Brooklyn Heights or the Heights as it is called by its residents is Brooklyn's most prestigious address (together with Park Slope I should add). It is a combination of Manhattan's Upper Westside and the Village. Fabulous 19th century brownstones with high ceilings, grand staircases, elaborate wood furnishings and fireplaces intermingle with traditional prewar coop apartment buildings. You'll find a good mix of people here, longtime residents, young families, Wall Street types, artists, writers and Jehovah's Witnesses, who have their world headquarters here. The number of short term residents, renting here for 2 - 3 years, has increased and many Heights residents lament the more transient nature of their neighborhood. But let's be fair - this is a phenomenon you find in all of the top residential areas in New York City. It's a result of the mobility required nowadays from high income earners. The Heights is still a wonderful spot, where you tend to know many of your neighbors. As they say, New York is not a big city but a great number of small villages (called neighborhoods). The Heights has many playgrounds, top-notch schools, decent shopping and restaurants and many quiet streets. This makes it one of the best family friendly inner city neighborhoods - a subway stop from Downtown Manhattan. That is if you can afford it!
Famous residents over the years have included John A. Roebling and his son Washington Roebling (Brooklyn Bridge), Henry Ward Beecher (preacher, author, anti-slavery advocat), Walt Whitman, Hart Crane, Thomas Wolfe, W. H. Auden, W.E.B. Du Bois, Carson McCullers, Gypsy Rose Lee, Richard Wright, Truman Capote and both Arthur Miller (a short while with Marilyn Monroe) and Norman Mailer. Today's residents include many famous playwrights, actors, artists, lawyers, investment bankers and company executives. But there is also a good number of longtime residents with more modest cashflows, who live in wonderful houses and apartments they inherited, which today are worth millions.
The Brooklyn Heights Association (BHA) was founded in 1910 and is the oldest, ongoing neighborhood association in New York City. In 1945 it successfully blocked Robert Moses' plan to build the Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE) through the Heights. The alternate route resulted in the construction of the now world-famous Promenade. Its advocacy efforts lead to the passage of the NYC Landmarks Law in 1965 and Brooklyn Heights was designated as the City's first Historic District. BHA organizes go-at-your-own-pace, self-guided house tours, an excellent chance to visit some of the landmark brownstones and gardens.
The Brooklyn Historical Society on Pierrepont and Clinton Streets was founded as the Long Island Historical Society in 1863. It focusses on the history of Long Island from earliest Colonial days to the present and has an extensive library of books, manuscripts and family records. Really worth a visit if you are intersted in early American history.
The Heights has many historic landmark churches, unfortunately most of them are only open on Sundays or by appointment.
Plymouth Church of Pilgrims, a Congregational Church on Hicks and Orange Streets is steeped in tradition. Its first pastor, Henry Ward Beecher, was a prominent anti-slavery crusader (his sister wrote "Uncle Tom's Cabin"). For more on this church and the famous "Beecher-Tilton Affair" take a look at our Brooklyn Heights Tour page.
Grace Church (Episcopalian) on Grace Court and Hicks Street, set amidst large trees, is giving the impression of an English parish church. It was built in 1847 and is a fine example of the Gothic Revival style, one of the most beautiful churches in New York City.
St.Ann's Church on Clinton and Livingston Street now houses the Middle School of Packer Collegiate Institute, one of the three private schools in the Heights. Designed by James Renwick, Jr. in 1867-69 (St.Patrick's Cathedral, Grace Church and the Smithsonian Institution building in Washington are his other notable works), its angular Victorian Gothic style marked a distinct departure from earlier Gothic Revival works. Packer acquired this important landmark, along with the adjoining Parish House, in 1969. The other St.Ann's on Montague and Clinton Streets - the official name is Church of St. Ann and the Holy Trinity, is a Gothic Revival gem. It is in very poor condition and since I can remember surrounded by scaffolding.
The relationship between the Watchtower Society (Jehova Witnesses), who have their world headquarters here, and Heights residents has settled into an uneasy state of "noli me tangere". JW's tend to go about their business in a non obtrusive way nowadays. They own lots of real estate in the North Heights and have restored a great number of large buildings and warehouses, like the former Leverich Towers Hotel on Clark Street and the Bossert Hotel on Montague Street (both now residences for JWs). They have sold a large building on Furman Street to coop developers and seem to relocate parts of their printing plants in the North Heights and Dumbo to Upstate New York. If you want to know more about their activities in the Heights take a look at the web sites of Stan & Julie and Barbara Anderson, two opposing views.
The grandest of all former hotels in the Heights was undoubtedly the St.George Hotel on Hicks Street (between Clark & Pineapple St.). The St.George, actually a complex of several buildings, was a legend, one of the most fashionable hotels in New York City with a ballroom - you find more on this in our Brooklyn Heights Tour page.
The most expensive real estate are row houses, some of which sell above $10million. Next are prestigious coop apartments like 2 Montague Terrace and 1 Pierrepont Street, also in the millions. Overall supply is tight, demand high and many people are priced out of the Heights.
The Height's waterfront was a topic to either be avoided (abandoned piers, parking lots and storage sheds) or passionately discussed (future use) as long as I can remember. It appears that plans to develop the Brooklyn Bridge Park have now reached the final planning stage (December 2006). Hard to believe! The plan calls for an 85-acre project with 76 acres of protected parkland supported by 8.2 acres of commercial development (marinas etc.). It will stretch from the Dumbo waterfront, where a park already exists, to the end of Atlantic Avenue.
|
|
Boundaries: The Heights stretches from Atlantic Avenue to Fulton Street and from the East River to Court Street. Adjacent neighborhoods: Dumbo, Downtown Brooklyn, Cobble Hill Subway stops: No neighborhood in New York City is better served by subways than the Heights. You can take the M, R, 2, 3, 4, 5 to Court Street. Ferry: The East River Commuter Ferry on Fulton Ferry Landing takes you to Pier 11 on Wall Street. It is operated by NY Water Taxi. |
History: Before Dutch farmers settled this bluff above the East River in the mid 17th century, the area was called Ihpetonga, the "high sandy bank" by the Canarsie Indians. The Dutch established an active farming area here supplying Manhattan with produce. After the defeat in the Battle of Long Island George Washington and his troops retreated to the Heights. Washington was able to save remnants of the army by transferring them in dense fog to Lower Manhattan. Later the farms were subdivided into smaller plots and rich merchants established their mansions here. Hezekiah Pierpont, a rich merchant and landowner in the Heights, advertised the area in 1823 as "a home in the country with all the convenience of the city." Robert Fulton's regular steamboat service between Manhattan and Brooklyn in 1814 lead to further construction as did the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883. The many beautiful brownstone row houses filled the gaps between the mansions. In the late 19th century the Heights was one of the most upscale neighborhood in New York City.
The Heights became less exclusive with the construction of the IRT subway in 1908. This is when high society moved to the Upper East Side and the Heights' large Victorian mansions were subdivided into smaller apartments. Writers and artists were attracted to the neighborhood and many hotels were built, such as the Bossert, the Leverich Towers, the Margaret and the huge St. George. After World War II people moved to the newly established outer suburbs and the Heights fell on hard times. Only in the late 1960s did a revival start and by the early 1980s the Heights were back to its old glory.
If you walk through the North Heights you wonder about the streets being named Cranberry, Pineapple, Orange, Poplar and Willow Streets. The story goes that until the mid 19th century these streets bore the names of prominent local families. A certain Miss Middagh, an influential member of the Brooklyn society, disliked these names, some of the descendents were her neighbors. She arranged that these street signs were torn down and substituted with placards bearing botanical names. A tug of war ensued, the original signs were replaced by the authorities, but she again changed them. In the end the authorities gave in and accepted her signs as official. But one street in the North Heights street retains its original name: Middagh Street!
Schools: P.S.8 is the public school here (Pre-K to 5). Amongst the private schools both Packer Collegiate Institute, founded in 1845 and St.Ann's School are amongst the best New York City has to offer. Other excellent private schools are Brooklyn Heights Montessori School and the Brooklyn Friends School, founded by Quakers in 1867.
St. Francis College on Joralemon Street is a private, co-ed, 4 year college, founded in 1859 by Franciscan Brothers. Approx. 2000 full-time students.
Neighborhood Blogs & Web Sites we like:
Brooklyn Heights Blog - neighborhood blogger
Shopping: Montague Street is the main shopping venue, leading from Court Street down to the picturesque Promenade. A very pretty setting. You find everything you need here. If this were in Europe it would have been made a pedestrian street long ago. Not here - the automobile rules supreme in our country!
Eating Out: Brooklyn Heights is a very traditional and in terms of real estate a very expensive neighborhood. Fewer younger people than in lively BoCoCa or historic Park Slope. May be this is the reason that there are fewer restaurants here.
I list a couple of restaurants in the neighborhood, which have received good reviews by Zagats, New York Times or New York Magazine. For the latest restaurant and food news you might want to check New York Magazine's blog, Grub Street or some of the neighborhood blogs listed above.
Top Restaurants:
Henry's End, American, 44 Henry St. (Cranberry St.), Tel: 718-834-1776
Noodle Pudding, Italian, 38 Henry St. (bet. Cranberry & Middagh Sts.), Tel:718-625-3737
Queen, 84 Court St. (bet. Livingston & Schermerhorn Sts.), Tel: 718-596-5955
A few good, yet economical places:
ChipShop, British (nostalgia), 129 Atlantic Ave. (bet. Clinton & Henry Sts.), Tel: 718-855-7775
Teresa's, Polish, 80 Montague St. (Hicks St.), Tel: 718-797-3996
Clark's Restaurant, 80 Clark St (Henry Street), Tel: 718-855-5484, I am totally biased on this one, my old hangout. Great brunches like in the good old Greek coffee shops, which sadly enough have been replaced by Starbucks in most neighborhoods.
Pizzerias - check sliceny.com for the latest pizzeria reviews:
Fascati Pizza 80 Henry Street, Tel: 718-237-1278, consistently great pizzas, why wait in line at Grimaldi's?
Monty Q's 158 Montague St. (Clinton St.), Tel: 718-246-2000, decor: nil, price/quality: the best! Takeouts!
Coffee Shops, Sweets & Sandwiches:
Heights Café, 84 Montague St. (Hicks Street), Tel: 718-625-5555, great outdoors, good brunches and light meals, sidewalk seating: the place to see and be seen.
post your comments herelast updated: October 15, 2008