Which Brooklyn Neighbood?
Jun 18th, 2012, 04:45 PM
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Which Brooklyn Neighbood?
We will have about half a day to explore Brooklyn, which I know is only enough time for one or two neighborhoods. Having never been to NYC, I'm at a loss. We are interested in historic architecture, small eclectic shops, quirky cafes, people watching. Where should we head?
Jun 18th, 2012, 05:07 PM
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I am very biased... but come to Park Slope! You could start at Grand Army Plaza erected after the Civil War, stroll down one of the brownstone cross streets in the historic district (any of the ones south of Union Street) to 7th Avenue, which has some cute shops and restaurants - though the real scene has moved west to 5th Avenue.
Wander south to about Garfield Place, head back to 7th Ave and continue south to 9th Street (or even a few blocks farther south) before turning uphill again to Prospect Park, designed by Central Park's Calvert and Vaux. If you still have energy, from the north entrance to the park, you can cross in front of the Egyptian-inspired front of the Brooklyn Library and walk a few blocks to the entrance to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the Brooklyn Museum of Art (McKim, Mead and White with an inviting Polshek Partners modern entrance).
If this interests you, I can provide some restaurant and refreshment recommendations. Or I can wax poetic on other neighborhoods too!
Wander south to about Garfield Place, head back to 7th Ave and continue south to 9th Street (or even a few blocks farther south) before turning uphill again to Prospect Park, designed by Central Park's Calvert and Vaux. If you still have energy, from the north entrance to the park, you can cross in front of the Egyptian-inspired front of the Brooklyn Library and walk a few blocks to the entrance to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the Brooklyn Museum of Art (McKim, Mead and White with an inviting Polshek Partners modern entrance).
If this interests you, I can provide some restaurant and refreshment recommendations. Or I can wax poetic on other neighborhoods too!
Jun 18th, 2012, 05:12 PM
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Another route would be to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge to Brooklyn Heights and its promenade facing Manhattan. You'd get your historic architecture fix, but not so much on the eclectic shops and quirky cafes... However, combining that neighborhood with industrial, artsy Dumbo would work. (There's just not the volume of shops and restaurants as in Park Slope.)
Jun 18th, 2012, 05:22 PM
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ggreen,
Thanks so much - exactly the kind of information I was seeing. I would love to hear some recommendations for Park Slope restaurants/cafes/bakeries and shops. And we're probably walking the Brooklyn Bridge, so maybe we could see some of Brooklyn Heights too. Any other areas to suggest?
And thanks again!
Thanks so much - exactly the kind of information I was seeing. I would love to hear some recommendations for Park Slope restaurants/cafes/bakeries and shops. And we're probably walking the Brooklyn Bridge, so maybe we could see some of Brooklyn Heights too. Any other areas to suggest?
And thanks again!
Jun 18th, 2012, 05:57 PM
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Another vote for Brooklyn Heights. It has historic residences, a view of Manhattan from the promenade that has been seen thousands of movies and TV shows and very interesting stores and restaurants, especially on Atlantic Avenue.
Jun 19th, 2012, 09:42 AM
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Glad to be of help! I always end up being a "Brooklyn booster" on Fodor's, but don't often get a chance to recommend my 'hood, since it's not at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge. 
...So I started to write up a simple list, and it rather got away from me! I feel like Aduchamp1, with his terrific comprehensive lists. Only mine seems to have a lot more words involved-!
This may be overload, so please let me know if anything's unclear. (I'll try to circle back later to give some ideas on Brooklyn Heights and Dumbo.)
Park Slope
First, a directional heads-up: the neighborhood is called Park Slope for a reason: the park is at the top of the hill to the east, and the neighborhood slopes down to 4th Avenue from there. Avenues run north-south; Prospect Park West is the equivalent of 9th Ave.
From the Grand Army Plaza subway station (2/3 lines), you could walk down Plaza Street West so that you pass the imposing Montauk Club. To head west, you could walk down Berkeley Place (Cafe Regular du Nord just off 7th Ave is great), or continue along the park to President, Carroll or Montgomery. (This last is only 1 block long, but has some great architecture.)
Prospect Park West and 8th Avenue are quiet residential streets with some larger old apartment buildings and the occasional free-standing townhouse. There's a beautiful synagogue and an orthodox church with gorgeous stained glass windows on 8th.
Eats
Park Slope is a "destination" brunch area, so if your adventure is on a weekend, bear in mind that sit-down restaurants will have a wait starting from about 11:30 until 3pm. Happily, the area architecture ensures that almost all restaurants have outdoor seating in the back. Use menupages.com or yelp.com for reviews and details.
Lots of great coffee in the neighborhood, with more shops opening each day. My favorites in the area I described include Cafe Regular (2 locations); Gorilla Coffee; Cafe Martin on 5th Ave and 4th Street; the two Konditori locations (5th Ave and 7th Ave). All tend to get the camp-out-with-laptop crew, but only Gorilla is consistently very crowded.
Or if you'd rather something sweeter, the Chocolate Room has yummy offerings (if slow service). Cocoa Bar on 7th Ave is similar. The neighborhood does not lack for baked sweets, including: Trois Pommes on 5th Ave; Colson Patisserie and Almondine on 9th Street; Sweet Melissa and Butter Lane on 7th Ave; Lady Bird on 8th Ave and 12th Street...
There are loads of tasty eateries along 5th Avenue from Flatbush Avenue heading south. Pretty much all of them are good! Some that come to mind are Los Politos, Miriam, Bogota, Kiku or Nana for sushi, Brooklyn Fish Camp (outpost of the famous Marys Fish Camp in the West Village). Higher-end restaurants include Al Di La, Blue Ribbon (another successful West Village transplant), Stone Park Cafe; Surfish; and moving away from 5th Ave, Rose Water and Applewood. If you make it even farther south from there, try the hibiscus margarita at Fonda!
We love the counter-service sandwiches and backyard picnic tables at Bierkraft on 5th Ave and Zito's on 7th Ave. Salads at S'Nice. Roman-style pizza at Campo de' Fiori is a nice change. There's also a tiny, delicious by-the-slice pizza place on 1st Street just off 7th Ave across from the grammar school. It's painted red, you can't miss it even though I don't know the name!
Shops
5th Avenue caters to funky second-hand shops like Odd Twin, Beacon's Closet and Guvnor's. Also popular are stores with local artists, like Cog & Pearl, and hipster clothes (Brooklyn Industries, American Apparel, Something Else). Take some of Brooklyn's "locavore" food home with you from Bklyn Larder (slightly out of the way on Flatbush Ave) or Blue Apron Foods on Union Street.
On 7th Ave, Loom has great gift-y items. The Clay Pot is renowned for ceramics and jewelry; it's a popular place for artisan wedding bands! Lion in the Sun sells beautiful papergoods. If you like housewares shops, venture inside the tiny, jam-packed Tarzian Housewares (across the street from the hardware store of the same name). And a little south of my initial turning point, Sterling Place has unique house items; Otto or 4Play for women's clothes and jewelry; El Milagro on the corner of 11th Street packs an enormous amount of nicely curated "ethnic" jewelry, rugs and furniture into their shop; and Sport Prospect is the best "mom-and-pop shop" for a souvenir Brooklyn t-shirt or baseball cap.
...So I started to write up a simple list, and it rather got away from me! I feel like Aduchamp1, with his terrific comprehensive lists. Only mine seems to have a lot more words involved-!
This may be overload, so please let me know if anything's unclear. (I'll try to circle back later to give some ideas on Brooklyn Heights and Dumbo.)
Park Slope
First, a directional heads-up: the neighborhood is called Park Slope for a reason: the park is at the top of the hill to the east, and the neighborhood slopes down to 4th Avenue from there. Avenues run north-south; Prospect Park West is the equivalent of 9th Ave.
From the Grand Army Plaza subway station (2/3 lines), you could walk down Plaza Street West so that you pass the imposing Montauk Club. To head west, you could walk down Berkeley Place (Cafe Regular du Nord just off 7th Ave is great), or continue along the park to President, Carroll or Montgomery. (This last is only 1 block long, but has some great architecture.)
Prospect Park West and 8th Avenue are quiet residential streets with some larger old apartment buildings and the occasional free-standing townhouse. There's a beautiful synagogue and an orthodox church with gorgeous stained glass windows on 8th.
Eats
Park Slope is a "destination" brunch area, so if your adventure is on a weekend, bear in mind that sit-down restaurants will have a wait starting from about 11:30 until 3pm. Happily, the area architecture ensures that almost all restaurants have outdoor seating in the back. Use menupages.com or yelp.com for reviews and details.
Lots of great coffee in the neighborhood, with more shops opening each day. My favorites in the area I described include Cafe Regular (2 locations); Gorilla Coffee; Cafe Martin on 5th Ave and 4th Street; the two Konditori locations (5th Ave and 7th Ave). All tend to get the camp-out-with-laptop crew, but only Gorilla is consistently very crowded.
Or if you'd rather something sweeter, the Chocolate Room has yummy offerings (if slow service). Cocoa Bar on 7th Ave is similar. The neighborhood does not lack for baked sweets, including: Trois Pommes on 5th Ave; Colson Patisserie and Almondine on 9th Street; Sweet Melissa and Butter Lane on 7th Ave; Lady Bird on 8th Ave and 12th Street...
There are loads of tasty eateries along 5th Avenue from Flatbush Avenue heading south. Pretty much all of them are good! Some that come to mind are Los Politos, Miriam, Bogota, Kiku or Nana for sushi, Brooklyn Fish Camp (outpost of the famous Marys Fish Camp in the West Village). Higher-end restaurants include Al Di La, Blue Ribbon (another successful West Village transplant), Stone Park Cafe; Surfish; and moving away from 5th Ave, Rose Water and Applewood. If you make it even farther south from there, try the hibiscus margarita at Fonda!
We love the counter-service sandwiches and backyard picnic tables at Bierkraft on 5th Ave and Zito's on 7th Ave. Salads at S'Nice. Roman-style pizza at Campo de' Fiori is a nice change. There's also a tiny, delicious by-the-slice pizza place on 1st Street just off 7th Ave across from the grammar school. It's painted red, you can't miss it even though I don't know the name!
Shops
5th Avenue caters to funky second-hand shops like Odd Twin, Beacon's Closet and Guvnor's. Also popular are stores with local artists, like Cog & Pearl, and hipster clothes (Brooklyn Industries, American Apparel, Something Else). Take some of Brooklyn's "locavore" food home with you from Bklyn Larder (slightly out of the way on Flatbush Ave) or Blue Apron Foods on Union Street.
On 7th Ave, Loom has great gift-y items. The Clay Pot is renowned for ceramics and jewelry; it's a popular place for artisan wedding bands! Lion in the Sun sells beautiful papergoods. If you like housewares shops, venture inside the tiny, jam-packed Tarzian Housewares (across the street from the hardware store of the same name). And a little south of my initial turning point, Sterling Place has unique house items; Otto or 4Play for women's clothes and jewelry; El Milagro on the corner of 11th Street packs an enormous amount of nicely curated "ethnic" jewelry, rugs and furniture into their shop; and Sport Prospect is the best "mom-and-pop shop" for a souvenir Brooklyn t-shirt or baseball cap.
