Thanks to all the movies and TV shows that feature New York City, most of the planet only thinks of Manhattan, the area of the city with all the skyscrapers and glistening condominiums. Most forget that other areas like Brooklyn exist and that there is a non-urban face of New York alive with a beach and amusement park area called Coney Island.

Brooklyn, the place where I live, is now considered one of the coolest neighborhoods on the planet. We originated the term “hipster” and true enough, this is where all the “hipster” people live, the men with their beards and the women with their cool tattoos and everyone drinking artisanal beer and eating artisanal bread.

A perfect day would be finding a designer piece of clothing at 1/3 of the original price at the cool Brooklyn thrift shop called Beacon’s Closet.

The best thing about my spot is its proximity to the best river views of the city skyline that we see in all the movies.

The worst part of my neighborhood is the longer commute to Manhattan, where most of the work is located.

An outsider will be surprised by how Brooklyn has the best views of the New York City skyline. It’s best to appreciate it from the outside, looking in.

If Brooklyn was a person, it will be the hippie laidback persona of the actor, Woody Harrelson.

I love the visual filmmaking style of director, Tarsem Singh and the rough minimalism ‘wabi sabi’ interior design of Axel Vervoordt. And, I love the song, “Alone in Kyoto”, by the band called Air.