Brooklyn 202 tour
This tour expands on Brooklyn 101, adding adjacent neighborhods. We can see row houses, mansions, parks, colleges, and a great sculpture garden.
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This extensive tour of neighborhoods in the Brownstone Brooklyn belt combines major segments of the Brooklyn 101 tour (Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO), plus pieces of the Fort Greene & Clinton Hill tour and/or the Cobble Hill & Carroll Gardens tour.
Brooklyn tour highlights Sculpture at the Pratt Institute,
Brooklyn 202 tour
We typically start in the waterfront neighborhood of DUMBO, Brooklyn's most visited area (though I offer something extra!), making our way deeper into Brooklyn, which follows the expansionist path of Brooklyn history. That's my recommended path for Brooklyn 101.
We go into Brooklyn Heights, the city's first historic district and still a vital (and pricey) residential neighborhood. At the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, we find glorious views of the Manhattan skyline and the Brooklyn Bridge. We then walk Borough Hall, Brooklyn's old City Hall, and see part of Downtown Brooklyn: older skyscrapers, new developments, and governmental buildings. We then travel by subway east to the Brooklyn Museum, which we see from the outside, then walk to the Central Library, and then to Grand Army Plaza, the psychic center of Brooklyn, with the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch. We'll dip into Prospect Park, then see some marvelous architecture and get a feel for Park Slope, the city's most livable neighborhood (according to NY magazine), an epicenter of the borough's gentrification yet also boasting the country's largest co-operative grocery. Extending the Brooklyn 101 tour, we can walk (or take a quick bus ride) to the Barclays Center and Atlantic Terminal, then explore the area around the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Fort Greene, then see more of that neighborhood: row houses, Spike Lee's HQ, a notable church. We can then extend to Clinton Hill, east of Fort Greene, with mansion blocks including the Pratt Institute and its magnificent sculpture garden. (Alternative: skip much or all of Fort Greene/Clinton Hill and instead--after the first leg of the tour--go to Cobble Hill & Carroll Gardens, two charming but very much not undiscovered neighborhoods near Downtown Brooklyn and Brooklyn Heights, which have historic churches, good bakeries/shopping, and tree-lined streets.) The scope of the tour is variable: I have conceptualized it as a 4-6-hour tour, building on the 3-hour Brooklyn 101, but it can be shorter (if we cut some things), or longer, depending on how many components we add. |
Distance from Midtown Manhattan: 25-35 minutes, by subway
Cost: see fees here Basic tour length: 4-6 hours (see fees), maybe longer if we stop for lunch Starting place: F to DUMBO. Alternatively: B/Q to Seventh Avenue, 2/3 to Grand Army Plaza; can also start at Brooklyn Museum/Botanic Garden or Atlantic Terminal. Ending place: If we start in DUMBO, we end near the Brooklyn Museum or in Park Slope. If we start in Park Slope, we end near Fulton Ferry/DUMBO. Highlights: History, architecture, waterfront views, parks, arts institutions, civic life Before tour: Walk Brooklyn Bridge During tour: Various lunch or snack options. After tour: Go to Brooklyn Museum or Brooklyn Botanic Garden Potential tour extensions with me: Many options. But you'll be tired! Why I like leading this tour: Brooklyn is still too big to capture in four or five or six hours, but this puts a lot together in a vigorous walk. We'll earn our lunch/snacks! |