Fort Greene: City's Best Nabe?
Trying to crown one neighborhood as New York City’s best is kind of a silly exercise, but if you were to concentrate on the criteria of culture, community, diversity and architecture, there certainly is a good case to be made for Fort Greene. “In all my days and nights of walking neighborhoods and asking people…
Trying to crown one neighborhood as New York City’s best is kind of a silly exercise, but if you were to concentrate on the criteria of culture, community, diversity and architecture, there certainly is a good case to be made for Fort Greene. “In all my days and nights of walking neighborhoods and asking people why they live where they live, I have never encountered a place that has this much heart, soul and pride,” write Daily News correspondent Jason Sheftell. “More than ever, I found people who said they could never live anywhere else but right here.” Unfortunately for those just hearing about Fort Greene’s charms, the days of finding a real estate deal are long gone (though they may return soon enough!), but it’s still worth it. (The writer naively claims that the Brooklyn nabe is as expensive as the West Village. Not!) People here do not like any fakeness in their neighborhood and they pay higher rents for that, said Denis DuPreez, co-owner of the Dekalb Avenue restaurant Madiba. We have beauty, and we have the good people. It’s hard to argue with that.
Fort Greene: The best neighborhood in New York? [NYDN]
Photo by atomische.com
iz, you got me! Sorry about that; I’m extra slow today. I didn’t read your last paragraph before reacting!
iz,
very amusing! i laughed.
sarcasm, biff. sarcasm.
“really way TOO diversified”
What exactly do you mean by that?
I read the article, and yes, it is a bit facile and embarrassing but as Lily Langtree said, any publicity was good publicity…or was that someone else?
Just a note: the writer labeled Lafayette as “Street” instead of “Avenue”. Anyone who takes cabs home to Fort Greene knows how to make this distinction to cabbies since they are likely to think you want to go to Lafayette Street in Manhattan if you only say “Lafayette”. I find it helpful to say “over the Mahnattan Bridge, up Flatbush to Fulton to Lafayette Avenue.”
Oh, well, most of you kids are negative today but I still like our neighborhood.
I agree with everyone commenting on this issue. I live in Ft Greene, and it’s just NOT that great. Kinda boring, kinda dangerous, mediocre, not that pretty, really way TOO diversified, and some of the parents are NOT concerned about the school system, and many of the people living here are NOT that community-engaged. It’s really not as sweet and cute and deliciously adorable as it might look to all those hordes of newbies crowding my space in the NOT THAT attractive park each morning with the NOT THAT friendly dog owners or taking up all the tables at all the NOT THAT GOOD restaurants.
To anyone looking for a new place to call home, Ft Greene is NOT that homey. You might even NOT want to live there forever and raise your kids and grandkids there. So please, move on. Find another place — there are so many more unique and complex city environments than this pretty generic, average, “typical” city hood.
Agreed this is a silly article, but to Brenda’s point about schools–there’s been a real grassroots effort to improve the local Fort Greene/Clinton Hill elementary schools (PS 20 and 11, if I’m not mistaken)and it’s making a difference. Their ratings have gone steadily up, and parents and the community are really committed. Plus there’s at least one new charter school coming.
no, atlantic terminal isnt just a fort greene station, its basically at the intersection of prospect heights, park slope, boerum hill, and downtown brooklyn when you look at a map. so if you dont live in north park slope, or south east fort greene, its not super convenient. plus its a nasty place.
Day-time barbershop shooting rampages. Rapes outside the hospital. Yeah, that just screams best neighborhood ever.