Goodbye Summer Joys—Some Maybe Forever

Labor Day weekend felt rather mournful to me, perhaps because it marks the last hurrah for some of Brooklyn's summertime joys—a few of them perhaps never to return. On Sunday, I biked through Red Hook Park, picked up some shrimp ceviche from the Ochoa Guatemalan stand, and sat on a park bench eating the tangy concoction, wondering if the vendors would be there next weekend. (The Parks Department, weasels that they are, recently revoked an earlier promise to let the vendors stay through October.)

Monday, I cruised by the Floating Lady Pool of Furman Street in Brooklyn Heights. The picturesque pool, with its air of isolation and view of Manhattan, has been a resounding success. It will be back next summer, but on a different shore in a different borough.

I tried to get down to Coney Island (I failed, alas), knowing that, after Labor Day, Astroland goes to an only-weekend schedule for the rest of the season. No more weekdays, perhaps for good, since Joe Sitt and Thor have bought the amusement park and are putting it out to pasture. There has been talk about moving it kit and kaboodle to another plot of land. I wouldn't hold my breath.