DUMBO
Nineteenth-century warehouses on cobblestones between two bridges, the most photographed view in Brooklyn, and a compact half-day that costs nothing unless you eat.
- What it costs
- Free to walk. Food, the carousel and the galleries charge.
- Best in
- Any season
- Where
- Washington Street & Water Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
- Official site
- dumbo.is
The name and the place
Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass — a deliberately ugly acronym coined in the 1970s by residents hoping it would put developers off. It did not work.
What's left is a small, dense grid of 19th-century industrial buildings on original cobblestone, wedged between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, now full of galleries, design shops and food.
The photograph
Stand on Washington Street between Water and Front and the Manhattan Bridge tower is framed dead-center between two brick warehouses, with the Empire State Building visible through the arch.
It is the most photographed spot in Brooklyn, and consequently there is a queue, in the middle of a live street with cars. Go before 8am and you'll have it. Whatever time you go, watch for traffic — people step backwards into the road for the shot.
The rest of a half-day
- Brooklyn Bridge Park starts at the bottom of the hill, with Jane's Carousel in its glass box.
- Empire Stores, a restored 1870s coffee warehouse, holds shops, a rooftop with a view, and Time Out Market if you want a lot of food options at once.
- St. Ann's Warehouse, a theatre in a former tobacco warehouse, with a free public garden inside the ruined walls.
- Walk up the hill to Brooklyn Heights and the Promenade for the wide view back at Manhattan.
Getting there
The F to York Street or the A or C to High Street, both about 20 minutes from Midtown.
Better: walk over the Brooklyn Bridge and come down into it, or take the NYC Ferry East River route, which stops at DUMBO for the price of a subway ride.
Getting around once you're there
The **cobblestones are the real obstacle** — they are original Belgian block, uneven, and hard going for wheelchairs, walking sticks and anyone in bad shoes. The waterfront park alongside is smooth and step-free, so route along Water Street and the park rather than up the hill. York Street and High Street stations both have stairs.