Many visitors think of New York as the island of Manhattan.  The City of New York is in fact five boroughs, only one of which is connected to the mainland.  If Brooklyn, the largest borough, had remained an independent city, as it was until 1898, it would now be the 4th largest city in the United States.

When the fleet of visiting tall and military ships arrive in New York starting tomorrow, Brooklyn will host ten of the ships, more than any other borough in the city.  Portside New York has put together two wonderful guides to the festivities -the Complete Guide to Brooklyn – Opsail 2012 and the Guide to the Columbia Waterfront.  Each has a wealth of information about the ships, schedules, local lore and even discount coupons for shopping.   So, if you are in New York for Opsail and Fleet Week but don’t plan on visiting Brooklyn, as they used to say on the docks, fuhgeddaboudit.