Brooklyn sites for Jackie Robinson fans

With the movie "42" bringing the Jackie Robinson story to a new generation, fans young and old may be inspired to visit some of the places in Brooklyn connected to the African-American athlete who integrated Major League Baseball when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.

In Coney Island, a statue portrays Robinson and Pee Wee Reese, the white Dodger who stood by him in the face of racist taunts.

At the cemetery on the border of Brooklyn and Queens where Robinson is buried, admirers still leave baseballs and other mementos. And for fans who enjoy irony -- or who remain bitter about the Dodgers' departure to Los Angeles in 1957 -- there's a "No Ball Playing" sign at the housing complex where the Dodgers' storied stadium, Ebbets Field, once stood.

The movie "42" opens nationally Friday. Here's a guide to exploring Jackie Robinson's Brooklyn.

Statue: The life-size statue in Coney Island shows Robinson and Reese arm in arm. It's inscribed with the story of how Reese, captain of the Dodgers, "stood by Jackie Robinson against prejudiced fans and fellow players . . . silencing the taunts of the crowd" during a game in Cincinnati. The statue is located outside MCU Park, where the minor league Cyclones baseball team plays at Surf Avenue and West 17th Street.

Home: On a tidy block in East Flatbush, a two-story brick house at 5224 Tilden Ave. bears a plaque that states: "The first African-American major league baseball player lived here from 1947 to 1949." Local officials have started an effort to landmark the house.

Grave site: Robinson died in 1972, just a year after his son died in a car accident. They are buried, along with Robinson's mother-in-law, in Cypress Hills Cemetery. "A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives," reads the inscription on Robinson's tombstone. The cemetery entrance is 833 Jamaica Ave., Brooklyn.

Ebbets Field and

Washington Park: Robinson retired after the 1956 season. Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley, still a much-hated name in parts of New York City, moved the team to Los Angeles after the 1957 season. The park was replaced by an apartment complex at 1720 Bedford Ave., in Crown Heights, where a stone in a wall is inscribed with the words: "This is the former site of Ebbets Field."

Long before Ebbets Field, Brooklyn's baseball team played in Washington Park, using the Old Stone House as a clubhouse. Washington Park is at Fifth Avenue and Third Street in Park Slope.