The Downtown Brooklyn Thread

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― stockholm cindy (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 16 March 2004 22:35 (twenty-two years ago)

The Flatbush Extension around DeKalb (where Junior's is) -- is that technically Fort Greene?

I would say Fort Greene ends at Flatbush, yeah.

Bruce Ratner can eat a bag of dicks.

― hstencil, Tuesday, 16 March 2004 22:39 (twenty-two years ago)

I'd draw a line around the hindquarters of LIU, and stick that with Metrotech/Downtown Brooklyn. All LIU offers to Fort Greene is a view of the athletics field and parking lot
.

― Dickerson Pike (Dickerson Pike), Tuesday, 16 March 2004 23:49 (twenty-two years ago)

one year passes...

So I've lived in this city my whole life and I know bupkis of Downtown/South Brooklyn. While I've dipped a toe in most of the neighborhoods (never Brooklyn Heights!), I've only done so when called there for particular purposes, and have never done enough walking around to get a feel for any of them (excepting perhaps our mini-Red Hook tour).

So I think I need to start being a tourist in my own city. Which neighborhoods to see separately or collectively (for instance, if Downtown/Fulton/Metrotech belong to a surrounding neighborhood, which one is it?) and in what order? Which streets to walk?

(note that the same is true for Park Slope and the park itself, but I won't ruin the integrity of the thread alone)

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Sunday, 29 May 2005 18:00 (twenty-one years ago)

I've totally avoided the Brooklyn Heights/ Montague Street neighborhood as well, gabbneb, so I have absolutely no idea. It always seemed to me like a little slice of, say, New Haven got misfiled in Brooklyn.

My knowledge of "downtown" Brooklyn extends to, essentially, Albee Square Mall on Fulton St.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Sunday, 29 May 2005 23:13 (twenty-one years ago)

But wouldn't "South Brooklyn" be, like a long bus ride away from there?

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Sunday, 29 May 2005 23:14 (twenty-one years ago)

south brooklyn is actually another name for red hook.

― Did the glacier in the library bounce today? (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 30 May 2005 00:24 (twenty-one years ago)

and red hook is what they used to call carroll gardens until the racist italians decided they didn't want to be associated with the "ghetto" part of red hook.

― Did the glacier in the library bounce today? (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 30 May 2005 00:25 (twenty-one years ago)

but to answer gabbneb's q: brooklyn heights is beautiful but it's not much of a destination spot. the restaurants are mostly okay middle-class neighborhood places (because that's what stays in business) but nothing really worth traveling for.

court street is the main drag for cobble hill/carroll gardens, and that's a slightly hipper, younger demographic. yuppie-mom twee. lots of maclaren strollers and pet-grooming stores. carroll still has a couple of old-holdout italian restaurants and bakeries; they're probably not in any danger of closing because if they've survived this long, they're owned by the mob. (the amazing latticini barese is sadly no more, though.)

boerum hill/smith street is past its prime, but faan and the boat bar are there.

fort greene is great. just absolutely super-great. if you're gonna be a tourist in any neighborhood, do it there.

― Did the glacier in the library bounce today? (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 30 May 2005 00:35 (twenty-one years ago)

HOWEVER, if you like barbecue, one of the best bbq places in the city just opened up on henry street. i'm addicted to their sauce and i wish they'd deliver some out here.

http://www.brooklynmenuguide.com/menupages/140.php?id=140

― Did the glacier in the library bounce today? (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 30 May 2005 00:38 (twenty-one years ago)

the promenade is one nice thing about teh heights.

ft. greene just got a weird new solar cafe place!

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 03:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, that cafe in FoGre rules.

― Community Cornerstone (deangulberry), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 03:35 (twenty-one years ago)

it didn't open when you were supposedly in new york, dingleberry

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 03:36 (twenty-one years ago)

I was just in NewYo this weekend.

― Community Cornerstone (deangulberry), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 03:37 (twenty-one years ago)

sure

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 03:39 (twenty-one years ago)

NuYo (rican)

― The Pinup Girls of YANK (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 03:40 (twenty-one years ago)

JBR, I hang on your every word. Spending the next five days in an apartment (an empty apartment!) in Park Slope, like, near 5th St. and 5th Ave. Will need interesting places to walk. Plz advise further.

― slightly more subdued (kenan), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 04:40 (twenty-one years ago)

go drink lots of beer here:
http://www.go-brooklyn.com/html/issues/_vol27/27_07/200fifth2.html

― The Pinup Girls of YANK (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 04:42 (twenty-one years ago)

It's a deal.

― slightly more subdued (kenan), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 04:43 (twenty-one years ago)

if you plan on going for a nice walk in the 'slope, may i suggest greenwood cemetery? i walked around there for an hour yesterday and wasn't bored one bit. it's right down the street from you! (5th ave. at 22nd st.-ish)

― joseph (joseph), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 04:47 (twenty-one years ago)

I love me some cemeteries. Good plan.

― slightly more subdued (kenan), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 04:49 (twenty-one years ago)

then you'll adore this one. it's MASSIVE. also: lots of famous people interred within its gates (leonard bernstein, wild bill hickok, boss tweed, to name a few)

― joseph (joseph), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 04:52 (twenty-one years ago)

i love that the correct spelling is "green-wood" (with the hyphen). it looks so stilted and wrong. the cemetery is terrific for birdwatching, if you're into that at all.

― The Pinup Girls of YANK (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 04:54 (twenty-one years ago)

It seems like no one's all that quick to assign names to those parts of Brooklyn (I've heard everything surrounding Metrotech -- Bridge St, Adams, Lawrence, Jay, etc -- given the "Metrotech" shorthand, but it must have been something before that).
-- stockholm cindy (jod...), March 16th, 2004.

my friend calls it RAMBO--Right After the Manhattan Bridge Overpass

― waxyjax (waxyjax), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 14:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Prospect Park, dood. And the zoo therein. THEY HAVE RED PANDAS. My GF lives at 21st between 6th&7th, and I will soon live there as well. There's a good taqueria on 5th and 20th street (and if you eat there they'll give you fresh chips & yummy spicy sauce [though not what we gringos would call salsa, necessarily]).

― Ian John50n (orion), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 15:06 (twenty-one years ago)

5th and 20th is kind of sunset park, right? the chinatown there is supposed to be amazing.

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 15:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Walk down Flatbush to Grand Army Plaza, maybe up Eastern Parkway to the Botantical Gardens/Brooklyn Museum too. I live around there. It's pretty neat.

― Candicissima (candicissima), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 15:11 (twenty-one years ago)

breakfast or lunch at tom's diner is a good idea while in that area.

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 15:16 (twenty-one years ago)

sunset park is more the 40s, i think.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 17:53 (twenty-one years ago)

>Park Slope, like, near 5th St. and 5th Ave<

Lotsa good eating: the Chip/Curry Shop, New Stone Park Cafe (tho I haven't been there yet). Drinks: The Gate (3rd St), Commonwealth (12th).

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 17:57 (twenty-one years ago)

there's a chip shop on atlantic avenue now if you make it down there.

― The Pinup Girls of YANK (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 18:13 (twenty-one years ago)

5th ave has all the great spots to eat. also al di la, belleville, blue ribbon... great lakes for drinks. nice all around.

i'm prospect heights. near the park but without the fancy of the slope. oh and we've got the brooklyn musuem and botanical gardens. AND tom's diner. i've eaten so many pancakes there it's incredible.

― jane (jane), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 18:17 (twenty-one years ago)

prospect heights is nice, i should go there more often.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 18:19 (twenty-one years ago)

I tried to go to that chip shop on Atlantic yesterday around lunchtime, but they weren't open yet.

― Ken L (Ken L), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 18:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Ack, a pox on Great Lakes! (it's personal)

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 18:23 (twenty-one years ago)

I guess you don't like Boat either then.

― Ken L (Ken L), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 18:24 (twenty-one years ago)

i might go to gowanus yacht club tonight

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 18:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Since it's owned by the same schmucks who fired their best bartender, nope!

Commonwealth has Embarrassingly Honest Personal Ads on index cards tacked to the wall. Pop in and see if you can spot mine!

http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/41544222/brooklyn_ny/commonwealth.html

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 18:27 (twenty-one years ago)

i might go to gowanus yacht club tonight
-- hstencil (hstenc!...), May 31st, 2005.

i may go there tonight, too!

― waxyjax (waxyjax), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 18:56 (twenty-one years ago)

ok well since i have no idea who you are, well, have a good time!

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 19:05 (twenty-one years ago)

he is dafunkymunky, obv. Beware.

― slightly more subdued (kenan), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 19:14 (twenty-one years ago)

He is your long lost cousin from the bottle city of Kandor, Jorel.

― Ken L (Ken L), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 19:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Stay away from his red kryptonite.

― Ken L (Ken L), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 19:17 (twenty-one years ago)

: (

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 19:21 (twenty-one years ago)

kryptonite?!?! wow, this is getting good....

i was going to propose a meet up...but i've often flaked on going to the yacht club on account of its crowdedness. if i do show up there, i'll be sure to scream out your screename real loud until i find you.

― waxyjax (waxyjax), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 19:24 (twenty-one years ago)

and i'll be sure to cringe in embarassment.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 19:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Brainiac to thread!

― Ken L (Ken L), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 19:32 (twenty-one years ago)

I killed the thread. For this I am sorry. Maybe if I fly backwards around the globe it will be restored to life.

― Kal-El (Ken L), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 20:28 (twenty-one years ago)

so i went to gowanus yacht club.

― hstencil (hstencil), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 02:35 (twenty-one years ago)

I went to Soda...it was packed!

― On the bass, 57 7th, he wrote this (calstars), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 02:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Skipping 2698 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

Since 2005, inspectors with the city’s Department of Buildings have issued at least eight fines to the building’s owner for large cracks throughout the property, including a 40-foot “bulge” on the wall facing Union Street, according to city records.

― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Wednesday, 1 July 2020 22:35 (six years ago)

supposedly there was one person inside, who escaped with minor injuries (!)

― mookieproof, Wednesday, 1 July 2020 22:55 (six years ago)

when i lived in ft greene the building next to me partially collapsed while i was home

― lag∞n, Wednesday, 1 July 2020 23:08 (six years ago)

it was loud, basically the face fell off of it, while there were guys working on it on scaffolding, who some how didnt fall even those the shit got all bent, i looked out my window at them from like 5 ft away seconds after it happened, they were all extremely wtf

― lag∞n, Wednesday, 1 July 2020 23:10 (six years ago)

walked by there twice today. of all the buildings in the neighborhood to collapse i would not have picked that one on its face

― Its big ball chunky time (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Thursday, 2 July 2020 01:06 (six years ago)

six months pass...

Walked by where Rose Water used to be in Park Slope and saw that it's gone - I used to love eating there when I lived a few blocks away, but the owner apparently closed it in November 2019 to go work for a non-profit, so he couldn't have picked a better time to get out of the restaurant business.

― birdistheword, Thursday, 21 January 2021 08:35 (five years ago)

Rose Water was discussed a bit in the "Redd's Roster of Restaurants" thread at the time it closed. One of my favorite restaurants in the Slope for many years. Was heartbroken by its loss, with the silver lining that the owner never had to struggle with pandemic fallout.

― Josefa, Thursday, 21 January 2021 15:45 (five years ago)

the barge containing material dredged out of the Gowanus has now also fallen into the Gowanus https://t.co/GKrz2ugQLi
— Tim Donnelly (@timdonnelly) January 26, 2021

― mookieproof, Wednesday, 27 January 2021 19:10 (five years ago)

Omg
Gravitational pull of the sludge is undeniable

― calstars, Wednesday, 27 January 2021 20:57 (five years ago)

strong "nyc not dead" energy imo, feels like a very old school piece of news

― Doctor Casino, Wednesday, 27 January 2021 21:56 (five years ago)

just let the sludge be in the canal if thats what it wants

― lag∞n, Wednesday, 27 January 2021 22:53 (five years ago)

BARGE PURGES SLUDGE, SINKS SANK SUNK

― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Thursday, 28 January 2021 02:05 (five years ago)

HELPLESS SLUDGE IN TOPPLED BARGE

― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Thursday, 28 January 2021 02:10 (five years ago)

SLUDGEBURN ‘21

― calstars, Thursday, 28 January 2021 02:22 (five years ago)

eleven months pass...

TIL Brooklyn Inn and WCOU Radio/Tile Bar have the same owner.

― The Door into Summerisle (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 5 January 2022 23:44 (four years ago)

Brooklyn Inn is a cool place - that’s the old one on the corner, big space, used to have a pool table, right? Haven’t been in a minute.
Not familiar with the other one

― calstars, Thursday, 6 January 2022 14:29 (four years ago)

Tile Bar is in the EV, what was it like 7th st and 2nd ave or something? Had a decent jukebox.

I have mixed feelings about Brooklyn Inn though I know it's a classic. It's also the bar that appears in Motherless Brooklyn.

When I lived in brooklyn and would go to bars I found the crowd there to always be a bit older, a bit wealthier, more like a hipster yuppie longstanding brooklyn vibe. I had friends for whom that's their local.

― dan selzer, Thursday, 6 January 2022 14:38 (four years ago)

1st. Jukebox was good, maybe not quite as good as the one at Downtown Beirut.

― The Door into Summerisle (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 6 January 2022 18:07 (four years ago)

In the east vil my spots were Blue and Gold and scratcher.

― calstars, Thursday, 6 January 2022 21:31 (four years ago)

B-b-but what about The Lismar Lounge?

― The Door into Summerisle (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 6 January 2022 21:44 (four years ago)

I think Alex in NYC blogged about a lot of these places.

― The Door into Summerisle (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 6 January 2022 21:44 (four years ago)

I went to the tile bar for like 20 years, lived on 4th and 1st… I would very often play "caroselambra" (which is the closest thing to Wyatting you can do for LZ cuts) and PJ's "A Place Called Home"…

― veronica moser, Friday, 7 January 2022 01:43 (four years ago)

I went there for many years without living in that neighborhood, but not for quite as long as you did.

― The Door into Summerisle (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 7 January 2022 02:19 (four years ago)

three years pass...

Jonathan Lethem’s Brooklyn Crime Novel seems like it’s full of incredible Downtown Brooklyn detail over the years.

― 35 Millimeter Dream Police (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 21 June 2025 23:30 (one year ago)

one month passes...

Hotel St. George overhang thing fell down today

― 35 Millimeter Dream Police (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 3 August 2025 18:16 (eleven months ago)

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/brooklyn-awning-collapse-st-george/6357720/ Brooklyn Heights awning comes crashing down on sidewalk – NBC New York

― 35 Millimeter Dream Police (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 3 August 2025 18:17 (eleven months ago)

woop

― Its big ball chunky time (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Sunday, 3 August 2025 18:19 (eleven months ago)

Reminds me of that massive curved one on 3rd ave and 19 st

― calstars, Sunday, 3 August 2025 20:57 (eleven months ago)

two months pass...

they put a bike lane in on court street from brooklyn heights down to the bqe . . . but instead of taking out one of the two parking lanes, they took out one of the two traffic lanes and now it's chaos and honking every afternoon

naturally there's already a lawsuit

― mookieproof, Thursday, 30 October 2025 20:42 (eight months ago)

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