WHAT HEATH LEDGER MEANS TO BROOKLYN

It's hard to overestimate what Heath Ledger means to Brooklyn.

When this Oscar nominated Austrailian actor moved to Boerum Hill it seemed to confirm to us what we already knew: Brooklyn is a livable place to be whether you're a regular person or a Hollywood celebrity.

To the world outside, it meant that brownstone Brooklyn was an it neighborhood: the cool celebrities were coming and Brooklyn had arrived.

The neighborhoods of Boerum Hill and Cobble Hill welcomed Heath and Michelle with open arms and the neighbors stayed out of their way. They were even protective of him: Heath and Michelle were free to be real people in a real neighborhood.

At the same time the local media and the papparazzi followed them with great interest. Their whereabouts were duly noted. Still, the message seemed to be: Look, they're just regular Brooklyn stoller people, sipping lattes, walking on Smith and Court Streets. Perhaps most importantly Heath and Michelle were members of the Advisory Board of Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn. In this way, they used their celebrity to make people aware of the battle against the Atlantic Yards.

With every snapshot, real estate brokers could practically hear the price of local real estate rising. If they wanted to be here: everyone would want to be here, too.

Neighbors prided themselves on seeing Heath and Michelle doing ordinary things: Heath jogging or at a movie theater; shopping for wine or buying Matilda clothing at local kid's shop, Area.

Even in the New York Times' coverage of the story of Heath's untimely passing, Brooklyn has a part:   

Until they separated last summer, he, Ms. Williams and Matilda were the darlings of Brooklyn, photographed around Boerum Hill. But Mr. Ledger often clashed with paparazzi — most intensely back home in Australia.

But a Brooklyn blog, the Brownstoner, proudly posted this comment from The Daily Telegraph after he and Ms. Williams bought their house near Smith Street: “Ledger, who’s had a rocky relationship with the paparazzi in Australia, has found Brooklyn’s residents to be a good deal mellower. ‘He’s very nice and they’re very sweet people,’ said his neighbor Margaret Cusack. ‘We got to go to the premiere of “Brokeback Mountain” — he gave us tickets.’ ” Reached on Tuesday after Mr. Ledger had died, Ms. Cusack said she would not comment.

After splitting up with Ms. Williams — and jilting Brooklyn — Mr. Ledger remained a favorite of tabloids and photographers.

Jilting Brooklyn. In a sense that's true.

He may have been leaving his girlfriend but he was walking out on Brooklyn, too. It was a blow to lose such a cool celebrity.

So in a small way, Brooklyn is part of Heath's story. And it will be the part of his life remembered for its nascent normality. He got to be a dad here and the partner of a beautiful actress. Here he could be himself on the tree-lined streets of Boerum Hill.

And we got a thrill just by knowing he was here.