New York City was once the world’s melting pot; today that lives on primarily in Brooklyn, once of the most multicultural cities in America. Many neighborhoods still represent a microcosm of the planet, with many ethnic groups living side by side, working, practicing their traditions, and sharing a neighborhood, usually peacefully.

I took the N train down to Bensonhurst in search of good dim sum, rivaling the quality of that found in the Bay Area with its large Chinese population. On the way back, it being a nice Saturday afternoon, my friend and I decided to walk northward, which took us through Borough Park and Kensington.

Along the streets people of all colors walk and play; we passed a park where a group of people were playing handball. They were white, black, Asian, and Hispanic, and made occasional reference to such in their trash talking, but always in the lighthearted way that comes with everyday contact. The orthodox Jews, a large group in this area, have some beautiful and expensive houses and some less so. It was the period between om Kippur and Sukkot, so they had large sukkahs outside the synagogues. And it being a Saturday, they couldn’t watch TV or take the subway to Manhattan or do a variety of other things, so many of them were out walking around the neighborhood. And in a sight seldom seen in cities or in suburbs, the kids were walking around on their own, in pairs (single sex of course) and small groups. Residential, commercial, and light industrial development make this a true mixed use community.

David Alpert created Greater Greater Washington in 2008 and was its executive director until 2020. He formerly worked in tech and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco Bay, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He lives with his wife and two children in Dupont Circle.