- nbhd -
boerum hill, cobble hill, carroll gardens
Like most Brooklyn dwellers with an ounce of respect, I hate that they’re trying to brand this cluster of neighborhoods as “Bo-Co-Ca.” As if this part of Brooklyn needs branding to be appealing. The housing prices are already obscene.
Like many Brooklyn transplants with an ounce of respect, I felt the need to leave North Brooklyn as I hit my late twenties, migrating south from the DJ territory to podcast, but not too far south to be in stroller territory. But even before moving here, I would often make a day itinerary out of it: hit the shops along Atlantic, cut down Smith from Cobble Hill and walk all the way down to Carroll Gardens and back up on Court Street. It has always felt like a home-y neighborhood, a bit more residential, more lived-in, historic, compared to other parts of the city. Whereas other parts of Brooklyn seem to look different every eighteen months and host a transient population, this part feels a bit more constant, with comforting reminders of past generations still thriving today. The evolution here is slower, quieter. There’s real mainstays: an old Italian bakery, an indie movie theater, mom and pop shops, neighborhood bars that anchor blocks even as Black Street and Tend shows up. The ethos of these neighborhoods stay true, and it’s something you feel at street level.
Boerum Hill is a series of mostly residential blocks, neat rows of brownstones littered with the occasional condo building that feel safe from the mess that is Downtown Brooklyn, protected by the traffic on Atlantic Ave. Apparently it was coined “Boerum Hill” in the 60s, borrowed from an 18th-century Dutch farming family to give the blocks some colonial pedigree, despite it being a rather flat part of town. Since then it has gentrified to be a coveted neighborhood for young families: anchored by Atlantic Ave’s antique row, with Smith Street restaurants on one end, and the mess of the 4th Ave development project on the other. But even within these precious blocks it’s self sufficient. It feels like a tranquil haven, but in the way that an eye of a storm feels calm. Step out too far and you’ll be caught in the Flatbush-Atlantic-4th Ave hell.
Historically, Cobble Hill was filled with Irish and Italian dockworkers and Middle Eastern working class families who found work in the area. Even as the BQE sliced off its western edge in the 50s, the neighborhood has held onto its history and identity with intentional preservation. It has one of Brooklyn’s earliest landmarked historic districts and has remained remarkably legible as a result: the same church spires, low brick rowhouses, and Court Street corridor with decades old Italian grocers and bakeries still flourish today next to new restaurants and cafés. You’re never far from an excellent meal or a crave-worthy treat, and yet you get to feel so insulated from the chaos of the city beyond.
In many ways, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens blend into one cohesive neighborhood. Named after Charles Carroll (the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence), theis neighborhood was historically Irish, Norwegian and Italian in the 1800s and early 1900s. Today, it still feels very Italian American. You could easily do a food crawl of cannolis and rainbow cookies and red sauce institutions along Court and Smith. And it feels even more charming during the holiday season when the shorter days mean more time for the neighborhood to be lit up with string lights. It’s the kind of Brooklyn meant to be romanticized in a rom com.
