Red Hook: Denise Moves to the Sticks
I’m a lifelong New Yorker and a Brooklyn resident for 13+ years. My boyfriend and I recently set up house in Red Hook. After living in Park Slope for the more than a decade, I jokingly like to say that coming here is our version of chucking it all and moving to the sticks without…
I’m a lifelong New Yorker and a Brooklyn resident for 13+ years. My boyfriend and I recently set up house in Red Hook. After living in Park Slope for the more than a decade, I jokingly like to say that coming here is our version of chucking it all and moving to the sticks without actually having to leave Brooklyn. Aside from the light and openness, impossibly elegant warehouses, and haunting industrial ruins that are among Red Hook’s prize qualities, one of the most profound draws for us is the strong sense of community–something I saw dwindle in Park Slope as the property values shot up and developers eager to cash in fueled what felt like a crushing development/population boom. I’ve found in Red Hook the kind of small town vibe I’ve been missing and like many residents I can attest that once you’ve discovered its charms you can’t imagine living elsewhere.
The startling views from the Beard Street Esplanade are one of the neighborhood’s most potent draws. This Civil War era warehouse (pictured) now home to everything from glass blowers to New York Water Taxi to the Blue Man Group’s costumers is a remnant of Red Hook’s glory days as a bustling maritime center and the cornerstone of its revitalization.
And another thing, asshole, the Red Hook farm is much closer to the projects than the waterfront. And the kidds that work there are all locals, presumably from the projects and nearby environs.
So fuck off.
And, you dufus, the public school you speak of, on Van Brunt and Sullivan, is pretty fucking near the water front. In fact there’s another one on Imlay, I believe, that is even closer.
Welcome to Red Hook!
Anonymous:
You are an ass. As a matter of fact, the waterfront is a neighborhood. There’s West Red Hook and there’s East Red Hook. And in case you think that us West Red Hookers never wander east, just ask my laundromat gal where I was yesterday (right across the street from those scary projects!), ask the 99-cent store employess who I am, ask the Red Hook pool employess where I swim in the summer, ask the Central American food venders in the park where I buy my ceviche, and ask the post-office clerks where I pick up my packages.
And fuck you, you holier-than-thou shithead who’s looking for an excuse to hate anybody who he doesn’t approve of.
You are a wanker.
I love the absolute peace and quiet in that neighborhood whenever I visit. How long will it last with Ikea on the way?
I enjoyed your photo essay. I’ve never actually been to Red Hook and am now so curious to go. One of my favorite things about Brooklyn is also the sense of community. The photo essays on Brownstoner were such a great idea, although I have to admit I didn’t find Sunset Park or Vinegar Hill very appealing as places to live – so industrial! Nice photos though.
I posted some trolley links in the Flying Dutchman thread — none have very current info though.
At the last community board meeting on waterfront development it was mentioned that the city was going to reasses the viability of trolleys among other ways to increase transportation. But I haven’t heard anything further since.
Dear Anonymous 8:42/12:16–Do you have an e-mail address and would you like to discuss this directly? You might be disapointed to learn that I’m not a hipster, that I haven’t just discovered Red Hook, and that I certainly don’t turn a blind eye to the residents of the Red Hook Houses that make up the majority of the population here. I come from a working class background, my parents are the children of emmigrants, and I moved here to be invested and involved in the community as a whole. You can say that showing a picture of the waterfront is passe but for people unfamiliar with the neighborhood it’s also the logical place to start.
just my point – the waterfront is not the nabe. Not at least for the majority of people living in the community.