Brownsville, New York is located in Eastern Brooklyn with a population of approximately 60,000 residents. I chose to observe the street on Ralph Avenue, between East New York Avenue and Sutter Avenue. The majority of the people who reside there are African American, however there are some Hispanics who live there as well. During the summer, there is a yearly block party. The host would have permission to close the streets until midnight. There is a huge speaker playing music. Kids would be riding their bikes back and forth on the street and their guardians would sit outside of their house on their beach chairs. It is a perfect time in the year for residents to be in front of their house and relax.

It was 3 P.M. when my friend and I were getting off the B12 bus, leaving us right in front of a daycare. The name of the daycare is called “Inner Force”, located on the corner of Ralph Avenue and East New York Avenue. It has a plain, dull and boring appearance from the outside. It made me feel a sense of worry because it was the first thing I saw and it wasn’t very welcoming due to its lack of color. Across the street, there is a Western Beef with a huge, gated parking lot containing a handful of cars. I saw people walking here with their shopping carts and observed people walking out with plenty of grocery bags to fill the trunk of their car. On the opposite corner of “Inner Force” daycare, there is a giant, bright yellow Safeguard self storage building. This made me wonder: How much is the monthly fee for having a storage unit in this neighborhood? Do a lot of people use this storage facility? Does this mean that the apartments nearby are little? On each corner of the intersection of Ralph Ave and East New York Ave, there are bus stops. The B12, B15 and B47 all can take you to this location.With that being said, there were a lot of older African American men who would hang outside in front of these bus stops. Dressed in a white short-sleeve tank top, “sagging” jeans, sneakers and a hat, they would just be standing outside having casual conversations with their friends.

Walking down Ralph Avenue, heading towards Sutter Ave, there are multiple two-family houses. The houses are surrounded by a fence, usually having a stoop of four stairs, leading to  old brick houses. People occasionally came out of their house with their pajamas and sat on their stoop, looking like they needed a bit of fresh air. Across the street are low-income buildings, made of dark brown bricks, which takes up the majority of the block. The smell of marijuana tickles your nose as you come across this side of the block. Young African American men are outside the buildings with their bikes thrown on the floor in the middle of the sidewalk. Cars are double parked, with their windows down blasting music while everyone gathers around. Walking through this scene made me nervous because my friend and I were the only female hispanics on this block. We were definitely outsiders in this situation.

Next to the family houses is a grocery store, with a royal blue sign that reads, “Lily’s Mini Market”. On top of the sign, there are a bunch of flags representing countries such as: Dominican Republic, United States, Trinidad & Tobago etc. The deli contains see-through glass windows, so you’re able to see what’s going on inside the store. I walked past the store, took a quick look in and saw one of the many hispanic employees smoking hookah behind the counter. Seeing this made me feel odd because I feel like that is so unprofessional to do at your job. Meanwhile, the door was wide open, and the greasy smell of bacon touched my senses. I felt comfortable being in front of this deli, due to the fact that I was surrounded by people from my nationality. Being one of the few Hispanics walking down the streets of an African American community really makes you feel like an outcast.

Next to Lily’s mini market, is a Christian church that goes by the name of Emmanuel Deliverance Temple. It is difficult to read the name of the church due to the camouflage of the beige, bricked walls.  It is surrounded by a huge, metal two-tone fence. I had arrived at a great time because mass had recently finished. I saw two older African American females walk out of church into their car. They were wearing fancy dresses with blazers, a big pink hat, excessive jewelry with nice classy heels. How long were they in church? Is that excessive attire part of their religion? Seeing these women made me feel a sense of relief, due to the negative aspects of this block, the church seems to be the light at the end of the tunnel.

Across the street, next to the low-income buildings, is a Jamaican restaurant called “This and That”. The bright yellow and green sign really caught my eye and I thought it was interesting how the color of the sign represents the colors of the Jamaican flag. Outside was a big, black rusty grill where a man was cooking chicken on. The smell of smoke and jerk chicken reaches your senses from even across the street. There are plastic chairs for people to sit on outside in front of the restaurant while they wait for their food. The overall vibe that I got was very friendly. The majority of the people there had a loud-heavy accented voice and everyone seemed content because they were enjoying their food.

My overall experience walking through the streets of Brownsville, New York was interesting. The fact that there were so many people just lingering around the sidewalk really surprised me. I come from a quiet neighborhood where everyone is private and distant. However, the environment in Brownsville is different. It looked like everyone knew each other and everyone was friendly with one another. The only thing that disturbed me was the fact that I kept feeling a lot of eyes on me. Being an outsider really didn’t work out in my favor because everyone kept looking at us like as if we didn’t belong there.