Where to hang out with New York’s cool crowd
This diverse Big Apple borough offers some of the best views of the Manhattan skyline and plenty of opportunities to wine, dine and explore.
This diverse Big Apple borough offers some of the best views of the Manhattan skyline and plenty of opportunities to wine, dine and explore.
1 THE COOL CROWD
Brooklyn is where cool New Yorkers hang out. The borough is vast; if it were an independent city, it would be the fourth largest in America. (It actually did have that status until 1898, when it joined Manhattan and the other three boroughs – Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island.) The classic excursion to get a sense of its scale has always been to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and wander the cobbled streets of the former warehouse district of Dumbo, once a real estate term for “Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass”. This is Brooklyn at its swankiest, where warehouses abandoned in the 1980s are now multimillion-dollar lofts. Brooklyn Bridge Park along the East River reveals one of the borough’s great attractions: the views of the Manhattan skyline are most spectacular from the Brooklyn side. Have lunch on the porch of Cecconi’s, the public restaurant of the upscale private club Dumbo House (part of the Soho House network), then take the ferry back towards the glass towers of Wall Street’s Pier 11, the most memorable $US4 ($6) you’ll spend in New York City.
2 DRAMA OF DUMBO
In the Gilded Age, Brooklyn built its own civic centre, echoing Manhattan’s, with a neoclassical Borough Hall and court houses, now surrounded by skyscrapers. Hidden away are historic attractions such as the newly renovated Brooklyn Paramount movie palace and concert hall, reopened in March, where the likes of Ella Fitzgerald sang in the ’30s. Nearby Gage and Tollner is the most atmospheric steakhouse in the city. It opened in 1879 at the height of Brooklyn’s wealth, closed in 2004 and reopened in 2020 in refurbished splendour. The true attraction is upstairs, where there’s a speakeasy-style tiki lounge called the Sunken Harbor Club, a nautical bar that could have been conceived by Wes Anderson. Take a booth by a porthole and savour the innovative concoctions such as the Ship of Fools, a “tempestuous” mix of mezcal, cucumber and serrano pepper.
3 REACHING THE HEIGHTS
Hovering on a bluff above Dumbo, Brooklyn Heights is a leafy plateau of brownstone-lined streets with a splendid promenade looking out over New York Harbour. The precinct was a strategic outpost during the American War of Independence. George Washington’s army was surrounded by the British here in 1776 but escaped under cover of darkness. It’s also a famed literary haunt where Walt “the Bard of Brooklyn” Whitman wrote and self-published his classic Leaves of Grass in 1855. Truman Capote, who lived at 70 Willow St in the ’50s, famously begins his memoir of the time with the lines: “I live in Brooklyn. By choice.” Descend Joralemon St to the river at Pier 6, where one of New York’s most unusual floating venues, Pilot, is docked from April to the end of October. This 147ft wooden schooner, built in 1924, was the longest-serving pilot boat in US history. In 1976, it was converted into a research vessel and circumnavigated the globe twice. It now operates as an oyster bar and cocktail lounge.
4 BROOKLYN BY THE BOOK
One of the easiest neighbourhoods to reach by subway from Manhattan, Williamsburg was also one of the first to be over-gentrified. The moment you emerge from the station at Bedford St, you find a crowded array of vendors, chain stores and oddly generic bars. Look in the backstreets. A century ago, this area was a feisty industrial outpost of German immigrants where, for example, Henry Miller grew up in the early 1900s, an experience he recounts in his collection Black Spring. In a pleasing symmetry, the modern Black Spring Books has opened right next to Miller’s childhood home on Driggs St. It’s the literary equivalent of a speakeasy, with the name subtly stencilled on a silver door; it hosts regular reading events. Afterwards, head to a charming out-of-the-way restaurant such as Uruguayan steakhouse Tabare (with one of the best happy hours in New York) or the experimental Mexican rooftop eatery elNico at The Penny Williamsburg hotel, which offers sweeping precinct views.
5 GREENPOINT CHIC
Australian actor Heath Ledger discovered a triangular-shaped building while skateboarding in the mostly Polish neighbourhood of Greenpoint in 2007 and realised it would be ideal for a restaurant. Tragically, he died before Five Leaves could be opened, but his estate helped two of his friends realise his dream of a casual Australian-American hangout. It still anchors the social scene in Greenpoint, now one of the most vibrant corners of Brooklyn. Five Leaves also pioneered a certain decor style of tin-pressed ceilings, distressed walls, soft lighting and generous wooden counters. Among the newer places nearby, Spanish restaurant El Born has the most authentic paella in New York and serves $US15 unlimited tapas on Tuesday nights. End up at Bar Americano, the most serious (but relaxed) cocktail lounge in the area.
6 PLANET BUSHWICK
The very name Bushwick has become shorthand for hipster style, even though the dirt-cheap rents that first attracted young artists are a thing of the past. The sprawling industrial area still has tyre-repair shops mixed with its bars and restaurants, however, giving it a grittiness (and occasional ugliness) that maintains its edge. One of the most original places to start a night is Mao Mao, a hallucinogenic Thai bar-restaurant with a cinema theme. Guests sit in salvaged theatre seats chowing down on street food-style treats and Singha beer while movies from Bangkok are projected on the walls. From there, check out the Sultan Room, one of the finest music venues in the city, and the attached Ottoman-themed restaurant, Turks Inn.
7 BED-STUY, DO OR DIE
Back in the ’70s, Bed-Stuy (aka Bedford-Stuyvesant) was a notorious symbol of urban blight and racial tension. Then, in 1989, it became the setting for the Spike Lee hit Do the Right Thing, a still-provocative film set on the hottest day of summer. Its success put in motion a rebound of the neighbourhood, with its lovely rows of Gilded Age townhouses that had long been ignored by real estate developers. Bed-Stuy’s core of low-rise streets is now a protected historic district dotted with cafes and boutiques mostly run by African-American locals. The block where Lee’s film was shot (Stuyvesant Ave, between Quincy and Lexington streets) was renamed in 2015 as Do the Right Thing Way, the first time in New York a work of art has become an address. Fans still look in vain for the burnt-out remains of Sal’s Famous Pizzeria, which was actually built from scratch on a vacant lot for the film. Instead, head to Peaches Lewis, a classic joint serving Southern cuisine. End your night at Ornithology Jazz Club, opened last year by the owners of the legendary Small’s in Greenwich Village, and with bands every night.
8 RED HOOK CRAWL
The once-teeming shipbuilding district of Red Hook has decaying wharves, arching cranes and antique vessels along the waterfront. It’s not easy to reach by subway but is a breeze by ferry from Wall Street’s Pier 11 or Dumbo, making it the ultimate Brooklyn day trip. Start at the Pioneer Works art centre a couple of blocks from the Red Hook ferry dock; it has cathedral-like gallery spaces for contemporary art, performances and lectures, and hosts bands in the garden. Continue to Red Hook Winery, in a renovated warehouse by the water directly across from the Statue of Liberty. The wines are cheap and surprisingly good; order a cheese and charcuterie board and watch the passing water traffic. Have dinner by the fireside at the tavern-style Fort Defiance, named after the building that stood on the site in the colonial era, then have a nightcap at Sunny’s, one of New York’s most beloved dive bars, with a hipster-meets-Moby Dick vibe.
9 THE SLAVIC SHORE
It might seem counterintuitive to travel to New York for the beach, but there is a definite vibe to the Brooklyn shore that makes it worth the hour-long subway ride. The stroll along the wooden boardwalk from Coney Island to Brighton Beach is a social spectacle at any time of year, with elderly Russian immigrants sunbathing even in deepest winter. The Coney Island Polar Bear Club goes swimming every winter Sunday at 1pm, and one of the great Brooklyn rituals occurs every New Year’s Day, as hundreds take a dip in the freezing waters. End the day basking on the sun-splashed outdoor deck of Tatiana Restaurant. The smoked and pickled fish are delicious, and the array of vodkas unparalleled, although a more economical choice is to have potatoes fried in garlic washed down with Czech beer.
10 WHERE TO STAY
The Arlo Williamsburg opened last September, taking over from the Williamsburg Hotel, one of the most ideally placed spots to stay in Brooklyn. Eight storeys up, the rooftop pool and ART bar offer incredible sunset views to the sparkling lights of Manhattan, but the real winner is the Watertower Bar, taking its name from the glass-lined structure that soars above the building (and is also open to non-guests). The whole experience is playful, announced at the entrance by a giant red statue of a gorilla. It’s as much a cultural hub as a place to sleep, with local artists showing in the lobby and such regular distractions for guests as drag brunches, comedy shows and candlelight concerts. A restaurant serves handmade pasta and wood-fired pizza – the complete Brooklyn package, in fact. Rooms from $US257 ($404) a night.
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