It ain’t hot until someone officially deems it so, preferrably on paper. If that’s the case, Red Hook is smoking. First, there was last month’s Washington Post article that was distributed nationally. Today, the New York Post declares, “Red Hook is no longer the land of waterfront toughs and gunshots; there’s a different kind of boom to be heard in South Brooklyn.”
Sayth the Post:
Like Barry Bonds, Red Hook knows what it’s like to suffer from a bad reputation. Old New Yorkers remember the neighborhood from its reckless, rough-and-tumble youth; the days when the area was wedded to the waterfront and all the crime that goes along with it. Or they remember it as the home of New York’s first housing projects and all its kindred poverty. But unlike the abnormally muscled San Francisco Giants slugger, Red Hook is far more popular these days. Not just another blue-collar Brooklyn neighborhood – it’s a community of artists, antique stores, new developments, gourmet restaurants and, as of this week, a spanking new Fairway market. And last month royalty arrived when the Queen Mary 2 docked in Red Hook for the first time – a major coup for the waterfront.
The article noted property values that have doubled in the last two or three years and quoted one developer who gushed, “I feel this is the next Manhattan.” (A double edged sword, that.)
Of course, there are major issues working themselves out in Red Hook as we speak in the shadow of a fairly incoherent approach to planning, as witnessed by the ongoing competition of uses: residential and commerical gentrification, big box storeification and preservation of the working waterfront, to name a few. (Did we mention the traffic nightmare that Ikea will present or protecting public waterfront access?)
Gowanus Lounge awaits a transportation solution that will make Red Hook easier to reach, such as a trolley line. (NY Water Taxi service is great, but does little to make it easier for Brooklynites to get to Red Hook.) Then again, the B61 bus offers a very scenic and complete view of all of hipster Brooklyn.
