One of my good friends from college, Ralf, is a proud Brooklyn native. He recently traveled across the United States, alone, on a bicycle, performing one-man Shakespeare shows in the streets. His insane artistic journey is now the subject of a play he’s starring in, and I had the pleasure of hosting him when his bike trip landed him in the Bay Area.
As we took BART and hung out around the East Bay, he uttered a phrase that I’ve heard echoed by many New Yorkers since.
“Man,” he cheerfully exclaimed, “Oakland reminds me a lot of Brooklyn!