With the completion of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in 1964, Robert Moses also created a massive wall of concrete and steel that forced the relocation of thousands of residents and split once cohesive neighborhoods in two. Nowhere is that division more clear than in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where the
BQE now serves as a border between the "rediscovered" artsy community around the Bedford Avenue subway station and the "emerging" Williamsburg that extends east from the Lorimer Street station. It's hard to keep a good neighborhood down, though, and Williamsburg's grittier half is rapidly catching up to its tonier counterpart. Take Grand Street, for example. The four-block strip of Grand Street between Union Street and Graham Avenue is gaining on its better-known section west of the highway, with more than a dozen funky bars and restaurants that rival any in modern Manhattan but that still have a style that's reminiscent of the East Village circa 1991. There are plenty of authentic old school bodegas and 99-cent stores for your shopping and dining pleasure, but now you'll also find a French bistro, an Australian eatery, and even a country club, complete with golf course. Here's a primer on the new Grand Street, which offers all the fun of regular Williamsburg, but with cheaper prices and a breezier attitude. Have at it.
Gridskipper
Come summer in NYC, few things compare to being able to drinking outdoors (that is, unless you're lucky enough to have summer Fridays, but that's another story). Be it in a backyard or on a rooftop, pairing a cocktail with a cool summer breeze is pretty much the best it gets. And what better place to do so than the epicenter of all things hip? That's right folks, next stop: Williamsburg, where there are dozens of places to slap on a pair of wayfarers and down a few PBRs while basking in the sun. (photo)
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