Rendering of Empire Stores with the Time Out Market | Credit:Time Out
For quite a while, Brooklyn has been seen at best as a secondary borough that fell into disrepair after its industrial buildings and workplaces shut down. Some newcomers to New York took a cheap rental there while saving up for a move to Manhattan, and many Manhattanites spent years thinking of it as a step down. Brokers became sensitive to this, and indeed, many of today’s listings tout easy access to Manhattan as a selling point.
However, a seismic shift has taken place over the past several years. As both residential and retail rents rose all over Manhattan, artistically inclined individuals and businesses alike have come to appreciate the local charm and skyline views that Brooklyn has to offer. Some still came begrudgingly, but a growing number made the borough their first choice when looking for a home in New York.
Most recently, a report by New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer shows that Brooklyn neighborhoods have seen the largest growth segment of creatives moving in. It also mentions that Manhattan neighborhoods like Chelsea, Soho, Greenwich Village, the Lower East Side, and the Upper West Side were the biggest losers. It’s unclear whether the artists were priced out or left out of exasperation at overly gentrified areas, but we do know that Bushwick, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Fort Greene, and Brooklyn Heights saw the largest segments of creative individuals arriving.
Brooklyn's evolution from gritty to glam is well underway. (Photo circa November 2019 via CityRealty)
Between the increasingly popular New York Ferry and a Citi Bike expansion, Brooklyn is seeing increased ways to get around the city. However, leaving may turn out to be entirely optional. A residential building boom shows no sign of slowing down, and indeed cannot afford to if such demand is to be met. As new and planned office buildings like Ten Grand Street, 25 Kent Avenue, Dock 72, and the Domino Sugar Refinery conversion show, a growing number of residents could have a much easier commute to work ahead of them.
On top of all this, the borough has welcomed an exciting array of retail, culinary, cultural, and recreational offerings with some of the best yet to come. With offerings like these, how long before Manhattan listings count a quick trip to Brooklyn among their assets?
On top of all this, the borough has welcomed an exciting array of retail, culinary, cultural, and recreational offerings with some of the best yet to come. With offerings like these, how long before Manhattan listings count a quick trip to Brooklyn among their assets?
A Sumptuous Spa
Rendering credit: World Spa via worldspa.com
World Spa lobby
Manhattan is home to Russian and Turkish Baths in Alphabet City, the super-luxe Aire Ancient Baths in Tribeca, and a number of jjimjilbangs on Korea Way. But in Brooklyn, a new spa is prepared to present all of their offerings and then some under one roof. World Spa will incorporate Nordic, European, and Asian traditions into its spa offerings and East-West Bar & Grill alike. The 50,000-square-foot spa is set to open in Midwood this fall.
Fantastic Food Halls
Rendering credit: City Point
The food hall and market craze may have started in Manhattan at Chelsea Market, but it’s gone to newer and greater lengths in Brooklyn. Smorgasburg set new standards for food and events alike, and Dekalb Market Hall, Japan Village, and America’s first Time Out Market outpost opened to great excitement. Culinary offerings include everything from simple street fare to edgy international dishes to classic comfort food. These are not limited to food; the venues also act as host to concerts, family programming, and cultural events to nourish the soul as well as the body.
The William Vale's Rooftop Skate Rink
Credit: The William Vale (https://www.thewilliamvale.com/rink/)
Williamsburg hotel The William Vale has 183 luxurious rooms, an elevated promenade, and restaurants and bars run by Andrew Carmellini, but its crown jewel is its rooftop. In the spring and summer, the pool and surrounding deck are among the the hottest spots in New York. And in winter, it hosts an outdoor skating rink and tented lounge that serves hot chocolate and treats. In any season, it enjoys breathtaking skyline views that can only be appreciated from this side of the river.
First Wegman's in NYC
Rendering for Wegman???s Brooklyn (S9 Architecture)
Residents of the once-derelict Brooklyn Navy Yard area were pleased to get a grocery store in a new master plan, and ecstatic to learn that it would be Wegman’s, the popular chain’s first-ever New York City outpost. Locals appreciated the creation of 500 new jobs, a portion of which came through the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, and the chance to experience the extensive variety of products, reasonable prices, delicious meals, and helpful staff that brought the cult favorite to prominence. When the store opened this fall, crowds of “Wegmaniacs” waited in the rain for it to unlock its doors.
Bustling Beer Scene
Collective Arts Brewing is opening a brewery complex in Gowanus | Collective Arts Brewing
Near the end of the 20th century, two friends acquired a former matzo factory in Williamsburg and converted it to a functional brewery. This was Brooklyn Brewery, an early pioneer in both the craft-beer craze and Brooklyn's status as a brewing destination. Since then, Brooklyn Brewery has proven too valuable for its landlords to risk losing it, and many other breweries have risen everywhere from DUMBO to Sunset Park. Most recently, Gowanus is getting ready to welcome Collective Arts Brewing, a beer-maker from Hamilton, Ontario, to its first American location, which will host a microbrewery, tap room, casual restaurant, and craft distillery cocktail lounge.
Center for Fiction
Nearly 200 years since it opened as the Mercantile Library, the Center for Fiction has grown and evolved into a place for readers and writers alike to meet, create, and debate. In addition to the lending library it was founded to be, the space hosts a large bookstore, a state-of-the-art auditorium, an upstairs reading room with skylights, areas for reading and writing workshops, and a cafe with a liquor license. Its First Novel Prize and Emerging Writers Fellowship support developing writers, and its Maxwell E. Perkins Award honors publishing professionals who have championed writers of fiction. Finally, as its KidsRead and KidsWrite programs show, it’s never too early to instill a love of literature.
Dreamland Roller Rink
Creit CIty Point Brooklyn
Business owner and community mainstay Lola Star's heart will always belong to Coney Island, but her activism, line of glittering T-shirts, and transformation of an abandoned but historic building into Dreamland Roller Rink have brought her to the attention of many beyond this one Brooklyn neighborhood. City Point recently welcomed a Dreamland Roller Rink pop-up that hosts skating lessons, family skate sessions, and themed roller disco parties.
Climbing in Popularity
A 24-hour rock climbing gym will open at 1 Nassau Avenue on the Williamsburg-Greenpoint border (Cayuga Capital)
Time magazine describes rock climbing as “the ultimate full-body workout,” and it’s one that just got easier to pursue even in an urban area like Brooklyn. In addition to local mainstay Brooklyn Boulders, a pair of gyms is set to open this year. Vital Climbing Gym will open its first East Coast outpost in Williamsburg this spring, and MetroRock is poised to open a second Brooklyn location in The Dime this fall.
Resurgent Retail
Apple Brooklyn | Credit Apple
Brooklyn’s meteoric rise has been noticed beyond the greater tri-state area as brands from all over the world welcome the chance to set up shop there. Over the past decade, Sephora, J. Crew, Lululemon, and Apple, to name just a few popular retailers, have made their Brooklyn debuts. This has proven to be a mixed blessing for residents - as pleased as they are to have significantly easier access to their favorite stores, they hope this doesn’t come at the expense of smaller, scrappier local institutions.
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