Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Bushwick

Williamsburg. A neighborhood to visit before gentrification finishes transforming it. Alas, it may already be too late to really appreciate what Williamsburg still was at the end of the 2000s, a peaceful neighborhood by day, vibrant at night! Dangerous in the 1970's as evidenced by Sidney Lumet's film Serpico, Williamsburg became bohemian in the late 1980's when all the artists from the Lower East Side and Greenwich Village were forced to move to Brooklyn due to the explosion of rent prices in Manhattan. But in recent years, Williamsburg has looked more and more like an annex of Manhattan in terms of housing prices, restaurants and architecture. Little by little, the old red brick buildings are being replaced by ultra-modern condominiums. Three skyscrapers have been built along the East River, with more to come. Modern buildings in gaudy colors are springing up, making the neighborhood more and more banal, like a carbon copy of certain areas in Midtown, Manhattan. Mexican restaurants and delis have given way to art galleries and modern bistros. Fortunately, the visual transformation of the neighborhood is not all bad. The banks of the East River have been beautifully redeveloped and it is now possible to stroll along the river and enjoy the beautiful view of Manhattan. Despite the rapid evolution of the neighborhood, Williamsburg remains the most lively and trendy part of Brooklyn. Every street has its own little rustic restaurant, ideal for a weekend brunch, a nightcap or a night out. In this bohemian neighborhood full of hipsters, the average age does not exceed 30. And there are very few families who prefer the calm of Park Slope. It is very pleasant to walk around on weekends, even if the neighborhood is more and more crowded, by lingering in front of the stalls of second-hand clothes in the street, by stopping in one of its numerous cafés or by strolling in one of its galleries. The atmosphere is very relaxed. Some of the best brunch spots are in Williamsburg. And, good news, there are still a few inexpensive restaurants and cafes in the neighborhood.

greenpoint. Just north of Williamsburg is the sprawling Greenpoint neighborhood, home to a large Polish community. It is a rather nice, quiet residential neighborhood that is gaining in value year after year. Its only drawback - which is also an advantage since it prevents a major price hike - is its distance from the metro. Only one line crosses the neighborhood, the G, which goes from Queens to Downtown Brooklyn, but does not pass through Manhattan. Due to the soaring real estate prices in Williamsburg, many bars and small restaurants have found refuge there, making Greenpoint a new nightlife spot in Brooklyn.

bushwick. Since 2010, the Bushwick neighborhood, east of Williamsburg, is also gentrifying. Mexican signs are giving way to gourmet restaurants and bars. From an architectural point of view, however, the neighborhood has changed little, unlike Williamsburg. The big warehouses are still there, but nowadays they house concert halls or huge bars rather than construction equipment. Bushwick is now favored by artists and students for its relative proximity to Manhattan, its lively nightlife, and housing prices that are still fairly decent for New York.

bedford-Stuyvesant (BedStuy) . Bordering Williamsburg by Flushing Avenue, Bushwick along Broadway, and bounded on the south by Atlantic Avenue, the long-neglected BedStuy (pronounced "Bèdstaï") neighborhood has been attracting more and more New Yorkers in recent years looking for cheaper housing while remaining connected to the rest of the city (Manhattan is a 20-minute subway ride away). Some very good restaurants and bars are popping up here and there, especially along Malcolm X Boulevard. Above this artery, there is also an affluent residential area with impressive villas.

DUMBO - Brooklyn Heights - Downtown

Brooklyn Heights.

At the end of the 19th century, bankers crossed the East River and settled on the west side of Brooklyn, facing Manhattan, whose charm they wanted to enjoy from afar without the inconvenience. In order to spare their children the trappings of the City, reserved for immigrant kids, they built themselves beautiful houses. Many of the streets were renamed after them (for a fee from the town hall): Clarck, Remsen, etc. A wealthy eccentric decided to counter their plans and rename other streets in the neighborhood after fruits: Orange, Cranberry or Pineapple. Today, the neighborhood is the most upscale in Brooklyn thanks to the charm of its old buildings and cobblestone streets. If there are not really tourist places to discover, it is one of the most pleasant districts to lose oneself and stroll to the unknown. A nice way to get to this unmissable waterfront is to cross the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan and go there at sunset...

DUMBO adjoins Brooklyn Heights to the north, just across the Brooklyn Bridge. It's a completely different landscape. DUMBO stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass and is a neighborhood of old warehouses, an old railroad line and was colonized by start-ups in the 1990s. Today, the neighborhood is still quite bohemian and welcomes families who do not deny the trendy side of Williamsburg, but who now need more tranquility and greenery. From its shoreline, one of the most beautiful views of the Manhattan skyline

is offered.

Downtown Brooklyn, just south of DUMBO, is to Brooklyn what the Financial District is to Manhattan: a business district that is quite noisy during the day and not necessarily pleasant for a tourist, except for basketball fans who can go to the Barclays Center to see a Brooklyn Nets game.

Red Hook - BoCoCa

BoCoCa. South of Downtown Brooklyn is BoCoCa, a meeting of three adjacent neighborhoods: Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens. In Carroll Gardens, you'll find a cozy residential neighborhood of small homes with gardens. Some of Brooklyn's nightlife lovers meet on Smith Street, which runs from Cobble Hill to Boerum Hill, towards Carroll Gardens (M° Bergen Street, lines F and G). In this long street (nearly a kilometer) with bars and restaurants, the atmosphere is authentic and festive, but more family-oriented than in Williamsburg. From Smith Street, you can access the quiet and shady streets of Carroll Gardens. There is also a strong French community in this neighborhood, which has gathered around the two bilingual French-English elementary schools. If the French community is not particularly visible (there are few French restaurants for example), it is not uncommon to hear the language of Molière spoken around the International School of Brooklyn and PS 58, a public school located one block from the Carroll Street stop on the G line.

Red Hook. A little further south, on the other side of the highway, we are in Red Hook, an old industrial and port district with very poor subway connections. You can get there by taxi boat from 34th Street or by Ikea boat from Pier 11 on Wall Street (free on weekends). If you like walking, you can take the subway and get off at Carroll Street. You can walk there facing the ocean or along the Gowanus Canal, with its old warehouses; the view of the Statue of Liberty is breathtaking. The area is increasingly popular with artists who can no longer afford the rents in Williamsburg or Prospect Park. Hence the phenomenal growth in the number of galleries in the neighborhood. Red Hook is also home to a large population linked to the film industry. It is indeed in this district that some of the New York film studios are located, where several episodes of the series Masters of Sex and Rescue Me were shot, as well as many videos of the group Fun and Lana del Rey.

Around Prospect Park

The area around Prospect Park is perhaps the most emblematic of Brooklyn, since from one avenue to another, the population is totally different, proof of a melting pot, but also of a significant communitarianism, and of the gap that separates the poor and rich populations of the borough.

Park Slope. Organic food, small cafes, recycling, thrift shops... Take a walk in Park Slope (the neighborhood adjoins Prospect Park to the west and is not far from the Brooklyn Museum of Art) and its pretty brownstones

. It's where Paul Auster and just about every young family with means lives and prefers Brooklyn to Manhattan.

Prospect Heights.

North of Prospect Park, between Flatbush Avenue to the east and Washington Avenue to the west, lies one of Brooklyn's most upscale neighborhoods, Prospect Heights. Here, there are few apartments under a million dollars, and the population is overwhelmingly white.

Crown Heights.

East of Washington Avenue begins Crown Heights. If the first adjacent streets are still reminiscent of Prospect Heights, the further west you go, the larger the black population. The neighborhood, strongly discouraged until five years ago for its danger at night, is now much safer. Don't hesitate to go there on weekends for a brunch or for the small local markets.

Flatbush

. East and south of Prospect Park, Flatbush, a rather poor neighborhood where the Haitian community has settled and where it is not uncommon to hear French spoken on the sidewalks.

Ditmas Park. Located south of Prospect Park, the neighborhood has long been ignored, because it is not particularly well served by subway. It is also a neighborhood where many taxi drivers live, who know the whole city well. From an architectural point of view, it is closer to San Francisco than to New York. On dozens of very wide streets were built at the beginning of the 20th century old Victorian buildings with their patio and their small lawn in front of the entrance door, like Desperate Housewives. It's an exotic, quiet neighbourhood that looks like a posh American suburb, even though it's not in a middle-class area.

Coney Island - Brighton Beach

You can go to the extreme south of Brooklyn, to Coney Island and Brighton Beach (M° lines B, D, F or N). Two neighborhoods quite distinct from the rest of Brooklyn, with their beaches, their past and their present. Both neighborhoods suffered greatly from Hurricane Sandy, hence the constant presence for several years of tractors and cranes to rebuild the sand dunes, the seaside promenade, and new housing developments.

Coney Island. Despite the presence of the New York Aquarium, which attracts the crowds, Coney Island is now only the ghost of the resort it was, when New Yorkers discovered the pleasures of the Atlantic Ocean and the first hot dogs

. The Russian community is dominant here, with its grocery stores and cabarets where you can see a performer interpret John Lennon's hits with a surprising accent. A change of scenery and exoticism guaranteed. Far from Manhattan and therefore of little interest to real estate developers despite its proximity to the beach, the neighborhood has not really changed visually since the 1960s and 70s when large high-rise buildings were built, and this is what makes its charm today. We are here in the old New York, sometimes a bit gloomy, dilapidated, unexpected and at the same time terribly disorienting when you come from Europe. Gangrenous with drugs and gangs until the end of the 1980s, the area is now calmer. In Coney Island, summer weekends are busy with the very old seaside amusement park. The Luna Park has been threatened with closure many times due to its age, but it is still there and still attracts tourists and New Yorkers. The visit of the deserted park in winter is also worth the detour, for amazing pictures of abandoned attractions. And if you're not a thrill-seeker, the walk along the ocean is quite pleasant anyway, with snow on the beach in winter.

In Brighton Beach, take a walk through Little Odessa (M° lines D and Q). A Slavic atmosphere awaits you on the Atlantic (not the Black Sea!). There are many typical restaurants, rolling voices, strong vodka smells, and the warmth of a large immigrant community.