DUMBO

In the spirit of trying new things, I spent my day off last week in DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) which is a burgeoning artsy neighborhood. DUMBO in the '70's and '80's was a little dodgy, with a lot of abandoned warehouses, but like a lot of places in Brooklyn it's been revamped. Now the warehouses are studio space, which is available cheaper than other places in Brooklyn. I peered into some (a lot of metal working/big sculptures) so that was cool.

There is a little waterside park in between the Brooklyn Bridge (right) and the Manhattan Bridge (left) which is really nice. It's across the way from the South Street Seaport in Manhattan which is tourist central, but since it's Brooklyn, you get good views of Manhattan AND no tourists. Win-win.

DUMBO has a lot of green space and benches, but the downside to being by the bridges is that it is LOUD. I was on the phone with one of my friends while walking nearby the Manhattan bridge when the subways were going overhead, and it was deafening (also, I find being directly under bridges unnerving in general). But the water view is lovely, and more importantly, I had some solid opportunities to people-watch.

And here is a last shot of the bridge peeking through some buildings. DUMBO is the site of an old shipyard as well, and the streets are cobbled. It is worth a visit. AND, for the history nerds amongst us, it was also the site of the Battle for Brooklyn, one of the first battles of the Revolutionary War. Washington and his 8,000 troops were stationed in Brooklyn, and the British invaded with 20,000 troops. Washington lost Brooklyn, but sustained zero casualties and snuck his men over to Manhattan in the middle of the night.