Williamsburg (Brooklyn)

This surprising walk will take you across the East River to the hip neighborhood of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, with its countless restaurants, cafés, and vintage stores where New York hipsters eat and shop. The vibe here is creative and dynamic, and the low buildings offer a different view of the city than the skyscraper-filled streets of Manhattan. This is a popular backdrop for movies, and if you're lucky, you might just stumble upon a shoot and end up being an extra.

 

Brooklyn has always been a melting pot of cultures, and this is still evident in Williamsburg. Its inception was in the area that is now South Williamsburg. Large populations of Hasidic Jews, Puerto Ricans, and Dominicans live in this part of the neighborhood. North Williamsburg, known simply as the “North Side,” is home to large Polish and Italian communities.

 

Recent years have seen more and more young Manhattanites making the move across the water, and Williamsburg has become one of Brooklyn’s hippest neighborhoods. While artists and creative types were the trailblazers of this new generation of residents, today there is also a growing influx of young professionals who live and work in luxury apartments on the waterfront, with views of the city. These new buildings are tucked between old, industrial structures such as the Domino Factory, which you can sail past on the ferry. Restaurants and new secondhand stores open up to cater to the area’s new residents all the time. The Smorgasburg food market, toward the end of this walk, is a popular destination on Saturdays, and comes highly recommended for foodies.