DUMBO

There is a place in Brooklyn called DUMBO which stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. It is the first stop on the Manhattan downtown subway trains after ir crosses the river. It is where the other end of the Brooklyn Bridge will drop you off. And it is the boomingest real estate location outside of Manhattan Island and it has the best vista of the city skyline. It has beautiful cobblestone streets with remnants of a tram perhaps once upon a time in an area previously known as Fulton Landing.

On Front Street, a row of restaurants line the road leading to the romantic River Cafe that overlooks lower Manhattan across the East River. A small fountain, a small garden graces its frontage and the romance of summer weekend lunches comes to mind.

New York City’s #1 pizza place and a must-go-to, Grimaldi’s is easy to spot. It should be the restaurant with an unassuming façade that holds a long line of people in front of its doors. Here each pizza is prepared and baked with fresh ingredients from an oven that is coal fired. The flavors play with the palate and each bite is savory, a mix of rich mozzarella and other ingredients. I had white pizza, with just garlic and a ton of cheese topping and mushrooms. It was memorable.

Along the length of the riverfront is a promenade that is filled with sunbathers and people enjoying one of the first perfect weekends of the season. Babies in strollers, dogs on leashes, groups playing Frisbee or badminton or a dad showing his kids how to fly a kite, it was a weekend that is so distinctly New York, so Americana and yet so urbane.

There is a long row of brick façade that once have housed warehouses now lends an air of antiquity to a district that is surging into a new rebirth. DUMBO’s real estate is booming and there are numerous high-end residential buildings mushrooming around the area. Several old buildings with watchtowers on its top floors have been recently converted into residential lofts, some of the most expensive living spaces in the city.

There is a dreamy location just beneath the Brooklyn Bridge promenade, a short walk across the river on a beautiful day. A get-away when you do not want to be too far away. So dreamy.

NOTE: This entry was featured on the website: DUMBO, NYC (link here)