sauce.
Nathan’s Famous Frankfurters (Sec 24/206/207). Nathan's began as a nickel hot dog stand in Coney Island in 1916 and bears the name of co-founder Nathan Handwerker, who started the business with his wife, Ida who created the hot dog recipe they used, and Ida's grandmother created the secret spice recipe.
200 Fifth "Sports Bar & Restaurant"
200 5th Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11217
(718) 638-2925
All about sports. There are TVs absolutely everywhere. Great place to watch sports if you're looking for a high-octane experience.
Hours: Thursday 4 p.m. – 2 a.m. Friday – Sunday 11 a.m. – 3 a.m.
Distance from the Barclays Center: 1/2 Mile
http://www.200-fifth.com/
Junior's Most Famous Cheesecake & Restaurant
386 Flatbush Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 852-5257
Hail a taxicab anywhere in New York City and tell the driver, "Take me to the best cheesecake in New York." Odds are you will end up at the corner of Flatbush and DeKalb Avenues. I recommend the cheesecake, bacon cheeseburger, and breakfast.
Hours: Sunday – Thursday 6:30 a.m. – Midnight Friday & Saturday 6:30 a.m. – 1 a.m.
Distance from Barclay's Center: 1 Mile
http://www.juniorscheesecake.com/our_restaurants/brooklyn/
La Bagel Delight "Brooklyn Bagels"
284 7th Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11215
This is the go-to bagel spot. It's big, well-run, and always stocked with a wide variety of fresh bagels and schmear.
Hours: Daily 5:30 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Distance from the Barclays Center: 1 Mile
http://www.labageldelight.com/
Tom's Diner
782 Washington Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11238?
(718) 636-9738
Harvest pancakes (filled with corn and dried cranberries) and blue-berry-cheese "Danish" pancakes; pumpkin-walnut Belgian waffles and sweet potato ones; eggs Florentine with deep-fried deviled crab cakes.
Hours: Daily 6 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Distance from the Barclays Center: 1 Mile
Grimaldi's Coal Brick Oven Pizzeria
Under the Brooklyn Bridge
1 Front Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 858-4300
Located under the Brooklyn Bridge is the most famous of all New York's brick-oven pizza palaces. Suggest calling ahead to check on the wait for a table, if the wait is too long order a large Pie for Pick-up then walk 300 feet and find a spot under the Brooklyn Bridge with views of lower Manhattan.
Hours: Daily 11:30 a.m. – 11:45 p.m.
Distance from Barclays Center: 1.9 Miles
DeFonte's Sandwich Shop
379 Columbia St
Brooklyn, NY 11231
(718) 625-8052
Unless you're a construction worker, you may feel out of place when you first walk into this small take-out sandwich shop. I would recommend the hot roast beef with fresh mozzarella or the potatoes and eggs with mozzarella.
Hours: Monday – Saturday 6 a.m. – 4 p.m. Closed on Sunday
Distance from Barclay's Center: 2.6 Miles
http://www.defontesofbrooklyn.com/?page=menu
Peter Lugar Steakhouse
178 Broadway
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 387-7400
Old Brooklyn Steak House, is considered by many to be the Best in New York, and therefore quite possibly the World. Reservations Suggested
Hours: Monday – Sunday Noon. – 10 p.m.
Distance from the Barclay's Center: 3.7 Miles
http://www.peterluger.com/brooklyn.cfm
Bamonte's Italian Restaurant
32 Withers St.
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 384-8831
A 110-year old stalwart serves up nostalgia along with Italian red-sauce classics. Locals go for the Linguini with clams in red or white sauce, house made cheese ravioli and plates of sausage-filled lasagna.
Hours: Monday – Sunday Noon – 10 p.m.
Distance from the Barclays Center: 4 Miles
Di Fara Pizza
1424 Avenue J
Brooklyn, NY 11230
(718) 258-1367
#1 Rated New York Pizza. This Brooklyn mecca has pilgrims raving about rockstar Dom DeMarco's work of art pies and tolerating the circa 1964 fluorescent and formica décor what with the eternal waits it may be quicker to fly to Italy but fans say it’s worth it to sample "di best"." Try calling ahead to place your order, they often don't answer the phone, but if they do order a large pie for pick-up and find a table in the back of the Pizzeria.
Hours: Wednesday – Saturday Noon – 9 p.m. Sunday 1 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Distance from the Barclays Center: 5 Miles
http://www.difara.com/
Brooklyn's Big 5 Attractions near the Barclay’s Center (within 2 miles from the Barclay’s Center)
The New York Transit Museum
130 Livingston St,
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 694-1600
The museum displays historical artifacts of the New York City Subway, bus, commuter rail, and bridge and tunnel systems; it is located in a decommissioned Court Street subway station.
Hours: Tuesday – Sunday 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Distance from the Barclays Center: 1 Mile
http://www.mta.info/mta/museum/
Sports Fan Pilgrimage to the former site of Ebbets Field (now the Ebbets Field Apartments)
55 Sullivan Place
Brooklyn, NY 11225
Cramped, yet always colorful, Ebbets Field was the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers, named for "trolley dodgers".
Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball here on April 15, 1947. In 1955, the Dodgers, perennial National League pennant winners, won the only World Series for Brooklyn against their rival New York Yankees. The event was marked by mass euphoria and celebrations. By 1957, the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. Walter O'Malley, the team's owner at the time, is still vilified, even by Brooklynites too young to remember the Dodgers as Brooklyn's ball club. The park was demolished in 1960. Coincidentally, the original proposal for a domed stadium for the Brooklyn Dodgers was just north of the Barclays Center. A plaque is left to remind people that these apartments stand on the former site of Ebbets Field.
Distance from the Barclays Center: 2 Miles
Walk Across the Brooklyn Bridge
Completed in 1883, it connects the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River. The Brooklyn Bridge has a wide pedestrian walkway open to walkers and cyclists, in the center of the bridge. During transit strikes in 1980 and 2005, the bridge was used for walking to work. Following the 1965, 1977 and 2003 blackouts and most famously after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the bridge was used by New Yorkers leaving Manhattan after subway service was suspended.
Distance from the Barclays Center: 2 Miles
Walk The Brooklyn Heights Promenade
Columbia Heights
Brooklyn, NY 11201
One-third of a mile long, it offers a vista of the Statue of Liberty, the Manhattan skyline and the majestic Brooklyn Bridge. Lined with flower beds, trees, benches and playgrounds, the promenade is a favorite destination for tourists, joggers, strollers, families and lovers. Looking out on the East River, the promenade is bordered by grand townhouses and mansions, and is part of Brooklyn's first Historic Preservation District. The adjacent neighborhood of charming brownstone homes and quiet streets is well worth investigating.
Distance from the Barclays Center: 2 Miles
The Brooklyn's Children's Museum
145 Brooklyn Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11213
(718) 735-4400
A pioneer in education, the Brooklyn Children’s Museum was the first museum created expressly for children when it was founded in 1899. Its success sparked the creation of similar institutions around the globe, and today the Museum continues as a world-class institution with community roots.
Hours: Tuesday – Sunday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
http://www.brooklynkids.org/
Distance from the Barclays Center: 2 Miles
Explorers Packing List & "Scouts Out Intelligence"
WFAN Sports Radio 66AM and 101.9FM is the world’s first 24-hour all-sports radio station, WFAN remains the premier sports talk radio station in the business. Since its debut on July 1, 1987, dozens of stations have copied the all sports format.
E-ZPass is recommended when travelling by car in the NYC metro area, when using the Subway or Bus pick-up a MetroCard.
The Other La Salle in New York City: La Salle Academy is a private, all boys High School in Manhattan. Notable Alumni include former Pittsburgh Pirate John Candelaria "the Candy Man"
Catholic Services
St. Boniface Church
109 Willoughby Street
Brooklyn, New York 11201
(718) 875-2096
Mass Schedule: Saturday 5:30 PM, Sunday Masses at 9:00am, 11:15am, and 6:00pm
http://oratory-church.org/worship_schedule.asp
Distance from the Barclays Center: 1 Mile
Lieutenant Colonel Doug LeVien is a 1994 La Salle graduate where he lettered in baseball. After graduation from Doug began his military career where he has served in the U.S. Army for 18 years, with two tours of combat duty (Afghansitan and Iraq) served as a Battalion Commander and is currently a logistician assigned to the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. He grew up in Brooklyn where he attended Xavier High School and maintains a passion for his country, borough, baseball and all things pertaining to his beloved Explorers.
