Darkness on the Edge of Town
The cover story in yesterday’s real estate section of the Times is about how neighborhoods characterized by sweetness and light during the day can look sour and sleazy by night. Brokers say a lot of people—renters more often than owners—end up hating their hoods after dusk, either because they seem dangerous or because they’re too…
The cover story in yesterday’s real estate section of the Times is about how neighborhoods characterized by sweetness and light during the day can look sour and sleazy by night. Brokers say a lot of people—renters more often than owners—end up hating their hoods after dusk, either because they seem dangerous or because they’re too hopping or too dead. Although the bulk of the story focuses on Manhattan locales, there’s mention of a young Bushwick renter who was robbed at 4 a.m. and who immediately moved to Williamsburg after her lease expired. Issues of crime aside, a lot of Brownstone Brooklyn neighborhoods are known for being pretty sleepy at night (which, of course, is occassionally equated with greater menace). Has a neighborhood’s nighttime scene—or lack thereof—ever caused you to move?
Day and Night [NY Times]
Photo by Betty Blade.
Bay Ridge was never traditionally though of as all Italian. It was historically known as a Scandinavian enclave. As a Black girl growing up in Bensonhurst getting chased by much older boys, when I visited friends in Bay Ridge where I also attended Fontbonne Hall Academy I never got chased. Who said diversity wasn’t Asians, Arabs, Greeks, etc…?
as a person that lives in bay ridge let me say it is far safer then almost any place in brooklyn and far quieter to the point or boredom. i walked my dog at 3am last night and at no time did i never feel safe. i live close to shore road and i can spend sometimes an hour outside my house at midnight with no one walking past it.keep in mind bay ridge is so large that it is really almost 3 neigborhoods which have different personalities. as for the prior poster, im not saying everybody is an angel in bay ridge but the biggest misnomer is that bay ridge is still just an all italian neighborhood. predominatly moving in close to shore road in houses are greeks with a smattering of others including myself. im just sick and tired of people who have never been to bay ridge portraying my whole neighborhood as being italian meatheads and racists and not diverse. is diversity people who look different but all think the same or people who look closer to the same? why is it diversity is surrounding yourself with whites, asians and blacks who all have the same liberal thinking while its never greeks,italians,irish,muslims and local brooklynites who might think differently then you? im not asking you to like or live in bay ridge but please don’t take cues from posters who have never been here and grew up in ohio.
I don’t recommend old Italian neighborhoods. I lived in one. Got called N*****, chased from the subway my a mob of 16-20 year old guido’s, bottles thrown at me, etc… I guess this is how they kept “away the truly scary.” I must have been truly scary as a 10 year old Black girl.
the rule has always been to ride your bike to your prospective appartment after 1am and go buy something at a bodega. if you can do this and linger a little bit then generally you will be safe.
i lived in clinton hill 11 years ago on grand ave by lexington where people tried to rob me multiple times. the straw that broke the camel’s back was when i was attacked and ended up in a street fight with a teen ager gone bad at 2am. after that i decided to leave the area, mainly more from nerves than anything else. the only time anyone ever got my money though was when some kids pulled a gun on me downtown near livingston street.
by far, the worst neighborhood i ever lived in was prospect heights. there was an ongoing problem of teens (or gang members – they were tough)just hanging out in front of bodegas and phone booths. i was constantly hassled, but my old boyfriend suffered worse – they were just waiting to pick on a white guy. he had to frequently work late and the walk from the Q on flatbush freaked him out all the time. in general, too many aggressive young people just waiting for an excuse to be vioulent. also, there was an actual murder 2 blocks away.
i recommend old italian neighborhoods – cobble hill, carroll gardens around court, the named streets around 3rd/4th/5th in gowanus/park slope or the northern part of williamsburg between bedford and graham. the italians know how to keep away the truly scary.
i live on roebling in the burg now, and it is so nice and quiet and safe. there is a bar that attracts mellow patrons and is usually open down the way, and i feel that it really helps because there are people coming and going, but in a good way. no screaming post college types like in the east village.
agree that with renting, you have less to lose. i was renting in PH and when I moved, the first day in my new place was one of the happiest days of my life.
We moved from Caton and E16th to Ocean Pkwy and Church Ave after my husband got robbed at gun point twice. People in our building moved from Ft. Greene to Kensington after he got robbed on thier stoop. And neighbors in the house down the block left Carroll Gardens (near Gowanus) after getting pestered enough times. We may not have a coffee shop but Kensington is generally crime free (w the exceptional car break in). Most other places people (non-bankers) can afford are on marginal areas… they are affordable for a reason. I think its just a fact of life in NYC when you don’t make millions
Guest @ 11:21– Where do you live and when are you looking to move? Do you have a 1 bdr? I am looking to rent. Thanks!
If anyone finds PPW in WT “menacing” at night they truly should move back to Kansas!
Really Brownstoner, get a grip… “Darkness On the Edge of Town” ?
Brooklyn Heights’ lack of any real nightlife scene has definitely caused me to at least seriously consider moving. It’s just deadeningly boring out here most times of the day, and at night it’s a virtual ghost town. But it’s way too difficult to ignore the proximity to Manhattan. And it never ceases to amaze me that it’s considered favorable to live in equally deadening but further away parts of Manhattan (UES/UWS are 20 minutes away from lower Manhattan, while the Heights is barely 10), so the rents up there aren’t any cheaper. Talk about ugly.