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Get to know Red Hook

Red Hook has the look and feel of an urban seaside village, chock-a-cobblestone-block with captain’s bungalows and ancient brick warehouses — several predating the Civil War. A flourishing port by the mid-19th century, Red Hook catered largely to the surge in offloading needs from the Erie Canal, a legacy honored by today’s Erie Basin Park. Its previously rough-and-tumble docks inspired Elia Kazan’s classic film On the Waterfront, though one cross-harbor wink from the Statue of Liberty today might be all you need to call Red Hook a contender. While there’s no subway in Red Hook proper, the F and G trains are easily reached via the Smith-9th or Carroll Street stations, with an easy R transfer at 4th Ave. An NYC Ferry stop connects DUMBO, Bay Ridge, and Wall Street, the last of which is seconds (sans traffic) through the Battery Tunnel.

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Red Hook Commerce & Culture

Van Brunt, Red Hook’s primary thoroughfare, ends at the foot of Beard Street Pier — one of the neighborhood’s two warehouse piers and New York City’s very last. It feels like a classic postcard Main Street that’s uniquely Brooklyn with a bit of Montauk mixed in, branching off to quieter side streets that turn either more residential or industrial. You’ll find curated boutiques, a buoyed-up crab shack, and a perfect catch of fisherman’s bars authentic and contrived, interspersed by an exceptional slew of lush community gardens. Sunny’s Bar, a Red Hook institution, is a beloved gathering place welcoming locals and blow-ins alike. A generous stock of swoon-worthy post-industrial spaces cradles Brooklyn’s burgeoning maker movement, playing host to craft distilleries, chocolatiers, brewers, and roasters. They also house the Haute venue Liberty Warehouse and Pioneer Works, a community-driven cultural center with an array of programs, installations, and events celebrating the arts and sciences.