I was born in Brooklyn and lived there until I was old enough to shake the dust of the City from my feet and leave for cleaner, wider open spaces.
However, it wasn't a bad place to grow up in back then. My Girl Scout troop went EVERYWHERE! Statue of Liberty, of course, and the several zoos, historic forts, The Cloisters, Empire State Building, Radio City etc. My high school was on The Narrows, and a favorite springtime afternoon treat was to ride the ferry across the harbor to Staten Island and back. On Saturdays my mother would give me a quarter and I would take the trolley in to Central Park and the American Museum of Natural History for the day. I loved that place and got to know all of its hidden corners, including some that I shouldn't have been wandering into. I'm still a member of the Museum, its my only remaining connection to the City.