Red Hook is a scruffy waterfront district, with new attractions sprouting among the old landmarks.  In an area where cargo ships once loaded grain, cruise ships now transport tourists.  Landmarks are largely in disrepair, but artists have found the old warehouses hospitable and mega-stores have found the space they crave for expansion. It is a work in progress, an unfinished picture. 

 

 

A walk down Van Brunt street will get you an often changing compendium of small stores;

A waterfront museum, only open on weekends;

A local beer or two

 

Next Stop

 

B61 to BoCoCa, Downtown...

B77 to Gowanius, Park Slope

 

 

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Sunday, May 31, 2009

Red Hook, Brooklyn

Red Hook is a scruffy waterfront district, with the new sprouting among the old landmarks. In an area where cargo ships once loaded grain, cruise ships now transport tourists. Landmarks are largely in disrepair, but artists have found the old warehouses hospitable and mega-stores have found the space they crave for expansion. It is a work in progress, an unfinished picture.


Tobacco The Cash Crop
Roode Hoek, Red Hook or the red corner as it was called by the Dutch settlers when they arrived in 1636, became a profitable center for tobacco farming, an enterprise that was begun by the Lenape Indians.

Pre Civil War Period: The Boom Years
The construction of the Erie Canal allowed grain grown in the Midwest to be shipped to New York via the Hudson river and loaded onto ships in Red Hook. The Beard Warehouse is typical of the warehouses that lined the shore here during that time. The Beard Street Warehouse, built in 1860's, is actually many smaller warehouses linked together. There were so many warehouses built on the shores that, when viewed from Manhattan, Red Hook looked like a walled city.

Bust Years
Housing projects were built for the dock workers in the 1930's and amenities included parks and a wonderful pool often used by an after-hours crowd adept at climbing the fence. But the construction of the Expressway cut the area off from the rest of Brooklyn. This, combined with a lack of train service to the area and the shipping industry's migration to New Jersey, dealt Red Hook a fierce blow. Unemployment in the 1950's was running at 30 percent.

The area had acquired a reputation not only as a waterfront but as a mecca for tough, blue collar workers, and the neighborhood was the setting for several blockbuster books, movies and plays. Think of Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront, the family in Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge and the world of Al Capone. This was Red Hook in its heyday.

Back Up Again
It is hard to pinpoint what brought about the changes occurring in the neighborhood, but they have been gaining momentum. The artists, the food vendors at the soccer fields, Fairway Food Market and Ikea are all part of the new equation. There is still much of the past to savor and enjoy. You can walk along the waterfront and see splendid views of the Statue Of Liberty, ponder the boats moving about the harbor, pop into small artisan shops, drop into a pub or, on a weekend, walk over to the soccer fields and enjoy a carnival of food treats from Central America.

 the upper-west icon opens on the waterfront

 Fairway Market, an Upper West side Manhattan icon, was one of the first stores to open a branch in Red Hook. This new store is in a Civil War Era warehouse on the waterfront.  A patio with picnic tables at the back of the store  offers incredible views of the Statue of Liberty,  New York Harbor and the Manhattan Skyline.  Shopping carts are parked by the back door while shoppers enjoy their lunch.  The water taxis that can take you back to Manhattan are not far from the picnic tables.  

www.fairwaymarket.com

480 Van Brunt St, Brooklyn, NY 1123118.694.6868

 

The Waterfront Museum Barge is a free museum with limited hours, Wednesday from 4-8 pm and  Saturdays from 1 to 5.  This museum is special.  It is the only covered wooden barge stil afloat and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.  This Lehight Valley Railroad Barge, built in 1914, was used to bring cargo from shore to shore within the Harbor.  

 www.waterfrontmuseum.org/

back and as good as ever

 

The Red Hook food vendors have been selling Latin American favorites at the soccer fields for over 30 years and have a well-deserved reputation for incredibly delicious, mouth-watering treats.  Empanadas, huaraches, ceviche, pupusas, grilled corn and summer drinks are just a few of the delights.  Bring a hearty appetite and some spare napkins, and be prepared for sampling and a dollop of indulging. Deciding what to eat can be difficult. These mom and pop food vendors have had a permit problem with NYC, which has been resolved, at least temporarily.  It is touch and go, however, so catch them while you can. The vendors are at the fields on Saturday and Sundays during ball- playing season, May to September. 

Clinton St & Bay St, Brooklyn, NY 11231

old relic with lots of history 

 

There is an old, rusty, green and white trolley parked on the waterfront, its wheels poised on tracts waiting for the day it can resume its old  trolley path along the waterfront.  And this just might happen. The Brooklyn City Street Car Company has been trying to reinstate the trolley route, which went from Red Hook to Williamsburg in the 1880's.  Maybe soon, in the mean time  you can get great photos and a chance to walk along the waterfront and enjoy the views.