Monthly Archives: July 2018

Politics and Counter-Culture: From Bushwick to Ridgewood


In many ways, Bushwick, Brooklyn resembles my recent trip to Berlin.  Getting off the L train at Jefferson Street, you can’t miss the dynamic youth scene, wall murals and graffiti in the area. Inside a courtyard, people drink hipster beer amidst more wall murals. Wall murals cover surrounding streets. Like […]

Berlin: Echoes of the Cold War


In East Berlin, I visited the Stasi museum. Across town, tourist flock to Checkpoint Charlie, a traditional boundary between east and west. Above Checkpoint Charlie, I spotted a pro-Ukrainian banner which echoes earlier Cold War tensions. But will the United States stand by Germany or even Ukraine for that matter […]

West Berlin: From Institutionalized Graffiti to Thai Park


In contrast to edgy East Berlin, developed West Berlin can seem much more predictable.  Urban Nation, a graffiti museum, seeks to capture the mystique of other neighborhoods without really succeeding, though a building facade manages to catch one’s attention. Further to the west, hipsters mingle with Asian food vendors at […]

Berlin: From Turkish Minarets to Treehouse to Neo-Ottoman Hipster Chic


In Berlin, Turkish immigrants live cheek by jowl alongside anarchists and political radicals.  In Kreuzberg, for example, a mosque lies just a stone’s throw away from the radical counter-culture. Not far from the minaret, I came across a curious tree house.  The structure originally belonged to Osman Kalin, a Turkish […]

East Berlin: From Graffiti Galerie to Sandinistas


Well off the beaten path lies Lichtenberg, where passers-by can check out Graffiti Galerie underneath the highway. More graffiti and animal motifs off to the side of the highway. Above Graffiti Galerie, I came upon a curious mural honoring the Sandinistas who are hardly a model for progressive political ideals […]

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