Downtown Brooklyn Apartments - NYC

Neighborhood Description

With a population of around 7,050, Downtown Brooklyn is hip, easygoing, and relatively upscale, but not pretentiously so.

The area has a mix of historic brownstones, new and converted high-rise apartments, restaurants, boutiques, theaters and more, usually at lower prices than their Manhattan counterparts. Downtown Brooklyn, with its mix of old and new, high end and inexpensive finds alike, is a great place to explore.

The Brooklyn Academy of Music is a great place to catch a music or theater performance, or to check out an art house movie too. On Sundays, the Brooklyn Flea, in the lobby of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Building, offers an eclectic mix of crafts, antiques, and food. The Fulton Mall, an outdoor shopping area, is a one-stop location, offering everything you could ever think to buy and more. While the area tends to quiet down at night, in the daytime it's filled with people.

Lots of new construction, including the Brooklyner, Oro, and One Hanson Place apartment complexes, means there are great deals to be found, including no fee apartments. The Barclays Center, Brooklyn Borough Hall, New York Transit Museum, and Cadman Plaza Park are among many landmarks to experience, and Chef’s table, Bacchus Bistrot a Vins, and Ganzo are among several of the neighborhood’s distinguished restaurants.

Downtown Brooklyn is located west of Brooklyn Heights, east of Fort Greene, and north of Boerum Hill and Park Slope. The area was sparsely populated until the advent of the steam ferry in 1814, which made for an easier commute between Brooklyn and Manhattan. Following this development, Downtown Brooklyn went from being relatively desolate to the bustling heart of the City of Brooklyn. The area’s central status was secured after the construction of the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. In the 1960s, when much of Urban America was negatively affected by patterns of economic transition, Downtown Brooklyn sought to protect its central businesses from deterioration and decline. The district succeeded in its efforts with the construction of a twenty-three story office tower on Boerum Place and Livingston Street, and with the beyond-expectation growth of the original Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) which became a cultural institution and a symbolic anchor for the area. Downtown Brooklyn, like the rest of the country, suffered through the fiscal crises of the 1970s, but rebounded aggressively with revitalization and economic improvement strategies inspired by the realization that, due to its proximity to Lower Manhattan, it could become among the top business and technology districts.

Subway transportation options to Downtown Brooklyn are abundant. Major stations in the neighborhood include Jay Street-MetroTech (A/C, F, and R trains), Court Street – Borough Hall (2/3, 4/5, and R trains), DeKalb Avenue (B/D and N/Q/R trains), Hoyt-Schermerhorn Streets (A/C and G trains), Nevins Street (2/3 and 4/5 trains), and Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center (2/3, 4/5, B/D, and N/Q/R trains).

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