The 50 Best Blocks in Brooklyn
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13. Best Block For Gardens
Vanderveer place between Flatbush and 23rd Street, Flatbush
Not gonna argue with the Brooklyn Botanical Garden people, here. Pretty block.
14. Best Secret Block
Colonial Court, off Harbor View Terrace, Bay Ridge
Colonial Court is a tiny dead-end side street off a side street in Bay Ridge. The rich live there (where even Google street view cannot reach).
15. Best Block For Street Festivals
Smith Street between Bergen and Dean Streets, Cobble Hill
This might piss off borough traditionalists of the Italian persuasion, but the annual Bastille Day party (brought to you largely by Bar Tabac, at the corner of Dean) is the most fun had by French people anywhere, ever.
16. Best Block For Celebrity Sightings
Front Street between Jay Street and the Manhattan Bridge, DUMBO
Jason Schwartzman, Cynthia Nixon, Jay Z, Beyonce, Spike Lee, Alexis Bledel (of the Gilmore Girls!), the entire cast of Gossip Girl, Paul Dano, Michael Pitt... These are just a few people we've recently seen near our office.
17. Best Block For Historical Significance
Montague Terrace between Remsen and Pierrepont Streets, Brooklyn Heights
It was here, way back in 1776 at the "Battle" of Brooklyn, that George Washington staged the evacuation of his army to Manhattan, allowing it to survive for another day, insuring that we'd one day drive on the right side of the road.
18. Best Block For Iconic Brownstones
Garfield Place between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, Park Slope
Yeah, there's a dozen of these that could work, but only one with a fully pink brownstone... Oh yeah.
19. Best Block For Ugly Condos
Fourth Ave between 4th and 5th Streets, Park Slope
This one was really tough, but seriously, the Novo (which takes up the whole block) is ugly enough on its own, but the other side of the street is even worse: storage, auto mechanic, cheap condo-style Hotel Bleu... It looks like a service road south of Cancun.
20. Best Block For Vintage Shopping
Grand Street between Bedford and Driggs Aves, Williamsburg
Unlike Manhattan, vintage has yet to cluster on particular blocks, but for now, Fille de Joie and Life: Curated do a pretty good job (and just a block over you have Franny and Roey). Also, see below...
21. Best Block For High-end Fashion
Grand Street between Kent Ave and Havemeyer Street, Williamsburg
Ok, you caught us, we're cheating this one time, but from the APC and Paul Smith outlets to great Brooklyn indie boutiques like Bird, Sodafine and Love Brigade, this is where you buy your clothes in Brooklyn.
22. Best Block For Gallery-Hopping
Washington Street between Water and Plymouth Streets, Dumbo
See large-scale projects by established artists and new works by emerging locals skipping between Smack Mellon's massive refurbished boiler house space, the Dumbo Arts Center's expansive loft and Rabbithole Studio's raw basement gallery.
23. Best Block for Wild Parties
Morgan Ave between Maujer and
Scholes Streets
3rd Ward, House of Yes, Rubulad: trapeze artists and homemade absinthe do, in fact, mix.
24. Best Block For People-watching
Fulton Street and Lafayette Avenue, Fort Greene
This triangle at Lafayette and Fulton is a cross-section of Brooklyn's most diverse neighborhood—lifers, the creative class, brownstoner parents, roving packs of Brooklyn Tech and Pratt kids—thanks to the confluence of bars restaurants, residences, retail and cultural institutions along Fort Greene's busiest strips.
25. Best Block For Sidewalk Sales
Lafayette Avenue between Vanderbilt and Clermont Aves, Fort Greene
Yeah, duh, the Brooklyn Flea on Saturdays is pretty much the best "sidewalk sale" in the country, plus the spillover stoop sales all around it.
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