Is "Brooklyn" Only Worth a Day on Your Visit?

A lot of people watch travel vlogs to try to get a quick impression of a destination. Heck, I do too. But it's always wise to supplement them with more focused information, for example from guidebooks and recently reported travel articles.

Even those have their flaws and limitations, which is why--self-serving plug here--it can be valuable to hire a guide.

Let me dissect the immense flaws in a vlog modestly titled "48 Hours in BROOKLYN 🇺🇸 First time in New York's COOLEST Borough!" from Australian Phoebe Lee, whose vlog has 267,000 subscribers. She goes everywhere--Rome, South Africa, Thailand!--which is how, I suppose, she builds subscribers.

A superficial visit
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But that also makes it more likely her visits and reports will be superficial, as her Brooklyn video confirms. Despite the "COOLEST" claim, the things that make Brooklyn "coolest" or even very attractive were not so visible.

Lee opens up by wondering "if it was worth coming out here to spend an extra couple of nights or not. I really don't know if there's going to be enough to see and do and eat ." Clearly, she didn't do much research.

Sure, people have to parcel out their time, but there's more than enough for weeks of visiting.

Unsurprisingly, she assumes that most first-time visitors would come to Brooklyn as part of their trip to Manhattan, checking off the bucket-list requirement of walking the Brooklyn Bridge. 

Preconceived ideas

Lee acknowledges "preconceived ideas. For me, I feel like Brooklyn is going to be hipsters. For some reason, I think I'm going to see a lot of pickles and a lot of artisanal breads and such. My mom is completely freaking out. She thinks it's very unsafe and when I asked her why she says because the TV show she watches a lot of the crimes happen in Brooklyn."

Well, both are true about "Brooklyn," which is so vast it includes everything.

Given that Lee spent her time in a tiny portion of Brooklyn, she was closer to the artisanal stuff, though a little research would've shown that independent businesses tend to congregate in gentrifying areas, not ones that have gentrified solidly.

Her visit

She has a pleasant coffee and snack at Poppy's--not Poppies--in Brooklyn Heights, which she likes a lot. However, it's not clear how she got there--subway? walk?--as it's not so close to the hotel she later discloses. (Remember, logistics are important.)

Then she's walking on the Brooklyn Bridge, not immediately proximate, and enjoys the views. Worth noting how long it took, however. She acknowledges she ignored the advice to come early, and now it's crowded.

Lee goes to the famous DUMBO photo spot, at Washington Street and Water Street, but it's very crowded. (She doesn't explain why it's famous or, as I tell my clients, what else is nearby, including what I consider a better photo.) 

She goes to "Pebble Beach" for the views, but doesn't learn anything about the history of Brooklyn Bridge Park. She goes to Time Out NY Market but offers nothing about the history of the building.

Lee finds a pickle spot but nothing she wanted to eat. Hm, I would've advised her to go to the market's rooftop annex, with another, smaller set of vendors, and great views. 

About pizza

She winds up nearby at Juliana's Pizza, where she loves her marinara pie but somehow relies on a source she read regarding "the difference between Brooklyn and New York Pizza," that "Brooklyn tends to have a crispy dough throughout it should crack when you fold the slice whereas the classic New York slice still has the crispy edge but a softer dough underneath the cheese so it bends when you fold it."

What? Did that come from here? Does she really think the pizza changes magically once you cross the bridge, and that Brooklyn is not part of New York? 

The real distinction is between a coal-fired oven place, like Juliana's, which sell whole pies only, and standard slice shops, which use gas ovens. At least she missed the lines, which means she went at an off-hour.

More in DUMBO

She then goes to Pier 1, for waterfront views, but ignores the story of Brooklyn Bridge Park or the hotel nearby. It's less crowded. (Actually, it's still one of the more crowded places.) She ignores several food options.. 

Lee gets to see the Statue of Liberty, since she doesn't want to make a day trip to go there. (I agree, but, pro tip here: take the free Staten Island Ferry.)

On the basis of this rather limited sample, she concludes that Brooklyn is a "lot more chill" than Manhattan.  

Visiting a neighborhood

Then she walks around Brooklyn Heights to talk about "Brooklyn Brownstones," and "they do not disappoint." However, Brooklyn Heights is not the place you go for brownstone-clad houses because that era came later. (Go to Park Slope or Bed-Stuy for the best.) 

It has a relatively small number of brownstones, but other impressive buildings. She somehow omits the Brooklyn Heights promenade and the views from there. 

Toward Downtown Brooklyn

Lee gets to Borough Hall and the Fulton Mall--apparently she's missed some iconic buildings in Brooklyn Heights, as well as its improved Montague Street shopping district and then provides her "hotel tour" of the Aloft.

"I don't know if this is a good location," she says, which could be a code for "I don't see many trendy cafes" or "I see a lot of working-class people of color."

Downtown Brooklyn is a fine location--it's one of the few places with many hotels, thanks to zoning, and even if there are fewer trendier businesses (there are some) it offers great access to transit and other nearby neighborhoods. 

"I'm just not sure walking around here that this neighborhood is my vibe," she says. "I prefer to be in more of a local feeling spot so I'm wondering if over the next few days I'm actually going to uncover a place that I wish I had have stayed." 

Duh, there aren't a lot of options for perfection here. Stay in Greenpoint? You're in the middle of nowhere. Stay in Williamsburg? Most hotels are pricey.

Retracing her steps

On her second day, Lee returns early the Brooklyn Bridge--not a short walk from the Aloft--and but says that, despite the noise from commuting vehicles, it was worth it, to avoid the other tourists.

She returns to the Washington Street photo op, now devoid of tourists, but doesn't think to go elsewhere in DUMBO beyond Butler, a "cute little spot" for breakfast.

To Williamsburg

Lee then takes a vehicle to Williamsburg--I would've advised taking the East River Ferry--which she calls "a real artsy kind of area," a description that applies only if she had a time machine to go back 20+ years. (Note: you can get to Williamsburg more easily on public transit from Manhattan than from DUMBO.)

"It's extremely trendy and apparently the hipster capital of Brooklyn," she says. "I don't know if it's just me. I'm not feeling it."

Well, the hipsters visit, but Williamsburg hasn't been the hipster capital for a while. The trendy shopping streets now resemble SoHo, but Williamsburg is more than that--it's large enough that it has a Hispanic area, a Hasidic area, and the gentrified part has interesting stuff.

It's not quite clear where she went beyond Bedford Avenue. "Something is just putting me on edge," she says. Hm, maybe because it's commodified, and she didn't know where to go.

So she decides to get something to eat and it's a visit to the chain Whole Foods! This is clearly for an international audience, but, since you can get Whole Foods in any major city, any visit to Williamsburg requires finding a local spot.

Logistics, logistics

Lee then acknowledges that "we have had a little bit of a fail," as she brought the food back to her hotel--in Downtown Brooklyn, which means she didn't vlog the vehicle ride back subway--hoping for access to a roof, but didn't get it. If she knew that, she says, "I would have either gone to Domino Park or I would have gone down to Dumbo."

Wow. Maybe she should've gotten a drink on the roof of a Williamsburg hotel, then gotten takeout (not from Whole Foods) and taken it to Domino Park.

Reflections and conclusion

When she checked in, Lee confesses, "I was really worried about the location of the hotel"--why? safety, street people, not near "fun" stuff"--"but after spending the last couple of days here downtown or DUMBO are definitely where you want to stay."

Um, there's only one hotel in DUMBO, the One Hotel, and it's great, but it's also very expensive. Downtown Brooklyn has tons of hotels, thanks to zoning, but I'd advise picking one that gives you the closest access to a charming residential neighborhood. (Or stay in Gowanus.)

From the Aloft, Lee did have access to interesting things in a different direction, first DeKalb Market, a great food hall, the iconic Brooklyn deli-diner Junior's, and then the neighborhood of Fort Greene, capital of Brooklyn's performing arts cultural scene. All were absent from her radar.

"I think, looking back on it. I don't think I needed two nights here," she concludes. Well, sure, if all she's going to do is re-do Day 1, then sure. But she ignored so much in Brooklyn.

Oddly, she advises that people stay in Brooklyn to save "and then just go and do all of your adventures in Manhattan every day." However, should she have had a do-over, "I would just come out to Brooklyn for the day. I think that would be more than enough."

That's a bit of a fail. Though most people in the comments simply praise her, the most upvoted comments gently suggests that, well, she could've seen a bit more... Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens, Park Slope and Prospect Park, the Brooklyn Museum and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. There's so much more.

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