Runner Up? Sidekick?

By on September 17, 2008 9:27 pm in News

Time Out New York writes about their “ideal ‘hoods” this week and Brooklyn Heights is a RUNNER UP.  Sure, TONY thinks Inwood, Lower Manhattan, the West Village, Williamsburg, Park Slope (bleech!) and others outrank our HISTORIC LANDMARK neighborhood as a fine place to live.  At least they were kind in their write up:

Time Out New York: Manhattan’s first suburb is brimming with postcard-pretty brownstone character. Shop for household tchotchkes and nifty gifts at Haystack Home & Body (130 Clinton St between Joralemon and Livingston Sts, 718-246-2510). Then make a left on Remsen Street and head to the Promenade—the view of New York Harbor and lower Manhattan will take your breath away and remind you why you live here. Follow the Prom to the fruits: Cranberry, Orange and Pineapple Streets are home to notable 19th-century buildings, such as the Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims (75 Hicks St at Orange St), which was the “Grand Central Depot” of the Underground Railroad. For dinner, locals crowd into Henry’s End (44 Henry St between Cranberry and Middagh Sts, 718-834-1776) for burgers, gamecentric dishes and an eclectic wine list—the blackboards boast ten by-the-glass selections every night.

Yet somehow it just makes us think about this incredibly NOT SAFE FOR WORK clip from Ed Wood:

Share this Story:

,

  • Yuppers

    Well, to be fair… our retail leaves something to be desired, as do our bars… and the restaurant scene could do with some improvement. Oh, and groceries. I mean we kvetch about this tuff on this blog all the time.

    There’s a charm to this ‘hood that the others mentioned don’t have, and my wife and I deliberately moved here FROM one of the neighborhoods that beat us out (no names necessary)… but it comes down to criteria. BH is good for quiet/beautiful/some natural surroundings and water.

    It ain’t so great for neighborhood services.

    But Inwood and Downtown (Manhattan)? Seriously?

  • Adam G

    INWOOD?!

  • E G

    Yes, Inwood! You should go there prior to expressing incredulity. I agree w/t the BH criticisms of the 1st commenter, however, have you ever been down by the water in ‘upstate Manhattan’ ? Stunning.

    Regardless, I could care less about what Time Out NY says about anything including ranking the ‘hotness’ of neighborhoods.

  • JGM

    If location is everything, then BH should have won. However as mentioned by Yuppers, given the dreadful level of residential ammenities compared to the other neighborhoods, we may consider ourselves lucky to have placed at all. One alarming thing that I noticed the other day is that many of the stores on Montague that are targeting the lunch crowd are now closed by 6pm. Pretty soon the entire street will be dark by dinner.

  • harry

    since when does henry’s end offer hamburgers? clearly the time out ny writer has never been. and…Inwood?!?!?

  • AEB

    Don’t forget the Time Out demographic: twenty-somethings with disposable income.

    BH ain’t the place for them. The question is, should it try to attract a more youthful population? Trader Joe’s is a step in the right direction, I’d say, but still…walk just two blocks south of Atlantic on Court and you see and feel the immediate difference in youth(ful)-directed goods and services available.

  • ABC

    There is just nothing here anymore.

    I really wish there was a way the BHA — or some rich neighbor — could buy out some of the landlords on montague or henry and rent out the small spaces for reasonable rents to interesting shops. Curate the spaces almost. I really believe if we could get just 3 cute shops along henry, they could start something. Or maybe the BHA could rent the spaces and sublease to some interesting something? Do they have the money to drop 100k rental subsidies over three or four years?

  • JGM

    The Time Out demographic is not 20 somethings with disposable income. Plus most 20 somethings do not have all that much disposable income to begin with. The new dorm will add some youth, but more students are probably not what BH needs as they will not much participate in the community. ABC is correct…there is just nothing interesting in the Heights. Also, having one decent bar on Montague does not immediately turn it into Smith Street. Trader Joes will only draw more people out of the Heights towards CH.

  • travy

    as far as i know henry’s end has never offered a burger or even a sandwich for that matter…

  • AEB

    Then who, JGM, constitutes the Time Out demographic? Have you read the magazine recently?

    As for the disposable income of twenty-somethings (or their parents on their behalf), have you checked out current Apple advertising, especially for “hand-held” electronics, not to mention laptops and other computers?

    It ain’t directed at the over-forty set, believe me.

  • http://www.brooklynbackstretch.blogspot.com BKBS

    Best description of the neighborhood I’ve read, from the Times a year or so ago: “affluent without a trace of hipness.”

  • JGM

    I subsribe to TONY and it is basically a listing of events in NYC plus some articles that appeal to all New Yorkers. Does the magazine draw a readership younger than the New York Magazine, The New Yorker, etc.? Probably, but given the event listings and highlighted restaurants, it is not marketed specifically to 20 somethings.

  • AEB

    Homer, please, this is the FOURTH time in two days that, while composing a post, the page has refreshed itself automatically and I’ve lost the post.

    Honest, the FOURTH time!

    Do I have to copy every sentence I write as I write it to avoid having to re-post?

    Surely others are having the same difficulty.

    Can you please consider ditching the “refresh?”

    Thank you.

    AEB

  • my2cents

    “affluent without a trace of hipness.”

    Genius. So true. I actually think that is what makes it hip in an anti-hip way. I mean I am 28 and I feel like a maverick living in Brooklyn Heights, when all my friends live in Carroll Gardens or Williamsburg. It’s like they are the conformists and I am the weird one. Brooklyn is so terminally hip these days i think it is cooler to live in this square corner of the world. :-) Square or not, though, we do need more interesting boutiques and drinking establishments.

  • http://selfabsorbedboomer.blogspot.com Claude Scales

    Hmmm … I’ve had the same problem (refresh erasing comments in progress), but it seemed to have been rectified in the past few days; that is, I would be in the middle of drafting a comment, the screen would go blank for a second, but then the box would reappear with all I’d written still there. Perhaps there’s a glitch in the program that refreshes the screen that sometimes erases comments in progress and sometimes doesn’t.

  • AEB

    I second that emotion my2; and Claude: for me, my comment is always erased irretrievably. (Hmmmm…is that redundant?)

    Help, please, Homer!

  • Homer Fink

    Qfwfq is the CTO of BHB, I’m just the “looks”.

  • http://www.brooklynbackstretch.blogspot.com BKBS

    As long as we’re talking about tech stuff and BHB…anyway to not get big gap of blank space when posting a link? Encouraging use of html for a hyperlink, maybe?

  • AEB

    OK–help Qfwfq!

    Can you hear me?

    If not, what corner should I stand on to shout?

  • joe

    I love BH. I’m glad its not hip and its quiet. I would love it even more if it had at least two good restaurants and one good bar but I rather live here than anywhere else.

    Ed wood is one of my all time favorite films. The acting is so good all around. Love this scene.

  • http://www.myspace.com/billyreno Billy Reno

    Inwood?! Gentrifia please!

  • Loving Brooklyn

    Joe, there are definately two good restaurants. 1) Noodle poodle: Always consistently tasty and well-priced compared to similar Manhattan restaurants. 2) Le Petit Marche: The little market, a great place to relax and eat a full three course meal. You must try the goat cheese and fig salad.

    As for bars, I don’t really have drinks outside of my home without a meal. So, I have no idea where the good bar are.

  • my2cents

    Other than Henry Street Ale House, pretty much Floyd is your other best option. And that is only nominally in Brooklyn Heights.
    Wish that wine bar would reopen.

  • joe

    I like Petite Marche and go every couple of months but it not a place I can go every week. Noodle pudding I just can’t into period (or full stop as the brits say). I liked the vietnamese place on Montague but they shut down.

  • rdg

    Brooklyn Heights is desirable and charming for the same reasons it was desirable 200 or more years ago–it’s on a hill and it’s centrally located to Manhattan. THAT will never change no matter what the real estate values do. No more Pierrepont mansions on the hill, but the core reason this place is here is still the same. Passing fancies come and go, but location, location, location will never change

  • jfd

    What about Jack the Horse? And I certainly would include Henry’s End if we are listing good restaurants.
    Proximity to Dumbo — River Cafe, Grimaldi’s, Jacque Torres and shops–while retaining quality of life also a plus.