Brooklyn Paper: Columbia St. is right mix of hip and home

An article that ran in the NY Post / The Brooklyn Paper late last week profiled our neighborhood as struggling under the designation as "the next Williamsburg" and having a "boom that never came." It also reaches the conclusion that that might actually be a good thing, as the overall description of the neighborhood at the top of the article is "the right mix of hip and home."

The article gives some overall descriptions of the neighborhood and then goes on to profile many of our local businesses in a great light - pointing out that there are still things to do in the winter months, despite what some may think.

If you are reading this and are not familiar with our area, please note that there are many other businesses not profiled in the article as well! See our list on the sidebar.

A snippet is below. Click here to read the whole thing.

Like many neighborhoods on the edge of Brooklyn’s bustling Downtown, the Columbia Street Waterfront District has been struggling under the weight of being “the next Williamsburg” for a few years now.

But just as Greenpoint and DUMBO earned — and then casually tossed aside — that designation to become interesting, but never frenzied, neighborhoods, so has the stretch of Columbia Street between Atlantic and Hamilton avenues.

Yes, there are plenty of great places to eat and drink, shop or browse — and one music venue that ranks with the best in the city — but Columbia Street remains a quiet livable neighborhood.

Part of that is certainly due to its mass transit isolation — the best way to get to the area is probably via the Ikea shuttle from Borough Hall rather than anything provided by the MTA.

But the neighborhood’s status is also no doubt due to the boom that never really came. For every pioneer that has made it — Alma — there are two that didn’t (Red’s Tapas Bar on the south end of the strip and Pit Stop, that pitch-perfect French bistro on the north end, both closed within a few months of each other).