After receiving a tip from a friend that Craigslist has a large market for bicycles in Brooklyn, I did my own research and returned with a 1960s brown vintage cruiser.

I bought the bike from a young lady about my age in Park Slope. My roommate accompanied me and watched as I took the cruiser for a 30-second test ride to the first corner. It seemed like a perfect fit, so I handed over the cash and my roommate and I loaded the bike in the back of her Element and drove back to our neighborhood in Williamsburg.

I became slightly panicked when, after bringing home the bike and eagerly taking it out for a ride, almost immediately there was something wrong with the chain! While crossing a street, I suddenly lost resistance against the pedals and began pedaling like a foolish maniac as my bike sort of just stood there like a stubborn horse in the middle of the road. I managed to drift toward the sidewalk where I checked to see if the chain fell off, but it appeared perfectly intact. Now, I’m not a bicycle expert, but I started feeling that maybe I was ripped off.

This discouraged me, as I always like to think that Craigslist is one of the few websites out there that is still fair and has not been overrun by commercial advertisements. I frantically emailed the girl who sold me the bike, explaining the problem while typing with crossed fingers, hoping I didn’t get scammed! I was a bit ashamed of making accusations so quickly when the girl immediately responded to my email, apologizing and saying this never happened before and suggesting I check the chain while requesting that I keep her posted on the issue. I have a friend scoping out the situation today.

If all turns out well, and I’m sure it will one way or another, I will still use Craigslist as an expedient for finding cool used stuff. After all, I did find a great apartment in Brooklyn that my roommate and I are very pleased with! You can’t win them all, but, at least when purchasing a bike, make your test ride longer than 30 seconds!

-Courtney Centeno, account executive

One hundred faces grimaced, but all in good spirit, as they hoisted the 4-ton, 5-story statue of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Sunday afternoon, under the scourging sun. A variety of “dances” took place to different songs played by a band onboard the statue’s platform. As best described, the dances looked like slow motion, unified stepping with a little bounce to it. Even the priest had his moment onboard the platform as he gave a speech about how for years he has carried his people and now they are carrying him. I wondered if his testimony included the 4-ton statue his people were holding up along with their priest.

Amongst the small, cheap carnival rides, vans and trucks were serving delicious sausages, pizza and fried dough. Men weaved in and out of the horde wearing green t-shirts that stated on the back, “Brooklyn is the heart of the feast….Nola is the soul,” referencing the Nolan immigrants that moved to Brooklyn in the 1800s.

Anything from t-shirts to fresh hand-rolled cigars and prayer candles were being sold at the feast. Some stations were in Italian, others had a statue of the Virgin Mary where one could pray and add to the chain of money dangling from the Virgin’s hands. People were speaking Italian. Onlookers gazed in amazement as it was evident it was their first time at the Giglio feast.

The feast remains open for two weeks, as I am occasionally reminded. Just yesterday, I was working in my apartment and suddenly trumpets start roaring, drums started drumming and just as I stuck my head out my window to see what was going on, a large float of the Virgin Mary rolled down my street! I looked down at the sidewalk and there was my landlord, greeting everyone he knew with that low-toned, good old Brooklyn, “Howah you?”

I strolled through the feast last night with my roommate on our way home from a walk. The streets were filled with teenagers hanging out, eating pizza and smoking cigarettes. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel stood at the top of her 4-story tower, resting in a dark corner, overlooking her carnival. And the show is far from over yet!! I love Brooklyn.

-Courtney Centeno, account executive