BBR_NewYork-32

Start: The fountain in front of Brooklyn Borough Hall, in Columbus Park

Length: 12.8-mile loop (5.7-mile loop, short option, bypassing Carroll Gardens and Park Slope)

Approximate riding time: 2 hours (1 hour, short option)

Best bike: Hybrid or mountain bike

Terrain and trail surface: The trail is paved throughout except for approximately 0.3 mile on Front and York Streets, which are cobbled. There’s one steep descent from Columbia Heights to Fulton Ferry Landing and a subtle ascent back to Brooklyn Heights. Then there’s one gentle, steady ascent through Park Slope toward Prospect Park. From there it’s downhill back to Brooklyn Heights. Otherwise the route is flat.

Traffic and hazards: The route runs mainly along residential streets with light traffic and roads with bike lanes. Streets are mostly narrow, so cars you encounter should be traveling slowly. Old Fulton Street has moderate traffic, but a bike lane along the border gives cyclists ample space. The trek into Carroll Gardens and Park Slope leads mainly along relatively narrow roads. Stay alert of parked cars to avoid getting doored. When you approach Prospect Park at the top of 14th Street, use caution when crossing Prospect Park West (use the traffic signal) as traffic on Prospect Park West travels fast. Also, look both ways before accessing the Prospect Park West bikeway—cyclists ride in both directions. Lastly, Grand Army Plaza is a busy intersection. Follow the bikeway to circumvent the plaza clockwise, using the traffic signals.

Things to see: Brooklyn Heights Promenade, Brooklyn Historical Society, Brooklyn Inn, Plymouth Church, Fulton Ferry Landing, literary landmarks

Maps: New York City Bike Map, Literary Brooklyn Map: www.literarybrooklyn.com

Getting there: By public transportation: Take the 2, 3, 4, 5, R, or N subway to the Brooklyn Borough Hall station. GPS coordinates: GPS N40 41.602’ / W73 59.433’

THE RIDE

Brooklyn has long lured literary leaders to its shores. It started in the mid-1800s when the poet and journalist Walt Whitman took permanent root in the borough. It then continued into the twentieth century with writers such as Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, and Thomas Wolfe settling here. It persists today with contemporary authors like Paula Fox, Colson Whitehead, Nicole Krauss, and Paul Auster calling it home.

The first community you’ll explore is Brooklyn Heights. To do so, head west along Montague Street, the neighborhood’s main drag, with boutiques, cafes, and restaurants lining the way. Bike past the playwright Arthur Miller’s former dwelling at number 62 before turning left onto Montague Terrace, a tranquil, tree-lined street parallel to the neighborhood’s famed Brooklyn Heights Promenade. Check out the former brownstone home of the poet W. H. Auden at number 1. He lived here after arriving in the United States from Britain in 1939. Just a few houses south, at number 5, the novelist Thomas Wolfe lived a few years before that, in 1933.

Up ahead, Montague Terrace dead-ends at Remsen Street, where you’ll have sweeping views of the East River below on your right. Norman Mailer, author of The Naked and the Dead, lived at this corner at 20 Remsen St. in the mid-twentieth century. Just a few blocks down, one of his idols—Henry Miller—lived about two decades earlier. Miller, who authored Tropic of Cancer, lived at number 91 with his wife June Smith (Mansfield) in the mid-1920s.

Heading north on Hicks Street, you’ll then cycle past Plymouth Church, a national historic landmark that has stood here since 1847. The church’s first preacher was Henry Ward Beecher, brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe (author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin). An outspoken opponent of slavery, Beecher’s sermons attracted such large crowds from Manhattan (before bridges existed) that the Brooklyn-Manhattan ferry at the time was dubbed Beecher’s Ferry.

Continuing on, slither along the narrow alleé of Middagh Street, evoking times gone by with its low-slung brick buildings. At Willow Street, glance down at the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway with the Brooklyn Bridge in the distance. This is where, starting in 1940, the famed literary hot spot February House stood (at number 7 at the time). It housed an ever-changing crowd of literati—Carson McCullers; Richard Wright; Klaus, Thomas, and Erika Mann; and Paul and Jane Bowles among them. The building was razed for the development of the BQE circa 1945.

Tranquil Willow Street then takes you past Truman Capote’s former home at number 70. He lived in this yellow-hued building in 1956, shortly before his best-selling novella, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, came out. While living here, Capote spotted a New York Times news blurb about a murdered Kansas family, which famously gave rise to his nonfiction novel, In Cold Blood. A few houses south, at number 77, the poet Hart Crane lived while working on his famed long poem, The Bridge. Just beyond this, at number 155, Arthur Miller resided (during Capote’s time, but their lives barely intersected).

To explore the Brooklyn Heights Promenade at the end of Pierrepont Street, dismount your bike and access the promenade on foot. (Biking is prohibited.) The promenade’s sweeping East River and Manhattan views entice New Yorkers and tourists alike.

To continue en route, head north on Columbia Heights. More than any other Brooklyn Heights road, Columbia Heights has attracted innumerable writers over the years, presumably for its grand East River views. Norman Mailer lived at 142 starting in the 1960s; Hart Crane lived just beyond at 130 and 110 after leaving his Willow Street residence in 1929; and Thomas Wolfe resided at 111 and 101, shortly after Hart Crane was here.

Leaving Brooklyn Heights behind, a steep downhill slope takes you to Fulton Ferry Landing, the landing site of the earliest Brooklyn-Manhattan ferry in 1642. To reach the landing, turn left at the foot of the hill and walk your bike (biking prohibited) onto the ferry landing for up-close views of the East River and down-under views of the Brooklyn Bridge. The railing that circumscribes the wood-planked ferry landing is inscribed with Whitman’s poem “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.” You can now catch the New York water taxi and enjoy old-fashioned ice cream at the ice cream factory here.

To continue, return to Old Fulton Street and Front Street (where Whitman lived at 120) to head underneath the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges for a brief stint along Dumbo’s historic cobblestone roads. Today, Dumbo (short for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) is an amalgam of former warehouses, artist spaces, tech start-ups, organic eateries, and modish hangouts, making for an eclectic vibe. You’ll then return to Brooklyn Heights from here via Old Fulton Street.

The next jaunt heads south from Brooklyn Heights toward neighboring Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, and Park Slope. After crossing Atlantic Avenue, keep your eyes peeled for a narrow lane lined with former carriage houses on your left, Verandah Place. The novelist Thomas Wolfe lived here at number 40 in 1931. (You here have the option of bypassing Carroll Gardens and Park Slope, and returning to Brooklyn Borough Hall via Clinton Street. To do so, skip ahead in the route description.) Continuing south on Henry Street brings you into the Cobble Hill historic district, where time-honored brownstones sit on tree-lined streets. Tompkins Place, a short road of row houses, many dating from the nineteenth century, is especially picturesque. The writer Paul Auster lived on this block for some time at number 18.

After crossing Degraw Street, you’ll then enter Carroll Gardens, an Italian neighborhood that still boasts innumerable family-owned shops. Turn left onto Carroll Street (Auster lived on this block at number 153 for some time, too) and then hug the edge of Carroll Park, a small but lively neighborhood park with playgrounds, ball courts, and benches—a nice spot for a break.

Continuing en route, after crossing Smith and Hoyt Streets, Carroll Street dips downhill and across the Gowanus Canal along a blue-framed, wooden-planked drawbridge dating to 1889. On the other side, cycle uphill through upscale Park Slope toward Prospect Park. Majestic brownstones, top-rated restaurants, bars, and boutiques frame the road as you head south through the neighborhood’s historic district. The writer Pete Hamill has lived at numerous spots at the southern end of the neighborhood. You’ll first pass 378 7th Avenue, then 435 13th Street, and lastly 471 14th Street, just a block from Prospect Park. You’ll then continue uphill toward Prospect Park and come to a complete stop before crossing Prospect Park West. Use the traffic signal to safely cross this heavily trafficked road and look both ways, checking for cyclists, before accessing the bikeway on the other side to go north along Prospect Park.

At the north end of the park, when you hit Grand Army Plaza, follow the bikeway along the southwestern edge of the plaza until you reach Lincoln Place. Go downhill through Park Slope from here and continue east through Boerum Hill along Bergen Street. (The writers Jonathan Lethem and Paula Fox, among others, have lived on adjacent Dean Street.) Check out the historic Brooklyn Inn, a bar at Hoyt and Bergen Streets that is a longtime favorite among the literati. Then continue along Bergen Street to return to Cobble Hill next to Cobble Hill Park (and Verandah Place). Stop off in the park if you wish before returning to Brooklyn Borough Hall.

MILES AND DIRECTIONS

0.0Descend from the west side of the plaza at Brooklyn Borough Hall to go west on Montague Street.

0.5Turn left onto Montague Terrace, followed by a left onto Remsen Street.

0.7Turn right onto Henry Street, followed by a right onto Joralemon Street.

0.8Turn right onto Hicks Street.

1.3Turn left onto Middagh Street, followed by a left onto Willow Street.

1.7Turn right onto Pierrepont Street. To access the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, dismount your bike at the end of the block to explore on foot. (Biking prohibited.) To continue, go north on Columbia Heights.

2.3Turn left onto Old Fulton Street. Dismount your bike to access Fulton Ferry Landing. (Biking prohibited.) To continue, return to Old Fulton Street to go southeastward.

2.5Turn left onto Front Street.

3.1When Front Street ends, turn right onto Hudson Avenue, followed by a quick right onto York Street.

3.8Turn left onto Front Street, followed by a left onto Old Fulton Street.

4.0Turn right onto Henry Street.

4.9Verandah Place is on your left. To bypass Carroll Gardens and Park Slope, turn left onto Verandah Place, walking your bike alongside Cobble Hill Park to Clinton Street and skip to mile 12.1. Otherwise continue south on Henry Street.

5.2Turn left onto Degraw Street.

5.3 Turn left onto Tompkins Place, followed by a left onto Kane Street.

5.6Turn left back onto Henry Street.

6.0Turn left onto Carroll Street.

6.3When you hit Smith Street, Carroll Street continues slightly to your right. To continue along Carroll Street, cross Smith Street. Dismount and walk your bike a quarter of a block along the sidewalk to your right to then mount your bike at Carroll Street, turning left to continue on Carroll Street.

6.4At Hoyt Street, Carroll Street continues slightly to your left. Cross Hoyt Street, walk your bike a quarter of a block to your left to then remount your bike to continue on Carroll Street.

7.3Turn right onto 6th Avenue.

7.9Turn left onto 10th Street, followed by a right onto 7th Avenue.

8.2Turn left onto 14th Street.

8.3Turn left onto 8th Avenue, followed by a left onto 13th Street.

8.5Turn left onto 7th Avenue, followed by a left onto 14th Street again.

8.9Use the traffic signal to cross Prospect Park West. Look both ways before accessing the separated bikeway that hugs the edge of the park. Turn left along the bikeway to head north along the park.

9.9When you hit Grand Army Plaza, turn left to continue along the bikeway, crossing Prospect Park West. (Grand Army Plaza will be on your right.) Follow the bikeway as it swerves right, crossing Plaza Street West and then taking the bikeway as it turns left again to continue north along Plaza Street West. (Grand Army Plaza will still be on your right.)

10.1Turn left onto Lincoln Place.

10.6Turn right onto 5th Avenue.

10.9Turn left onto Bergen Street.

11.8 Turn left onto Court Street, followed by a right onto Warren Street.

12.0Turn right onto Clinton Street.

12.1 Cobble Hill Park is on your left. (This is your pick-up point if you bypassed Park Slope.) Continue north on Clinton Street.

12.6Turn right onto Pierrepont Street.

12.7Turn right onto Cadman Plaza.

12.8Arrive at your starting point.

RIDE INFORMATION

Local Events/Attractions

Brooklyn Heights Promenade: A go-to spot for leisurely ambles and extraordinary views. Popular among tourists and locals alike. www.nyharborparks.org/visit/brhe.html

Brooklyn Historical Society: In a landmark Brooklyn Heights building, a cultural center that connects past to present. 128 Pierrepont St.; (718) 222-4111; www.brooklynhistory.org

Brooklyn Inn: A legendary Brooklyn watering hole. 148 Hoyt St.; (718) 522-2525

Plymouth Church: Established in 1846 with Henry Ward Beecher as its first preacher; popular among the likes of Walt Whitman. 75 Hicks St.; (718) 624-4743; www.plymouthchurch.org

Restrooms

Mile 2.4: There are restrooms at Fulton Ferry Landing.

Mile 9.3: There are restrooms at Harmony Playground in Prospect Park, at 9th Street.