The Cicada Apocalypse!: or 5 Ways Brooklyn Has Changed In the Last 17 Years
While looking back in the New York Times archives (which is a really fun thing to do, by the way), I happened upon an article from 1996 title “Williamsburg; Could the Dodgers Follow? Brewing Returns to Brooklyn.” This article heralded the arrival of Brooklyn Brewery on N 11th St, and noted that it would be “the first commercial brewing operation in Brooklyn in 20 years.” The Times also noted, “With two microbreweries scheduled to open in the borough later this year, local officials pointed to this opening as a turning point in Brooklyn’s industrial history.” And, now, 17 years later, Brooklyn Brewery is a neighborhood stalwart and Brooklyn has become the home to several craft distilleries and even wineries.
And that’s to say nothing of the food scene. A quick scan of the Times archives features mentions of Peter Luger and the River Cafe and, well, Peter Luger. Sure, there’s some signs of the Brooklyn restaurant scene to come—Park Slope’s Cucina had been around since 1991, but there’s nothing like the dining scene that exists today. Cicadas don’t really eat when they surface, so none of this applies to them per se. But, still, it’s pretty interesting. And, another fun fact is that, back in ’96, people could still smoke in restaurants. New York was already known to have “some of the nation’s most restrictive limits on smoking in restaurants and other public places,” but you could still smoke in restaurants. All of that is gone now. Long, long gone.