It’s been more than a century since Brooklyn was a separate city, but forgive residents if they think of themselves as the center of the universe.
The latest feather in the borough’s cap? It can now boast of being home to the newest Miss America. Crowned Saturday in Las Vegas, Mallory Hagan is the first city winner since Bess Meyerson back in 1945.
Like many a Brooklynite, Hagan wasn’t born in the borough; she moved to the Big Apple from Alabama five years ago. Twice runner-up in the Miss New York contest, she finally broke through in 2012 to represent the Empire State.
Hagan’s victory is the latest in a great Brooklyn winning streak — coming just months after the opening of the Barclays Center, home to a resurgent Brooklyn Nets and, in a couple of years, a transplanted New York Islanders hockey team. And Barclays has aready hosted concerts by Jay-Z, Barbra Streisand and the Rolling Stones.
More than just a tree grows in Brooklyn these days. It’s now a bustling borough, boasting basketball — and beauty.
Congratulations to Mallory Hagan.