On the trail of local life in hipster Brooklyn
Steve West look out the window and see how the East River flows gently between Manhattan and Dumbo. Located on one of the upper floors of an industrial-style building, one of those with exposed brick, this artist's studio is a movie come true (or was reality inspiring fiction?).
House and work area share an open space with high ceilings in which West creates the series of lithographs in which he has been immersed for four years, when he began to capture the textures he found in a neighborhood that has changed a lot, perhaps too much, since 1991, the year in which he came to brooklyn . "Dogs still roamed the streets freely," he says.
The tour begins at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge
On the other side of the East River, Manhattan and its skyscrapers are also far from the image offered by the island towards the XVII century when Brooklyn was not Brooklyn, but Olympia, and those who beheld her were dutch and irish, attracted by the fertile land suitable for agriculture and livestock, some; and by the proliferation of factories at the beginning of the XIX, the others.
It was back in the '80s when artists started moving to Brooklyn, gradually taking over from sugar, coffee, tobacco... that were once occupied by brick masses. They didn't want a Soho 2. Hence the area was given such an uninviting name as Dumbo, not because of the lovable elephant but as an acronym for Down under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass.
And it is there, precisely, at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge, between the Brooklyn Bridge, York and Bridge Streets and on the banks of the East River, where the tour takes place that for three hours takes us to know this area of Brooklyn by the hand of Intrepid Urban Adventures , one of the local agencies ** EVANEOS works with .**
As if it were a trip to the time in which it was only possible to cross the East River by steamboat, the tour starts by ferry from Manhattan (Pier 11), contemplating from the water the iconic structures of the brooklyn and manhattan bridges.
Jane's Carousel
They've been there since 1883 and 1912, respectively, in an attempt by the human being to dodge the harsh winters of yore, those in which the frosts did not spare even the rivers.
Those who also have tradition are the 48 horses and the two carved wooden carriages that turn and turn on the ** delicate and colorful merry-go-round at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge.** It began to work in 1922, but not here in Ohio. I wouldn't get to Dumbo up to 2000, when the artist Jane Walentas he bought it, restored it and donated it. Of the glass structure that protects it and which stays open in the summer was commissioned by **Jean Nouvel.** It survived Hurricane Sandy and riding to view Manhattan from a historic carousel is just $2.
If the thing is to contemplate, Dumbo premiered views not long ago. And it is that the forceful brick building located behind Jane's Carousel, the Empire Stores, came back to life. It had been a long time since that time when they could boast of be the kings of coffee.
The glory they achieved by being pioneers in offering it ground and ready to make gave way to a time of abandonment that ended with the transformation of the property into a space that houses from restaurants to fashion stores, including the city's newly opened Time Out Market, a museum and a terrace from which the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges show that they have more than one good profile.
The Empire Stores, 'cool' to say enough
Two blocks away, between art galleries and restaurants, a corner of glorious windows full of books will stop the steps of any book lover. In Powerhouse Sand _(28 Adams Street) _ have good taste, turning it into one of those bookstores where you know when you enter, but not when you leave, lost in thought as you walk through its aisles.
Photography and art books, for adults; and illustration, for the little ones, thinking of those families that are seen more and more in the neighborhood. And since this is about creating community and social fabric, Powerhouse Arena organizes exhibitions, readings, presentations and debates.
Community is also created over a cup of good coffee, like the one served in the Brooklyn Roasting Company (25 Jay Street). The building that in 1881 housed the Arbuckles Coffee, the company that conquered the mythical cowboys with its coffee, now hosts a coffee shop overlooking the East River.
The pattern repeats: industrial style big windows and such a cool hipster vibe that makes you want to be friends with each of the people who occupy their large tables made with recycled doors.
Interior of the Powerhouse Arena Bookstore
Pretty on the outside, yes; but also inside. Seon, her manager, explains that They offer 30 varieties of coffee. They come from places as different as ** Peru, Kenya, Brazil, Rwanda, Ethiopia…** In addition to the coffee fame of these countries, these varieties have another thing in common: the fair trade they bet on at the Brooklyn Roasting Company to try to ensure that farmers and other workers in the production chain obtain benefits.
Once arrived at Dumbo, they make their own blends and roast them to meet their quality criteria . Of all the proposals Java Mocha It is the most popular and it goes too well with hours and hours of conversation sitting in one of those vintage armchairs.
Something that also helps fix the world is a beer. It helps even more if it's craft and is made in Dumbo himself, or rather in the Dumbo Heights, an area halfway between the artistic atmosphere of Dumbo and the economic sector of Brooklyn Heights in which technology companies are setting up.
Randolph Beer _(82 Prospect Street) _ is a self-service beer with 24 faucets , as many as types they have (among them their own elaborations or those of the Pink Boots Society **, a group created to support and inspire women in the brewing industry) ** that you can pair with the proposals of a menu that goes beyond traditional fast food, as its rice with cauliflower, salmon and avocado proves.
The coffee in Dumbo is taken at the Brooklyn Roasting Company
Between huge fermentation tanks, table football and comfortably lounging on a brown sky Chester sofa, the tasting can begin.
Before toasting, yes, the EVANEOS tour will have stopped at ** Choichun Leung's studio.** An inconspicuous door, stairs that go down, elevators that go up and finally a door that opens to a wide space in which canvases full of furious strokes of color rest on walls, floors and tables.
This abstraction that marks her work did not prevent the British artist from beginning to draw as illustrations of three girls in a warrior and threatening attitude. With these creations, Choichun talks about a past of sexual abuse suffered in her childhood, of the consequences that derive from them and now she shapes the project The Young Girl Project , with whom she intends that this problem be known, talked about and reported.
“It started as an autobiographical diary, and when people told me to show it to the world, I started showing scenes with which I denounce the situation while trying to empower and give referents of struggle to children who may find themselves in that situation, " she explained it to Traveler.es.
The tour does not forget either Dumbo's Most Wanted Photo, the one in which brick buildings frame a magnificent Manhattan bridge, with the Empire State Building in the background, far in the background.
The impromptu photocall is located at the intersection of Washington Street and Water Street that it is so crowded, there are already those who say that those cobblestones will soon be pedestrian. Until then, the snapshot will have to be taken among other tourists in well-studied poses and hesitant cars trying to get on with their day to day.
And if things are about bridges, how about finishing enjoying Dumbo feeling small at the foot of the Brooklyn bridge? Its titanic structure of iron, cables and bricks is overwhelming, even more so if you look at it recently erected from **the room of the 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge**.
Not being located within the limits of Dumbo does not prevent this hotel from sharing that philosophy of create community, make neighborhood and take care of the environment. With consistency, good consistency.
Because the 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge is luxury, yes; but without losing sight the mantra of the creator of the brand, Barry Sternlicht, who maintains that "The world around us is beautiful and we want to keep it that way."
For the most sought-after photo, you will have to make room for yourself between tourists and cars
And for this, it is not enough to say it lip service, you have to lead by example. “We designed our hotel to be aligned with Brooklyn values, creating synergies and agreements with local artists to incorporate furniture made in Brooklyn and local materials , and we work hand in hand with the Brooklyn Bridge Park, where we are built”, Hannah Bronfman, Director of Sustainability and Impact at 1 Hotels, explains to Traveler.es.
Thus, getting lost in its spacious lobby or wandering through its corridors means coming across designs made from reused pallets, furniture built with recycled wood from the old Domino sugar factory or with crystals that come from a Brooklyn-based glass blowing studio as are the vendors and suppliers with those who work for your restaurant.
“We want to spread this idea that having the opportunity to live well includes protecting the natural beauty that surrounds us. In such a way that although 1 Hotels is a luxury brand and the design reflects it, each element has been selected with the intention of raising awareness and talking about it” Bronfman explains.
This careful selection of each element has necessarily gone through searching alternatives to single-use items.
The eternal dilemma: stay here forever or go out and explore the city?
War on plastics, yes; but it goes further: hangers made with recycled materials, reclaimed wood keys, large amenities perfect for refilling, filtering system so that there is drinking water in the rooms and not resorting to disposable bottles, water timer in the shower so that the guest also collaborates and does not spend forever wasting this resource...
Although the hourglass may not be so necessary if what awaits on the other side of the screen is a room that is so cozy that it makes you angry to leave. It is not that it is an obligation either: let us bear in mind that its large sliding window occupies an entire wall, turning it into an open haven with views of the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty.
Below, the East River runs its course. Like nothing. Oblivious to your fascination.
Visualize yourself lying there with a good book and a coffee...