Atlantic Avenue: Brooklyn Bridge Park to Barclays Center
One of the great things about Atlantic Avenue is the variety of businesses, from antique shops and high end clothing boutiques to perfumeries and Islamic bookstores. Whether you’re shopping for something specific or want to spend a leisurely afternoon popping in and out of stores, it offers a dizzying range of options. One of the longest…
One of the great things about Atlantic Avenue is the variety of businesses, from antique shops and high end clothing boutiques to perfumeries and Islamic bookstores. Whether you’re shopping for something specific or want to spend a leisurely afternoon popping in and out of stores, it offers a dizzying range of options.
One of the longest streets in Brooklyn, Atlantic Avenue goes all the way from Brooklyn Heights to the Long Island Railroad Station in Jamaica, Queens, but today we will be focusing on the section between Atlantic Terminal and the Brooklyn waterfront. Every autumn, this stretch of Atlantic Avenue is the home of The Atlantic Antic, an immensely popular street fair with live bands, children’s attractions, shopping, and a variety of food and beer that puts all other New York street fairs to shame. The Antic has been going strong since 1974, even earning a mention in a Beastie Boys track.
Atlantic Avenue retains a connection to its architectural past through its many unique storefronts, brick townhouses, and former factory buildings. This primary Brooklyn artery, once filled with streetcars pulled by horses and later by an electrified rail line, continues to serve as a conduit for pedestrian and vehicular traffic, and as the main commercial destination for the thriving neighborhoods around it.
Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill: Brooklyn Bridge Park to Court Street
Atlantic Avenue begins at the southern end of Brooklyn Bridge Park. Pier 6, adjacent to residential development One Brooklyn Bridge, offers great views of downtown Manhattan.
In the warmer months, visitors can enjoy beach volleyball courts, a giant sandbox for kids, and elaborate playgrounds like Swing Valley, Slide Mountain and The Water Lab. Piers 5 and 6 were actually once part of Brooklyn’s South Ferry landing, back when Atlantic Avenue was called Atlantic Street, and a ferry ran here from South Ferry in Manhattan. Passengers would then connect from the ferry to the railway along Atlantic Avenue.
Walking east along Atlantic Avenue, you’ll cross underneath the Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE). The non-profit mural organization Groundswell, in partnership with NYC DOT and the Atlantic Avenue Business Improvement District (BID), has a wonderful mural under the overpass that references Atlantic Avenue’s past and present.
Just after the overpass is the recently renamed Adam Yauch Park, a tribute to the former Beastie Boys member and one of the many places in New York City named after musicians.
On the south side of Atlantic Avenue before Hicks Street is Montero Bar and Grill, a dive bar with one of the few remaining wooden phone booths in New York City. Between Hicks and Henry you’ll find The Roebling Inn, with a good beer list and skeeball in the back, along with The Moxie Spot, a restaurant and playspace that caters to both kids and eco-conscious parents, described by The New York Times as a “Chuck-e-Cheese for hipsters.”
On the corner of Henry Street and Atlantic are two antique furniture shops, Holler & Squall and Jarontiques. The latter grew out of a successful Brooklyn Flea stall, specializing in mid-century Modern furniture and art.
Around the corner on Henry Street is Tazza, a café with great coffee, baked goods, paninis and salads, along with a quaint, exposed brick wine bar. There’s no Wi-Fi, deliberately, and a no-cell phone policy. Next door is Seaport Flowers, occupying the ground floor of a Brooklyn Heights brownstone.
Between Henry Street and Clinton Street, Atlantic Avenue turns into a foodie and drink paradise. Floyd NY, part of the same group as Union Hall in Park Slope and The Bell House in Gowanus, has clay bocce ball courts, beer, and bourbon. For restaurant fare, don’t miss Colonie, a farm-to-table restaurant with a lush green wall and wood interior.
Also on this block is Chez Moi—which will get a menu update very soon when Willy Ono joins as executive chef—and Luzzo’s BK for coal oven Italian pizzas. Boy Luv Girl, a popular hair salon with a simple Brooklyn vibe, rounds out this block.
As Atlantic Avenue approaches Court Street, there’s a distinctive shift in the scale and style of retailers. Here you’ll find the influx of such purveyors as Urban Outfitters, Barneys, Key Food, Rite Aid, and Trader Joe’s. But there are also some local finds in this densely packed block. Della Pietra’s Gourmet Meats is new but perfectly captures the old-world Brooklyn feel, down to the coordinated blue plaid shirts worn by the butchers. The meat ages right before the pedestrian’s eyes, in a temperature-controlled environment that looks onto the street.
Just next door is Sahadi’s, described by customers as “a Middle Eastern market wonderland,” or “a dry foods heaven.” Founded in 1898 on Washington Street in Manhattan, Sahadi Fine Foods moved to Atlantic Avenue in the 1940s after the construction of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. In the last few years, the storefront expanded to the adjacent shop, and inside you can find 150 types of cheese, an olive bar, a spice area laid out like the bazaars of the Middle East, and goods like lavash flatbread, baklava, family size tahini, gallon-sized jugs of olive oil, and coffee.
What you can’t see at street level in this portion of the street is the oldest subway tunnel in the world. Built in 1844 and rediscovered by Bob Diamond in 1981, it’s generated a slew of urban myths. One of the best: an 1836 steam locomotive that may still be behind a sealed chamber. Diamond gave tours of the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel, accessed through a manhole cover, until 2010, when his license with the city was taken away.
At the intersection of Court Street and Atlantic Avenue is the former South Brooklyn Savings Institution, now a Trader Joe’s with a beautiful interior and immensely high ceilings.
Next Page: Court Street to Hoyt Street >
Boerum Hill: Court Street to Hoyt Street
After Court Street, we leave Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill and enter Boerum Hill. The neighborhood is named after Simon Boerum, a farmer and politician who served as Kings County Clerk and was a delegate to the Continental Congress. Although this section of Atlantic Avenue between Court Street and Smith Street might not seem to have a lot going on at the surface, there are some unique urban finds and a lot of development coming.
Atlantic Bicycles, a neighborhood staple long before bike lanes and Citi Bikes, has a great yellow billboard on one wall which will probably get covered over by the Atlantic Galleria shopping mall when it’s built. Boerum Place ends at Atlantic Avenue, where a glass commercial building is rising next to St. Vincent Services, built in 1906. St. Vincent’s was originally founded in 1869 as a refugee home for newsboys, and has expanded to offer a wide range of support services for needy children and their families.
Then, taking the whole block between Boerum Place and Smith Street is the Brooklyn House of Detention (also mentioned in a Beastie Boys song!), one of the many jails and prisons woven right into the urban fabric in New York City. If you just got out and are hungry, across the street is two8two Bar & Burger, serving beef ground fresh daily by local butcher Los Paisanos.
At the corner of Smith Street, apparel shops Brooklyn Industries and SUPRA herald the incredibly varied businesses on the next transitionary block. A clothing boutique, a science camp, an art gallery, a Halal deli, a private investigation firm and a bail bonds shop coexist side by side. Older buildings are nestled between new condos and empty lots foreshadow new construction to come.
At 337 Atlantic Avenue, Sal Abbate of Lorenzo Woodworks has had an appointment-only store for custom furniture for the last thirty years.
Hoyt Street is full of fun finds, so make sure to turn the corner and explore down the side street. To the north, the first thing you’ll see is a view of Love Letter to Brooklyn, a large street art installation by Stephen Powers (a.k.a. ESPO) on a parking garage in Downtown Brooklyn.
Just before State Street is a quirky shoe-themed exhibit on the facade of 75 Hoyt Street. All the works are puns, like “Shoe Tree,” “Snow Shoes” and “Foot Print.” A cash register is labeled “Jon E. Cash.” The works are done by Nat Hendricks, the owner of several buildings on Hoyt Street, including the metal diner that housed the tiny Victory Cafe, closed in 2011. The tiny block still has some culinary options like the Little Sweet Café, with displays of vintage cameras inside, and Bijan’s Brooklyn, a cocktail bar and cafe decorated with colorful chairs and wooden tables.
To the south, on the opposite corner of Atlantic Avenue, sits the Hoyt Street Garden, created in 1975 by the Hoyt Street Association on land owned by the adjacent Iglesia del Cristo Vivo.
Across the street is Mile End Delicatessen built in a former garage serving Jewish fare with a Montreal twist. Next door is the wonderfully smelling GRDN Brooklyn, a boutique garden shop “for the urban gardener.”
Next Page: Hoyt Street to Nevins Street >
Boerum Hill: Hoyt Street to Nevins Street
The northern side of Atlantic Avenue between Hoyt Street and Bond Street is a veritable gold mine of antique shops, each with a unique offering. At cityFoundry you can find things such as early televisions, mid-century furniture, Peanut character figurines and Mad Men-esque tea sets. It’s packed to the gills, and the fun is digging through the three rooms.
The beautifully merchandised Collier West is where to go if you need, for example, an antler chandelier. They also carry quirky things like jewelry made of spoons and candles in vintage glass containers found at Dead Horse Bay in Brooklyn.
Circa Antiques sells 19th century American Classical and Victorian furniture and European finds. In Days of Old focuses solely on the Victorian and turn-of-the-century era.
Greenhouse & Co. has a great collection of mid-century furniture, along with curated selections for the home including bedding and tableware.
Bright Lyons specializes in Modernist furniture, art and books.
Finally, it’s pretty hard to miss Horseman Antiques with its sidewalk display. Currently featured are some bronze lions, a horse, and wooden Indian and cowboy. Generally, though, they focus on the mid-century era.
Intermixed are retailers such as Hollander & Lexer, whose outpost on Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg was used as a Boardwalk Empire film location.
Paris-based Atelier Cologne has a shop here. Inside, the store is furnished with industrial furniture from both French and American factories. You can personalize leather bottle cases at their engraving table, even for the small 30 ml travel sizes.
Small retailers predominate on the other side of this block. Twisted Lily, a fragrance boutique and apothecary that opened just five months ago, carries local Brooklyn purveyors like PLANT Brooklyn and CB I HATE PERFUME, along with fun brands like Etat Libre d’Orange and Juliette Has a Gun.
Meg boutique, by designer Megan Kinney, has a great selection of dresses with modern, clean lines, as well as accessories. They even offer same-day altering.
Thanks to last year’s inaugural Atlantic Avenue Wedding Extravaganza, Atlantic Avenue has become an alternative wedding shopping destination. You can find affordable vintage engagement and wedding rings dating as far back as 1750 at Erica Weiner. These pieces, along with Wiener’s own line, are displayed in glass cases along with old telegrams, cigarette cases and vintage fans. For gowns, the bridal shops on Atlantic Avenue between Hoyt and Nevins include Michelle New York, Kimera Design and VeKa Bridal Couture.
Some of the furniture shops have made it over to this side of the street too. The Primary Essentials shop has an über-clean aesthetic and beautiful products for every day life.
Near the corner of Bond Street, between the Belarusian Orthodox and Pentacostal churches, are a series of restaurants. French-owned Bacchus has an extensive wine list, while the adjacent Bacchus cafe plays up the Parisian influence in its decor. You can bask in the sunlight while savoring a delectable Vendôme Macaron (better than Ladurée, hands down) and using the free Wi-Fi.
Fisherman’s Dawta, serving Jamaican cuisine like jerk chicken for $10, is just next door.
Across the street is By Robert James Jazz, selling a more polished, cleaned-up version of its edgier rocker style found in the Williamsburg and the Lower East Side shops. A little further towards Nevins Street is Betty Bakery, worth a stop for its elaborate window displays and custom cakes. The rest of this block is a smattering of local services like day cares, a health center, salon, and a Salvation Army. The former Ex-Lax Inc sign on the former factory that takes up the middle half of the block may elicit a snicker, if you notice it.
Next Page: Nevins Street to Flatbush Avenue >
Boerum Hill: Nevins Street to Flatbush Avenue
The next two blocks, from Nevins Street to 3rd Avenue, include Pardes Restaurant, serving kosher French food under the direction of Moshe Wendel, formerly the sous-chef to Jean-Michelle Dumas at Manon Restaurant. On the retail side is thrift store Out of the Closet–which offers free HIV testing and a pharmacy–and artisanal children’s store Gumbo. Gumbo also offers fun music classes for kids like “Baby DJ School,” and “Preschool of Rock”, along with puppetry, creative writing, and sewing lessons for adults.
From Nevins Street to Flatbush Avenue, we’re technically still in Boerum Hill but it feels more like Downtown Brooklyn. The transitional nature of this section is reflected in the contrast between business types and building aesthetics from one side of the street to another. The southern side is densely packed with Islamic bookstores, clothing shops, travel agencies and Halal groceries.
The northern side, with its brightly painted facades, is seeing an influx of gentrified shops like the Flagship Nunu Chocolates shop, Twisted Lemonade Factory, and M.O.B. Brooklyn, by the founder of the Phillipe Starck-designed Mama Shelter hotels.
Interestingly, the local U.S. post office currently shares its space with the Islamic store House of Knowledge. It’s been reported on Brownstoner that the building is going to be sold and replaced with a seven-story hotel, though no permits have been issued yet.
At 4th Avenue, Atlantic Avenue reaches Atlantic Avenue Terminal. Big box stores like Target, Best Buy, and Burlington Coat Factory predominate, but there’s a lot of historical architecture to be found in this area. The gorgeous lobby of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank, just around the corner, has been used for as diverse activities as the Brooklyn Flea, film shoots and weddings, while the upper floors have been converted into condos. (Williamsburgh has an “h” at the end of the word here because the bank dates back to a time before the “h” was dropped, sometime before the consolidation of the five boroughs.)
If you look down 4th Avenue, about where New York Marathon runners would be getting ready for the eight-mile mark, is the Pacific Branch of the New York Public Library, the first Andrew Carnegie library built in Brooklyn. It narrowly escaped being sold off by the NYPL last year.
In the center of the Atlantic-Flatbush-4th Avenue intersection, across from the Atlantic Center mall, is the original Atlantic Avenue subway entrance, one of the 28 control houses built by Heins & LaFarge for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, the first subway system in New York.
From here, we can see the striking Barclays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets and, starting in 2015, the New York Islanders. Built atop former LIRR rail yards, Barclays Center is the first part of the controversial Atlantic Yards project. A crane marks the construction of residential buildings just behind the stadium, to be completed by the end of this year. The building, known as B2, will be the tallest modular building in the world.
Barclays Center and B2 were designed by the cutting edge architecture firm SHoP Architects, also responsible for the forthcoming Domino Sugar Refinery redevelopment. Each piece of Barclays Center exterior was put through an accelerated rusting process. No piece is exactly the same, and will age differently over time. Standing in front of Barclays Center is a flagpole that stood at Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field until its demolition in 1960.
It’s hard to imagine that this two-block stretch at the edge of Park Slope will remain in this transitionary state for long. The Municipal Art Society awarded Barclays Center for being a “Neighborhood Catalyst,” while Curbed has been mapping the changes that have happened and are on the way. Whether residents like it or not, change is coming in a big way with the continuation of the Atlantic Yards project.
Whether you’re looking for home decor, specialty foods, or wedding dresses, Atlantic Avenue has a lot to offer. Old and new meet as the traditional Middle Eastern groceries and antiques shops mix with trendy upstarts, and Brooklyn Bridge Park and Barclays Center make fitting bookends to a Brooklyn in transformation. You could spend days on Atlantic Avenue, whether you’re a resident or just a visitor immersing yourself in these neighborhoods.
For more local Brooklyn flavor, check out A Guide to Smith Street and A Guide to Bedford Ave.
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