What are these NY neigbourhoods?
July 23, 2020 3:37 AM Subscribe
I'm trying to pinpoint the names of some NY neighbourhoods for a project, but as a non-local I'm finding it super hard. Can you give me the real deal (non-broker) take?
A) Decatur St — this one Google tells me is Flushing on the south side of the road, Ridgewood on the north side, but Brooklyn/Bushwick on Irving Ave?
B) Division Place — Greenpoint, East Williamsburg or ??
All thoughts appreciated!
I would say A) is unambiguously in Ridgewood while B) is technically in East Williamsburg (being south of the BQE) but is far enough on the edge that it might as well be in Greenpoint. In fact, that's probably exactly what I would say to someone if I lived there. It's two blocks from McGorlick Park. Then I would invite them to the Callbox, because that place is a pretty excellent dive.
posted by voiceofreason at 4:24 AM on July 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by voiceofreason at 4:24 AM on July 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
Ridgewood Queens and Bushwick in Brooklyn have a jagged border in that area. I believe at Decatur the dividing avenue is Irving, so on the right/north of Irving is Ridgewood and on the south/left is Bushwick.
posted by newpotato at 4:35 AM on July 23, 2020
posted by newpotato at 4:35 AM on July 23, 2020
B is a couple blocks away from me. I say I live in Greenpoint, since it’s zip coded Greenpoint.
posted by Liesl at 5:52 AM on July 23, 2020
posted by Liesl at 5:52 AM on July 23, 2020
Liesl, interesting because I worked on Richardson Street (ending several years ago) and I always considered it East Williamsburg.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:03 AM on July 23, 2020
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:03 AM on July 23, 2020
B is absolutely East Williamsburg, but I called it 'the industrial hinterlands of Greenpoint/E. Williamsburg' when I lived on that exact block, so people had a better sense of my location. If I lived on the other side of the BQE (just a few blocks away), it would have unequivocally been Greenpoint.
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 6:24 AM on July 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 6:24 AM on July 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
Nowadays the bar/venue around the corner from your Decateur street pin describes their location as "on the border of Ridgewood and Bushwick" which is consistent with how i would describe it.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 6:54 AM on July 23, 2020
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 6:54 AM on July 23, 2020
I'm a bit confused; are you asking about the neighborhoods for entire streets, or just specific addresses?
That may be part of the confusion. Streets often span multiple neighborhoods; so in some places Decatur Street is indeed the boundary between Bushwick and Ridgewood, but in other places it could be entirely in Bushwick. Similarly, some parts of Division Place are in East Williamsburg, but others are in Bushwick. The specific spot you've marked in the link for "B" is East Williamsburg, but if you marked a different storefront in Division Place, our answers may be different.
Also (just to make things even more confusing for you, sorry!), sometimes a street can change its name for a few blocks, and then change back again.
So if you're trying to identify the neighborhoods for full streets, that may be a different question than trying to identify the neighborhoods for distinct individual addresses. If you let us know more detail we can help out.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:14 AM on July 23, 2020
That may be part of the confusion. Streets often span multiple neighborhoods; so in some places Decatur Street is indeed the boundary between Bushwick and Ridgewood, but in other places it could be entirely in Bushwick. Similarly, some parts of Division Place are in East Williamsburg, but others are in Bushwick. The specific spot you've marked in the link for "B" is East Williamsburg, but if you marked a different storefront in Division Place, our answers may be different.
Also (just to make things even more confusing for you, sorry!), sometimes a street can change its name for a few blocks, and then change back again.
So if you're trying to identify the neighborhoods for full streets, that may be a different question than trying to identify the neighborhoods for distinct individual addresses. If you let us know more detail we can help out.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:14 AM on July 23, 2020
Response by poster: Sure, no problem! The Division Place location is correct, so looking for the neighborhood of that specific spot. And the reason for this investigation... We're looking at leasing a space in the Box Factory, which has taken the liberty of creating it's own locale 'Ridgewick'.
posted by teststrip at 10:16 AM on July 23, 2020
posted by teststrip at 10:16 AM on July 23, 2020
B is E Williamsburg just barely - if it were on the other side of the BQE it would be Greenpoint
posted by Ragged Richard at 10:21 AM on July 23, 2020
posted by Ragged Richard at 10:21 AM on July 23, 2020
Oh dear, Ridgewick. Yes, it is in Ridgewood.
posted by ferret branca at 11:18 AM on July 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by ferret branca at 11:18 AM on July 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
A) Definitely Ridgewood. The address of that location states it, which is a pretty clear divide bc technically it is a different borough (queens). on edit: but yeah, good point that it is a Greenpoint zipcode, so who knows.
b) Yeah I'd call it East Williamsburg.
posted by greta simone at 11:46 AM on July 23, 2020
b) Yeah I'd call it East Williamsburg.
posted by greta simone at 11:46 AM on July 23, 2020
Oh, yeah, the Box Factory is definitely Ridgewood. It is close to the border with Bushwick, however, and that may be why they themselves are taking to calling the place "Ridgewick" - so they can capitalize on the reputation of Bushwick without outright saying that they're in Bushwick, because they can't because they're in Ridgewood.
That border isn't a hard cultural border either, really; that particular border was up for debate even in colonial days. There's a historic house that's also in Ridgewood, and also similarly close to the border with Bushwick, and it was used as a landmark for "this is the border between Queens and Brooklyn" - and there's a rock in the yard that apparently was the source of a big argument as to whether the rock itself was in Queens or Brooklyn. So people have been getting confused about the border for centuries!
The 18 Division Place address is also technically in East Williamsburg, but similarly close to the border with Greenpoint.
In general, if you're looking at places close to the border with given neighborhoods, you'll probably get crowds from both sides of the border. The borders between neighborhoods aren't always as clear-cut; I've lived in my own neighborhood for about 14 years now and still couldn't tell you where my own neighborhood ends and the next one begins. I think a city planner may have even started promoting my own chunk of my neighborhood as a separate entity, but that has made precisely zero difference.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:26 PM on July 23, 2020
That border isn't a hard cultural border either, really; that particular border was up for debate even in colonial days. There's a historic house that's also in Ridgewood, and also similarly close to the border with Bushwick, and it was used as a landmark for "this is the border between Queens and Brooklyn" - and there's a rock in the yard that apparently was the source of a big argument as to whether the rock itself was in Queens or Brooklyn. So people have been getting confused about the border for centuries!
The 18 Division Place address is also technically in East Williamsburg, but similarly close to the border with Greenpoint.
In general, if you're looking at places close to the border with given neighborhoods, you'll probably get crowds from both sides of the border. The borders between neighborhoods aren't always as clear-cut; I've lived in my own neighborhood for about 14 years now and still couldn't tell you where my own neighborhood ends and the next one begins. I think a city planner may have even started promoting my own chunk of my neighborhood as a separate entity, but that has made precisely zero difference.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:26 PM on July 23, 2020
It's funny, because as someone who has lived on the other end of Bushwick forever (ok 15 years give or take), I would call A Bushwick since in my mind Ridgewood is more north (yes, I know the border moves south), and it's between the Halsey and Wilson stops. But Ridgewick does hedge your bets.
(Also Bushwick is just very big.)
posted by dame at 1:09 AM on July 24, 2020
(Also Bushwick is just very big.)
posted by dame at 1:09 AM on July 24, 2020
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posted by sandmanwv at 4:02 AM on July 23, 2020 [2 favorites]