Downtown

Brooklyn is a living, breathing system of neighborhoods. At its beating heart is Downtown Brooklyn, bordered by Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill, and Fort Greene. Home to The Theater for a New Audience on Ashland Place, BRIC Arts Media House on Fulton Street, Brooklyn Borough Hall on Joralemon Street, and the New York Transit Museum at the corner of Boerum Place and Schermerhorn Street, the neighborhood enjoys an abundance of cultural riches. 

Downtown Brooklyn is much more than busy people moving in and out of marble office buildings, unique shops, and kitschy stalls full of trinkets. While it was once known as a neighborhood where people only worked or shopped, Downtown Brooklyn today enjoys a flourishing real estate market, boasting more than 52,000 residents. They live in classic brownstones and modern high-rises with killer views of the borough. 

Like two paths leading to the same place, old and new Downtown Brooklyn meet on State Street, between Smith and Hoyt Streets. There, 23 Greek Revival and Italianate row houses built between 1847 and 1874 serve as reminders of a time when the neighborhood longed to transform from rural to residential. Today, these stately homes are included on the National Register of Historic Places.  

Within blocks of home, you can shop at establishments like Layla on Hoyt Street, a curious little boutique stocked with hand-loomed textiles and antique jewelry, or stop into Gold Street Market for picnic supplies before heading to Cadman Plaza or Walt Whitman Park for an afternoon of relaxation. Three days a week, make the short trip over to the Borough Hall Greenmarket to pick up fresh, locally-grown produce.

As busy as Downtown Brooklyn is during the day, it truly comes alive at night. It's easy to catch a movie at the Iron Mule or enjoy a performance at MetroTech Commons, and takes almost no effort to meet friends for drinks at Livingston Manor or dinner at Forno Rosso. With 11 subways and 16 bus lines available, getting around is a breeze. It appears that being in the heart of Brooklyn means having the world at one's fingertips.