Things to do nearBrooklyn Heights

Brooklyn Heights holds the distinction of being New York City's first designated historic district, a status it earned in 1965 in recognition of its extraordinary collection of nineteenth-century architecture. The neighborhood developed rapidly after the opening of the Fulton Ferry in 1814, which made daily commuting to Manhattan practical for the first time. Merchants and professionals built handsome rowhouses along streets like Remsen, Joralemon, and Columbia Heights, many of which stand essentially unchanged today.

The neighborhood carries a rich literary and civic legacy. Walt Whitman is said to have edited the Brooklyn Daily Eagle nearby, and figures from Arthur Miller to Truman Capote once called these blocks home. Plymouth Church, just a short walk from the heart of the district, served as a stop on the Underground Railroad under the fiery abolitionist preacher Henry Ward Beecher.

The western edge of Brooklyn Heights gives way to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, a cantilevered walkway perched above the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway with panoramic views of lower Manhattan, the harbor, and the Brooklyn Bridge. Below the promenade, Brooklyn Bridge Park stretches along the waterfront with lawns, piers, and recreational facilities.

For anyone drawn to American urban history, intact nineteenth-century streetscapes, and one of the most celebrated viewpoints in New York, Brooklyn Heights offers an experience that is quietly and genuinely irreplaceable.