Borough Park?

Subject: Re: Borough Park?

canyontothesky wrote: Borough Park doesn't seem to be a part of any of the neighborhoods on here, so i thought I'd put it in the Sunset/Greenwood area. Just wondering, what's it like to live in Borough Park and NOT be Jewish (or be a non-observing Jew)? Is it really weird? Do all the shops close on Friday not to reopen until Saturday? Do orthodox Jews stare at you? I'm just curious! (I ask as a non-observing Jew.)

I lived in the heart of Borough Park for 12 years. I moved out about 6 years ago. First let me say that it was a great neighborhood. Extremely safe and very quiet. The apartments in the houses there tend to be very large and roomy and most have balconies. I also noticed that it has the most fresh fruit and vegetable stands I have ever seen in one neighborhood. I really did love the M train - and my commute to downtown Manhattan was about 30 minutes.
Every Orthodox owned store (which is about 90%) are closed from Friday sundown to Sunday morning. While the majority is mostly Orthodox Jews there are a large portion of Hispanic, Italian and Polish that live there. If you like to sew, you will love 13th and 15th Ave. where there are plenty of fabric, notion and pattern stores.
It was a big culture shock when I first moved there. The Orthodox are very insular and do not really make conversation with you and yes you will be stared at a lot, especially by the children. In all the years I lived there only my next door neighbors were friendly to me and spoke to me. We were asked many times by our other neighbors to turn lights or air conditioners on for them but they would not speak to us any other time. If you think that Park Slope has strollers, well they have nothing on Borough Park and they take over all the stores. They rarely say excuse me or thank you so be prepared for that. They also tend to have many children with them and they let these children do as they please.

All in all its a pretty nice area.