June 01, 2007
Red Hook, Brooklyn - the 2007 rundown
(Update: See the new Red Hook guide for 2008.)
Red Hook just doesn’t smell like it used to.
 A lot has changed in Red Hook since the Brooklyn Cruise Ship Terminal opened a year ago, but it certainly isn’t the neighborhood’s only catalyst for change. A giant Fairway market has been open for a year, two nurseries opened within the past month, some of the trash hauling companies have relocated, an Ikea is under construction, and cab drivers aren’t as scared to make the trip to the neighborhood once known mainly for its dockworkers, drug dealers, dog packs and body dumping grounds.
That’s not to say all the grit will be gone anytime soon, and the new lookie-loo tourists are finding it hard to navigate the main drag (Van Brunt) with the big rig trucks, aggressive school bus drivers and the “Chinatown” buses that call Red Hook homebase. To make matters worse, there is an extensive roadworks project (which has at least a year to go) that has made the Hamilton/Van Brunt intersection so illogical that police must stand there almost all hours trying to convince drivers they really are supposed to drive on the wrong way of the street despite what the street markings indicate.
First, a couple time-sensitive notes … and then the guide.
NewYorkology went by the recently shuttered 360 restaurant this afternoon and found a shutter up and work underway. The closing is only expected to last a few weeks and the restaurant's answering machine should have updates as they become available
Secondly, this Saturday is the annual Waterfront Arts Festival, the same day the New York Water Taxi starts service between Red Hook and Governors Island.
Here’s the Red Hook rundown for the summer of 2007.
Food options
Good Fork - Year-old husband-and-wife dinner-only restaurant that already won a few Time Out restaurant awards. Reservations a must on the weekends. Menu changes monthly, emphasizing what's fresh, but you can always find a good burger among the offerings.
Tini - Directly across the street, this craft beer and wine bar (with a full menu of food and even fondues,) catches the Good Fork overflow and then some. Dinner and weekend brunch.
360 - The first restaurant to make the neighborhood a foodie destination. Currently closed, call for updates.
 DeFonte’s Sandwich Shop - Very old school sandwich shop, with a wall of celebrity and politico customers dating back decades. Closes at 4 p.m., and closed Sundays.
Fairway Market - Enter through the market, or from the Water Taxi dock to get fresh-made sandwiches to eat at picnic tables with a stellar view of the harbor and the Statue of Liberty. Both indoor and outdoor seating, no alcohol, and long lines on the weekends. Open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. but the deli sandwich section usually closes by dinner.
Red Hook Soccer Fields - Open weekends during soccer season. See the country-by-country food map at Porkchop Express, which also has a series of interviews with the chefs.
Hope & Anchor - Sort of a splashy diner with karaoke on weekend nights.
 Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pie - Perfectly tangy, though the opening hours aren't always as expected. Can get whole or mini pies ... or a mini-pie dipped in chocolate served on a stick. Uh-huh.
Baked - Serious bakery with excellent cakes, along with mini cupcakes, sandwiches, homemade marshmallows, and even a chocolate chip cookie that recently got an on-air plug from Martha Stewart.
Pioneer - Bar and barbecue, with outdoor seating in the back garden.
El Hulipial - This little hole in the wall spot had a cult following, but it's been closed for some time though there are rumors of a reprise. Update: Viva, a TexMex restaurant looks to open there.
To do:
Red Hook Boaters - Free kayaking at Valentino Pier.
Pier Glass - Shop or watch them make the glass.
Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition - Seasonal, weekend-only art shows by Brooklyn artists in an old warehouse that threatens to overshadow the art for its Statue of Liberty views and well-preserved brick, stone, and heavy beam construction.
Waterfront Museum and Showboat Barge - A small floating museum housed in a restored 1914 Lehigh Valley Railroad Barge. They host a sunset music series and clown Sundays during the summer.
 Art galleries: Kentler International Drawing Space, Gestarc Gallery and more on the way.
Eventually: The retired fuel tanker Mary Whalen will open as a museum and cultural center. This summer, there are plans for a still-secret cultural event onboard, other events on the pier and volunteer (clean-up) days. For now, its website at Portside NY has a great guide to Red Hook and calendar. (NewYorkology visited Mary Whalen in dry dock.)
Shopping
LeNell’s - Wine and "likker" store that's been named the best in the city by New York magazine and has garnered mentions in several national food and drink magazines. Frequent in-store tastings, and a real bathtub, often filled with (bottles of) gin or other booze.
Saipua - Handcrafted olive oil-based soaps that smell great, but aren't cheap. They also sell out-of-the-ordinary flowers (with fresh deliveries on Thursdays.)
Erie Basin - Vintage jewelry shop targeting the hipster crowd.
Added Value - Red Hook-grown summertime farmers market.
Atlantis - Friendly neigborhood thrift shop, used book store, furniture repair spot.
Bars
Sunny’s - Storied waterfront bar that's been in the same family for three generations. Sometimes you'll find bands playing, poetry readings or a play staged in the back room. This week, they were filming a new Matthew Broderick movie inside.
The Hook - Late night music club not far from where Conan O'Brien's spare sets are warehoused.
Bait & Tackle - Kitschy bar with a great juke box and some exceedingly strange stuff to look at.
Liberty Heights Tap Room - Family friendly bar that often serves pizza and other food. Also home to SixPoints Craft Ale, which runs brewery tours Saturdays at 1 p.m.
(Formerly) Lillie’s – Thus shuttered bar across from the Ikea site may yet rise again. Workers were inside last week, and the rumormill pegs it as a project of the same chef who opened Bouillabaisse and Petite Crevette.
Transportation
It's too far to walk. Try these:
NY Water Taxi - stops once or twice an hour at Fairway on summer weekends.
B61 or B77 bus (both in pdf)
Hotels
 Brooklyn Motor Inn - This is the only hotel in Red Hook proper. And although it overlooks the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel toll plaza, by all accounts (guests, the cops at the police station two blocks away, and the workers across the street) it's a perfectly fine, cheap-enough place to stay. You're actually one short block from the front of the cruise ship terminal gate here - but to get to a subway or anywhere out of Red Hook, you'll want to use a car service.
Brooklyn Bridge Marriott - Still the only big hotel in Brooklyn, and a taxi ride from red Hook.
Holiday Inn Express Park Slope/Gowanus - Cheaper than the Marriott, and free wi-fi.
Coming soon: The Gowanus Comfort Inn and Le Bleu Hotel.
Other resources:
Forgotten NY's excellent picture page of Red Hook in transition
The Sun's new walking guide to Red Hook
Brooklyn Historical Society's neighborhood guides ($8 each, good stuff)
The city’s (mediocre) official guide to the Brooklyn cruise ship terminal
Flight 001 on Smith Street - (This is closer to downtown Brooklyn, but worth a mention for cruise ship travelers who may need anything from a suitcase to carry-on size bottles.)
No luggage storage in Red Hook; try the $5 per bag place in Midtown
NewYorkology's 2006 Red Hook guide (with extra info for cruise ship passengers)
Brooklyn Cruise Guide
B61 Productions occasional Red Hook news
More pictures:
Last month, the Municipal Art Society presented Fairway the 2007 “Best Neighborhood Catalyst” award for restoring a pre-Civil War cotton and coffee warehouse and "spurring economic and social revitalization in the surrounding neighborhood." Here's the building (at left) with its antique trolley cars out front.
The NY Water Taxi dock at fairway:
At Valentino Pier (which is a great spot to watch the cruise ships depart before sunset, or turn around and back in around 6 a.m.) you can still see a Fort Defiance sign in winter.
Brooklyn, the Borough of Churches:
The (empty for now) grain silos sit near the eastern edge of Red Hook, near the mouth of the Gowanus Canal:
Not everyone's happy about the destruction of the sugar factory (foreground) and the construction of the Ikea (background):
The constantly stinky Canal trash haulers recently picked up and left their yard (behind the green fence,) located just at the edge of the new cruise ship terminal. Currently, Fung Wah Bus lines are parking there.
Are they j's, or a trio of ... red hooks?
June 1, 2007 01:57 PM in Out of Manhattan
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