York St Between Bridge St and Jay St

   

Walking along an empty steel fence, which from satellite photos seems to hold a large parking lot, this street is rather plain. The beginning of the block has a nice building with some ornate detailing, but it appears to be mostly-forgotten and un-loved.

The remainder of the south side of the street is home to a park, which seems as forgotten by the Parks Department as the rest of the street is to the general public. Imaginatively-named "Bridge Park 2", I'm left wondering where Bridge Park 1 is and weather or not it has an actual number assigned to it, or if that's only for these sequel parks. As for the space itself, it's really just a large open area with a few basketball hoops thrown up so you have some hint of activity. 

Front St Between Adams St and Jay St

    

Just one of many streets to dip below an overpass in this neighborhood, Front Street is very deceptively-named as it doesn't appear to be on the front of anything. Straddling between DUMBO and Vinegar Hill,  the Manhattan Bridge represents a hard line between the two neighborhoods. Directly under the bridge you'll find a lone building for the DOT's Iron Shop, which seems incredibly fitting in that location.

There's no shortage of both old and new buildings around here. Likewise, there's no shortage cobblestones which have been lazily replaced and covered by other paving methods over the years. The result is a street that feels like a quilt of different materials that all must come together to offer a suitable driving surface for the 3 cars an hour which cross under here.

Water St Between Jay St and Bridge St

    

Feeling utterly forgotten, there's a ton of character on this block but it's mostly embodied by the avalanche of street art plastered on the walls. While it seems at least one building has been undergoing redevelopment, it remains vacant and the adjacent construction site was none-too-promising either. All the other buildings were in various states of disrepair, but they all seemed to at least be occupied to differing degrees.

The patchwork cobblestones which comprise the street made for a very bumpy ride for the handful of cars I watched drive down it. The sidewalk, too, was a bit of a minefield, requiring you to maneuver around construction canopies and potholes. And while there is nothing this street can offer the casual pedestrian in terms of a commercial presence, the dilapidated nature was more than enough to amuse me.

Bridge St Between Water St and York St

A rather striking change from the Dumbo neighborhood, Vinegar Hill is far more industrial and hasn't yet received the "chic" makeover that's been working its way around the borough over the past few decades. The street is lined with mostly industrial buildings, but you can hear construction all around you as the surrounding streets make their gentrification known. It's got a few trees and a corner market, but beyond that there isn't very much to do here, besides leave.

Washington St Between Front St and Plymouth St

     

This corridor runs right through the middle of some really great old buildings. The street offers perfect – almost manufactured – views of the Manhattan Bridge tower as you walk towards the waterfront. On the weekends the sidewalks are packed with people making their way to Brooklyn Bridge park, or to the various markets and stores catering to the high-end clientele which live in the neighborhood.

Many of the towering behemoths which sit on this street bear the name Gair – more specifically, Robert Gair. Wikipedia is kind enough to point out that the man in question is responsible for inventing to corrugated cardboard box. As a result he owned a massive paper operation here in Brooklyn, one that spanned multiple buildings which still grace our streets today. Apparently The Simpsons had it all wrong.

Plymouth St Between Adams St and Main St

    

An uneven smattering of cobblestones and abandoned rails make up the roadway here under the Manhattan Bridge. At first glance it would seem that this road is abandoned and kept only for pedestrian access to the waterfront; but as I can attest, after being nearly run over by two cars, the street is very much in-service. It's really exciting to see an un-touched relic of times past still being traversed.

After living the majority of its life as the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park, the strip of park space between the rundown factories and the river now enjoys the new title of Brooklyn Bridge Park. It's now part of a bigger project which will eventually encompass 85 acres along the waterfront. The insane number of people which flood the small grassy spaces here on the weekends is enough to terrify a simple-minded person such as myself. But you can't deny, it's a good lookin' park.

A lot of the old brick buildings down here are in the midst of redevelopment as they get transformed into either public spaces, or multi-million-dollar condominiums. It's a shame these sorts of things must live on such extreme ends of the spectrum from each other. Would it be impossible to see a middle-income housing development arise from the ruins of some old storehouse. I guess that's a dumb question.