There are wonderful tree-lined historic streets in Boerum Hill, the upscale residential neighborhood between Cobble Hill and Park Slope. Smith Street with its many hip restaurants and Atlantic Avenue with antique stores, a number of new coffee shops and small restaurants and still some of the Arab oldtimers with stores catering to the Muslim community in New York City. On its southern border, in the Gowanus neighborhood, are two large public housing developments and the area towards Third and Fourth Avenues is still somewhat challenged. But in its core Boerum Hill is a wonderful neighborhood with good subway connections and excellent shopping. No longer will you find any real estate bargains here. Historic row houses sell for $1-2 million, but prices drop the closer you get towards the Gowanus neighborhood. The area near Third and Fourth Avenue begs for further residential development, closing the gap between Park Slope on one side and the historic parts of Boerum Hill on the other side. And, indeed, a number of real estate developers have plans in the drawer. So overall a very hip and interesting neighborhood, with parts quite similar to its neighbors Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens.
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Boundaries: No clear consensus, especially as real estate developers keep stretching the boundaries. Here is what many agree on: Fourth Avenue to somewhere between Smith Street and Court Street and State Street to Warren Street. The Boerum Hill Association however defines the boundaries of Boerum Hill as Court St. to Fourth Ave. and Schermerhorn to Warren Streets. Adjacent neighborhoods:Downtown Brooklyn, Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill Subway stops: 11 subway lines serve the neighborhood: A, B, C, D, F, N, R, 2, 3, 4, and 5 |
History: As elsewhere in Brooklyn, Dutch farmers settled here in the mid 17th century. Around 1850 these farms were divided into residential plots. Tradesmen and merchants escaping crowded, noisy Manhattan settled here. An ideal location halfway between two premier neighborhoods, Brooklyn Heights and Park Slope. Around 1920 the middle class started to leave for more upscale areas of New York City or the suburbs and Boerum Hill became the home of the working class. Mohawk ironworkers from Upstate New York and Canada lived here in the 1930s and 40s, while working on the skyscrapers in Manhattan. Later, they too left the neighborhood, migrating to other cities for work. The former Cuyler Presbyterian Church on Pacific Street was the cultural and spiritual center of the Mohawk community in New York City. It was converted to residential use in the 1980s.
Increasingly row houses were demolished to make room for new buildings, but the majority remained, albeit in dismal condition. In the late 1940s the New York Public Housing Authority built two large housing developements for Brooklyn's increasing number of Afro-Americans and Latinos, the Gowanus Houses (between Wyckoff, Douglass, Bond and Hoyt Streets) and Wyckoff Gardens (between Wyckoff St., Baltic Ave., Nevins Street, Third Avenue). Brooklyn, except for a few areas in Brooklyn Heights and Park Slope, had entered into a prolonged economic decline. The once fashionable Dutch name Boerum Hill disappeared and the whole area was just called South Brooklyn.
In the late 1970s young singles and a few families started to buy and renovate the historic brick and brownstone row houses, especially on Pacific and Dean Streets. Boerum Hill benefitted from the increasing gentrification of Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens. As in other newly gentrified areas, its inhabitants started to redefine the neighborhood. The area regained its historic name Boerum Hill, a neighborhood association was set up and historic house tours were arranged. In 1973 parts of Boerum Hill was declared a Historic District by the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Neighborhood Blogs &Web Sites we like:
Shopping: Smith Street and Atlantic Avenue are the main shopping streets.
Eating Out: You find restaurants, pizzerias as well as a few coffee and sandwich shops for Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens and Red Hook on this list.
post your comments herelast updated: October 15, 2008