Norman Oder

My journalistic work focuses on Brooklyn (but goes beyond it). Ditto for my boutique tour guide business.

I've worked as a daily newspaper reporter, a trade magazine editor, and now as a freelance journalist.

I'm working on a book about Atlantic Yards, Brooklyn's most controversial development project, which includes the Barclays Center arena and 16 planned towers. I've been writing a watchdog blog about Atlantic Yards since 2005.

I started my tour guide business, New York Like A Native, in 2000 with one tour. Since then I've added tours of numerous Brooklyn neighborhoods, as well as one each in Manhattan and Queens. My journalistic sensibility, natural curiosity, and eye for detail all enhance the tours.

Oh, the photo? As of 2014, the houses are doomed to eminent domain and demolition. The two-story house that's shown only in part was considered "blighted." That's a story I tell both in my journalism and on a tour.