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For sheer jaw-dropping drama, few city walks are as cinematic as strolling the DUMBO waterfront. The photogenic area pairs 19th-century warehouses and refurbished industrial buildings on cobblestone streets with rumbling trains and soaring bridges overhead. (The latter gives the district its name, an acronym of Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass.) Across the East River, the glittering Manhattan skyline provides epic views and popular backdrops for wedding proposals, fashion shoots, and innumerable selfies. Major galleries and performance hubs imbue the neighborhood with artistic élan, and the adjacent Navy Yard is a booming example of Brooklyn’s revitalized industrial waterfront.
An integral part of DUMBO is the Brooklyn Bridge Park, and its renovated piers and rolling green spaces. Crowds of locals and tourists alike flock to its riverfront benches and tiny beaches to sunbathe or simply to ponder the magnificence of one of the city’s finest views.
DUMBO Walls.
Keep an eye out for the walls under and around the Manhattan Bridge and the BQE, where eight walls display artwork by big names including CAM, Shepard Fairey, and MOMO. The project is sponsored by the DUMBO Improvement District and Two Trees Management Co. along with the New York City Department of Transportation Urban Art Program and the Jonathan LeVine Gallery. | DUMBO
| Station:
F to York St.
Smack Mellon.
The transformation of an industrial boiler house into an edgy arts compound is quintessential DUMBO. This 12,000-square-foot structure now hosts large-scale, avant-garde exhibitions. They also run a prestigious residency program. Don’t be surprised if you pass a binder-clutching bride-to-be on your way in: the 5,000-square-foot gallery is also a popular wedding venue. | 92 Plymouth St.
,
DUMBO
| 718/834–8761
|
www.smackmellon.org
| Wed.–Sun. noon–6
| Station:
A, C to High St.; F to York St.
Fodor’s Choice |
The Stable Building.
Many Brooklynites mourned the loss of the Galapagos Art Space when it closed shop and moved to Detroit; fortunately, the site continues its arts legacy, and the building now houses four first-floor gallery spaces, which were previously part of the 111 Front Street gallery collective. Minus Space shows artists specializing in “reductive abstract art” (simple materials, precise craftsmanship, monochromatic or limited color, repetition of shapes). United Photo Industries (UPI) shows work by emerging photographers and those working in new photography styles. The Klompching Gallery focuses on fine-art photography. Masters Projects represents artists working in all sorts of media, including paint, mixed media, street art, photography, and installations. Gallery hours vary, but weekday and Saturday afternoons are your best bet to visit; most are closed Monday. | 16 Main St., at Water St.
,
DUMBO
| Gallery hrs vary
| Station:
2, 3 to Clark St.; A, C to High St.; F to York St.
Quick Bites:
One Girl Cookies.
Snag a window seat overlooking cobblestone Main Street and tuck into a variety of whoopie pies, cakes, and bite-size cookies each named for a different woman in Dawn’s (the founder and baker) family. Try the Penelope, a butter cookie covered in chopped nuts filled with apricot preserves, or the Juliette, a chocolate-cinnamon ganache sandwiched between two hazelnut cookies. | 33 Main St.
,
DUMBO
| 212/675–4996
|
onegirlcookies.com/dumbo
| Station:
F to York St.; A, C to High St.