Brooklyn Heights

Located picturesquely on the water and hosting spectacular Manhattan skyline views, Brooklyn Heights is a coveted “suburb” to the city, stretching from Old Fulton Street by the Brooklyn Bridge to Atlantic Avenue in the south, and in the east, from the East River to Court Street and Cadman Plaza. Rich in history, the area was originally known as Ihpetonga by the Lenape tribe that lived there before the colonists arrived. During The Battle of Long Island, the Revolutionary War’s largest fight, George Washington brought his troops to this promontory, to retreat. In the early 1800s, Brooklyn Heights transformed into the first town for commuters in the state of New York, thanks to the institution of a ferry service that provided transportation to Wall Street. Additionally, the Brooklyn Dodgers’ offices were once located here.

Many of streets are graced with trees and sparkling renovations that have earned the area its title as the first historic neighborhood in Brooklyn. Rich brownstones in Italianate, Federal, Gothic Revival, Greek Revival, and Renaissance styles along with rowhouses, mansions, and romantic carriage houses grace the neighborhood, and walking tours have made it a destination for world-wise tourists. When the 1965 New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Law passed, it was the first neighborhood to be protected.

Brooklyn Heights’ blind alleys and short cobblestoned paths make for a lovely neighborhood feel. According to a 2005 Village Voice article, 60% of the homes average over $1 million apiece. It has housed famous authors such as Norman Mailer, Arthur Miller, and Truman Capote, who wrote “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “In Cold Blood” in his Brooklyn Heights basement apartment. Other famous people who live or once lived in the area include authors Andrea Dworkin, Carson McCullers and Thomas Wolfe, musicians Bob Dylan and Vasant Rai, poets W.H. Auden, Hart Crane, and Walt Whitman, the famous abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher, Brooklyn Bridge designers John A. Roebling and Washington Roebling, and actors Paul Bettany, Gabriel Byrne, Jennifer Connelly, Paul Giamatti, Marilyn Monroe, and Mary Tyler Moore. Brooklyn Heights is also famous for being the home of two fictional TV families—the Huxtibles on “The Cosby Show” and the Lanes on “The Patty Duke Show.”

Many a money manager calls Brooklyn Heights home due to it being a very easy commute to Wall Street. It is an extremely gentrified area and a yuppie neighborhood, graced with a gorgeous view of the Statue of Liberty’s sculpted beauty. Views from Brooklyn Heights’ Promenade, also known as the Esplanade is, as Kara Oehler writes, “probably the most popular postcard shot of New York City.”

One of Brooklyn Heights’ most famous landmarks is The Brooklyn Heights Promenade, technically an esplanade, which provides gorgeous, unobstructed views of the Manhattan skyline, as well as the Manhattan Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge, and the Statue of Liberty. Another is Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims, which is a National Historic Landmark, and was once a stop on the Underground Railroad. The area provides many other places for tourists to visit, such as the New York Transit Museum, The Toy Museum of New York, the Micro Museum, an artist-run institution that features interactive art, and the Brooklyn Historical Society.

There are a number of popular restaurants in the area, including Noodle Pudding, one of Brooklyn’s best Italian eateries, Teresa’s, which serves Polish food, Queen Marie Italian Restaurant, and La Lunetta Restaurant. Bars include Brazen Head, Last Exit Bar & Lounge, Boat Bar, and Floyd NY. Shopping in the area includes a branch of St. Mark’s Comics, Heights Books, which features quality used books and first editions, Housing Works’ Thrift Shop, Abitare, a housewares shop, Objective Affection, a pop-up shop, and Windows Portraits Studio.

Local hotels include the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, St. George Hotel, Hotel Princess, Asia, Inc., and Hotel le Bleu.

Schools in the area include St. Joseph High School, St. Ann’s School, Packer Collegiate Institute, George Westinghouse Career/Technology High School, School for Global Studies, the Philip Livingston School (PS 261), and St. Francis College.

Brooklyn Heights is accessible to many adjacent famous neighborhoods, such as Downtown Brooklyn, Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, and DUMBO. It is accessible to Manhattan via numerous subway lines, including the 2, 3, 4, 5, A, C, F, M, and R trains.

For more information:
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/
http://www.southbrooklyn.net/b_heights.html
http://brooklynheightsassociation.org/
http://www.mta.info/mta/museum
http://www.toymuseumny.org
http://www.micromuseum.com
http://www.stfranciscollege.edu
http://www.brooklynhistory.com