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What Breukelen thinks of Brooklyn

By Our Amsterdam Bureau
The Brooklyn Paper

BREUKELEN, THE NETHERLANDS — We asked our friends from the old country what they thought when they heard the words “Brooklyn, New York.” Here is what the Dutchman on the street told us:

The Brooklyn Paper / Gersh Kuntzman
“It means history — Dutch history. But when I think of Brooklyn, I think of skyscrapers and the Brooklyn Bridge. Oh, and you have lots of Jews there, and other minority groups. We are so small here, it’s hard to imagine so many different people living together so closely.” D. Goedegegurre

The Brooklyn Paper / Gersh Kuntzman
“It’s very nice because all of you in Brooklyn are my brothers. But when I try to picture Brooklyn in my mind, I see a church, a bar, a town square and people laughing and singing and dancing and being happy.” Bep van ‘t Hoff

The Brooklyn Paper / Gersh Kuntzman
“It’s great. I’ve been there twice. I love the big houses and the small houses. Of course, this was 44 years ago. The Brooklyn Bridge was very nice, but I don’t remember anything else special. I do wish we could import Brooklyn Brewery beer here.” Dik van ‘t Hoff

The Brooklyn Paper / Gersh Kuntzman
“I think it is a big place in New York. But I have a positive feeling about it. I have a positive view of America and Americans in general.” Pieter Hoogveldt

The Brooklyn Paper / Gersh Kuntzman
“My first thought is of the Brooklyn Bridge, which is very impressive. But I never went to Brooklyn when I went to New York because it’s not a very hip part of the city. I visited Harlem and was so amazed. But Brooklyn — I didn’t think it was the place to be.”
Han Lyre

The Brooklyn Paper / Gersh Kuntzman
“I think of Brooklyn as a suburb of here! But I do have a positive feeling about Brooklyn because of all the Dutch names, like Utrecht.” Gerard Prakke

The Brooklyn Paper / Gersh Kuntzman
“I always thought of it as its own community. I didn’t know it was part of New York City.” Dick Seegers

The Brooklyn Paper / Gersh Kuntzman
“I know about the history of how we landed there and how we gave you Peter Stuyvesant. But Brooklyn, all I know is that it is a part of New York. I’d like to go to New York, but not really Brooklyn because New York has more to see.” Peter van der Meer

©2009 Community Newspaper Group

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