Greenpoint Apartments

Neighborhood Description

Greenpoint is Brooklyn’s northernmost neighborhood.

A 2005 rezoning has caused a surge of new waterfront residential developments in Greenpoint's formerly industrial spaces. These apartments offer great value to renters in terms of space, quality, and amenities. In turn, many renters - whether they are students, artists, families, or commuters - seek out and fall in love with this up-and-coming Brooklyn neighborhood.

Greenpoint’s charming combination of vibrant culture, rich heritage, and small-town feel give it a unique and desirable quality. Some describe it as a calmer and slightly less expensive Williamsburg, but to many this description misses much of what makes Greenpoint so attractive in its own right. A large Polish population gives the neighborhood a reputation for having the best Polish food in New York City. Residents rave about the flavors and aromas of pierogis, kielbasa, stuffed cabbage, and potato pancakes found in authentic restaurants all over the neighborhood (A trip to eat at Lomzynianka is a must). Local bars also receive a great deal of praise for having a vibrant nightlife without the preoccupation of always needing to assert their trendiness.

It’s bordered to the southwest by Williamsburg, to the southeast by the Brooklyn-Queens expressway and East Williamsburg, to the north by Newtown Creek and Long Island City, and to the west by the East River. It is often referred to as “Little Poland,” due to its large Polish immigrant and Polish-American population.

The neighborhood’s population is around 36,934 people, much of which consists of working class, multi-generational families. Today, Greenpoint is also an up-and-coming home to many younger individuals and artists. Significant landmarks include the neighborhood’s largest green space, McCarren Park. The smaller McGolrick Park is also frequently visited and contains a landmarked Shelter Pavilion and an allegorical monument (1938) to the USS Monitor. Finally, the area contains several acclaimed dining establishments including Five Leaves, Peter Pan Bakery, Lomzynianka, and Paulie Gees.

Greenpoint is home to several past and current celebrities including Mae West, Mickey Rooney, Pat Benatar, and Henry Miller. The neighborhood also appears in several NYC television shows, such as NBC’s Girls, and in film’s like Martin Scorsese’s The Departed.

The area was once a verdant land of pine, oak forest, meadows, fresh-water creeks, and marshes. At the time of the Revolutionary War, very few had settled in the area, and throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Greenpoint was mostly farmland. Later, Greenpoint became a center of shipbuilding and waterborne commerce, and the area’s printing, pottery, glass-works, and foundry industries thrived. The mid-nineteenth century saw the arrival of large numbers of Poles as well as many German and Irish immigrants. The influx of immigrants and workers resulted in an increase of residential housing, particularly on streets that led to the waterfront. Today, the waterfront area of Greenpoint has secured status as an NYC historic district because of its maritime and cultural history. Throughout the twenty-first century, manufacturing in Greenpoint declined, and the area became increasingly residential.

Public transportation in the area consists mainly of the bus lines and the G train (which connects to the L for Manhattan commuters), though some residents have been known to walk to the Bedford L stop to take a direct route into the city. The area is also served by the B24, B32, B43, B48, and B62 bus routes. NY waterway also provides service along the east river from the India Street ferry slip.