Dumbo

With the opening of five lush waterfront acres of park at Pier 3 on Tuesday, Brooklyn Bridge Park is now 90 percent complete. Designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, it's the final pier to be converted into parkland and features two lawns surrounded by shrubs and trees, which will offer both shade and protection from gusts of wind. "Brooklyn Bridge Park is a gem that gleams brighter with each exciting acre it adds, building on our borough’s commitment to offer high-quality open space that brings people together from all walks of life," Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said.
Plan your visit

Architecture And Design

ODA reveals playful facade, outdoor space for former Jehovah’s Witnesses’ site in Dumbo

Rendering of 80 Adams Street courtesy of BH3 Partners

July 6, 2018

ODA reveals playful facade, outdoor space for former Jehovah’s Witnesses’ site in Dumbo

In the latest news from CityRealty, a new rendering of the exciting design for a 10-story, 165-unit building that will rise at the former Jehovah's Witnesses-owned property at 80 Adams Street has been revealed. Buyer Jeffrey Gershon of Hope Street Capital closed on the $60 million purchase of what was a single-story garage in November. ODA New York was listed on the permits, which meant we were likely to see an innovative design; now that design is here in rendering form.
More details this way

Historic fireboat gets marbled ‘dazzle’ design before it sets sail around the NY Harbor this summer

Photo by Nicholas Knight

June 29, 2018

Historic fireboat gets marbled ‘dazzle’ design before it sets sail around the NY Harbor this summer

Marking the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, local artist Tauba Auerbach has transformed a historic fireboat into a modern "dazzle" ship. First invented by British painter Norman Wilkinson during WWI, dazzle camouflage patterns were painted onto ships to distort their forms and confuse enemy submarines. The Public Art Fund and 14-18 NOW, a U.K.-based art program, commisioned the painting of the John J. Harvey fireboat, which first launched in 1931 and helped the FDNY extinguish fires until it retired in the 1990s. "With Flow Separation, I didn't want to ignore the John J. Harvey's identity, so I took the boat's usual paint job and scrambled it. Dragged a comb through it," Auerbach said. "The palette also exaggerates the fact that 'dazzle' was more about confusing and outsmarting, than about hiding."
Get the dazzling details

June 19, 2018

$7,000/month Dumbo triplex makes a splash with rustic details–and a rooftop beach

This classic industrial Dumbo loft at 50 Bridge Street is already ahead of the rental pack by being an extra-large one-bedroom, two-bath apartment that spans three levels. It has the prerequisite high ceilings and exposed beams plus a working fireplace, central A/C and large south-facing windows. It's asking $6,900 a month, which seems a bit steep (even with a swing in the middle of the living room), until you discover the massive private roof deck with all the summertime fun necessities including a hot tub, a cabana and more.
Let's take a closer look

How the cardboard box was accidentally invented in a NYC factory

55 Washington Street in 1907, courtesy of the Skyscaper Museum

June 7, 2018

How the cardboard box was accidentally invented in a NYC factory

New Yorkers are known for their innovative thinking: Inventions like Scrabble, credit cards, and even Baked Alaska all came from local creators. A little less exciting, but still a crucial contraption, the cardboard box was also invented in New York City. Like many discoveries, the box came to be only after a careless mistake. Scottish-born entrepreneur Robert Gair owned a paper bag factory on Reade Street in Manhattan. One day in 1879, a pressman accidentally cut through thousands of small seed bags, instead of pressing them. Following the accident, Gair, who moved headquarters to Dumbo, developed a method for the mass production of cardboard boxes and later supplied major companies like Kellogg and Nabisco.
Find out more

History

Time Out is bringing a food hall to the Dumbo waterfront this year

Via Time Out Market

March 29, 2018

Time Out is bringing a food hall to the Dumbo waterfront this year

Time Out Group, the British company that writes up everyone's favorite freebie magazine Time Out New York, announced on Wednesday that it will open a massive food hall in Brooklyn this year. Set to open between October and December, the 21,000-square-foot Time Out Market New York will be located in the Empire Stores at 55 Water Street in Dumbo. According to the company, the food market will feature a group of 20 restaurants hand-selected by the magazine's editors, three bars and a performance stage.
Dig in

January 23, 2018

$1.4M Dumbo loft is decked out with tin ceilings and locally crafted millwork

If you're looking to live in Dumbo, as many are, loft living is definitely the way to go. 50 Bridge Street, built in 1907 as a warehouse in what is now the waterfront neighborhood's landmarked historic district is offering this two-bedroom condominium loft with ceilings over 10 feet, a recent renovation, and plenty of modern convenience. Asking $1.425 million, the 1,259 square-foot space brings tin ceilings and millwork by a local craftsman to the mix, setting this loft apart from so many of its white-box-and-brick neighbors.
See more of the loft

Distinctive Homes

October 19, 2017

City officially pitches four neighborhoods for Amazon’s HQ2

Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York City Economic Development Corporation released their official pitch for Amazon's second headquarters on Wednesday, one day before the deadline. Boasting the city's talented tech workforce, the de Blasio administration has pitched Midtown West, Long Island City, the Brooklyn Tech Triangle (DUMBO, Downtown Brooklyn and the Navy Yard), and Lower Manhattan as the four best spots for Amazon to call home. The tech giant's nationwide competition, announced in September, set out to find their next headquarters, called HQ2. The company promises the headquarters will bring 50,000 new jobs and $5 billion in initial city investment.
Find out more

Policy

POPULAR Dumbo BUILDINGS

30 Front Street 30 Front Street

50 Bridge Street 50 Bridge Street

85 Jay Street 85 Jay Street

181 Front Street 181 Front Street

1 Main Street 1 Main Street

60 Water Street 60 Water Street

10 Jay Street 10 Jay Street

1 John Street 1 John Street

200 Water Street 200 Water Street

205 Water Street 205 Water Street

17 Jay Street 17 Jay Street

65 Washington Street 65 Washington Street

100 Jay Street 100 Jay Street

168 Plymouth Street 168 Plymouth Street

87 Hudson Avenue 87 Hudson Avenue

September 22, 2017

Rare and historic Dumbo triplex once owned by artist Caro Heller hits the market for $2M

By Emily Nonko

If you've visited Brooklyn Bridge Park then it's likely you've seen 8 Old Fulton Street, the historic brick cooperative--with the red door--directly facing the park. In the 1860s, this building was constructed for the Brooklyn City Railroad Company. Today the landmark holds just 10 co-ops, meaning it's rare to see apartments up for grabs. But this one-bedroom triplex has hit the market for $1.975 million, decked out with columns, exposed brick and twelve-foot ceilings. The previous owner was the artist Caro Heller, who passed away in 2014. According to public records, her children--an adventure writer and gallery owner--have listed the property for sale.
See the stunning interior

July 14, 2017

From the land of lofts, this bright $1.3M DUMBO space awaits your room-shifting skills

While Soho and DUMBO might have to fight it out over which was the more original loft neighborhood, there's no doubt that they brought living in a big, airy, open former industrial space, with maximum flexibility and minimum furniture, to a whole new level of cool. This loft at 50 Bridge Street in the Brooklyn waterfront neighborhood brings both loft and luxury living up-to-date, and at a $1.3 millon price it doesn't rule out the entire creative class.
Get the loft tour

Distinctive Homes

June 14, 2017

$3.95M buys you a four-story townhouse with condo amenities in Dumbo

So...a 2,700-square-foot four-story townhouse with a garden and a roof deck, in a cool Dumbo factory loft complex with condo perks like a gym and cold storage? It sounds like the best of all possible worlds to us. And while the $3.95 million price on this "resplendent mix of modern and industrial charm" at 37 Bridge street might be no small sum by any stretch, you're certainly getting the bonus of not having to choose between location, space, or convenience.
See how the place stacks up

Distinctive Homes

May 22, 2017

From shipping hub to waterfront wonder, the history of Brooklyn Bridge Park with Joanne Witty

By Emily Nonko

134 years ago, the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge transformed the Brooklyn waterfront, not to mention the entire borough, by providing direct access into Kings County from Lower Manhattan. The opening only boosted Brooklyn's burgeoning waterfront, which became a bustling shipping hub for the New York Dock Company by the early 1900s. Business boomed for several decades until changes in the industry pushed the shipping industry from Brooklyn to New Jersey. And after the late 1950s, when many of the warehouses were demolished to make way for construction of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, the waterfront fell into severe decline. New Yorkers today are living through a new kind of Brooklyn waterfront boom, heralded by the Brooklyn Bridge Park. Ideas to transform the abandoned, run-down waterfront into a park seemed like a pipe dream when the idea was floated in the 1980s, but years of dedication by the local community and politicians turned the vision into reality. Today, the park is considered one of the best in the city.
continue reading here

City Living

April 28, 2017

Shop and nosh your way through 20 of NYC’s best flea and food markets

With spring weather in full effect, the city's flea and food markets roll out the red carpet and the irresistible edibles, and it's pretty likely there's one happening near you. The shop-and-snack mecca Brooklyn Flea has changed locations yet again, a night market returns in Queens and antiquing, arts and local maker standbys in all corners of Manhattan offer more of what you didn't know you couldn't live without. The goods may be odd, but they're out there, and the list below rounds up 20 of the city's top food and flea picks. Just don't blame us for the tchotchke overload—or the calories.
Find a market this weekend

Events & Things To Do

April 3, 2017

Dumbo Clock Tower penthouse finally sells for $15M, is borough’s priciest condo ever sold

And just like that, the record for the most expensive condo ever sold in Brooklyn has been broken. A triplex penthouse at 1 Main Street, atop the Clock Tower building in Dumbo, sold for $15 million, beating out a unit at Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pierhouse that closed for nearly $10.6 million just last month. As the New York Post reported, the historic unit had a hard time finding a buyer; it sat on the market for nearly six years, switched brokerages and chopping its price tag several times.
See the iconic Clock Tower here

Real Estate Trends

March 6, 2017

Bjarke Ingels moves firm to huge new headquarters in ‘Scandamerican’ DUMBO

Architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has just added heft to the big-name design, media and technology shift that has been setting up shop in Brooklyn. BIG, founded by noted Danish architect–and DUMBO resident–Bjarke Ingels, just signed a lease for 50,000 square feet at Two Trees' 45 Main Street building in the Brooklyn waterfront neighborhood, with plans to relocate their Manhattan office at 61 Broadway to the new space, which is twice the size of the company's current NYC headquarters. As 6sqft previously reported, Ingels purchased a $4 million penthouse home at 205 Water Street with views of 2 World Trade Center back in 2015.
Find out more

Architecture And Design

March 2, 2017

Live in a hip DUMBO warehouse conversion for $895/month, lottery opening at 181 Front Street

Back in 2012, Megalith Capital Management and Urban Realty Partners bought two neighboring DUMBO sites from the Jehovah’s Witnesses for more than $30 million. They then tapped Aufgang Architects to design both warehouse conversions: a landmarked former Brillo factory at 200 Water Street was transformed into 15 boutique condos; 181 Front Street into a 105-unit rental. Twenty percent of apartments in the latter development are reserved as affordable, and as of tomorrow, New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area median income can apply for these 21 units, which range from $895/month one-bedrooms to $1,247/month three-bedrooms.
Get all the info here

Affordable Housing

February 20, 2017

Anish Kapoor will bring a spiraling funnel of black water to Brooklyn Bridge Park

By Diane Pham

Brooklyn Bridge Park is the last place we'd expect to find a menacing art installation summoning feelings of nothingness. But come May, Anish Kapoor will bring his acclaimed installation "Descension" to one of the park's busiest stretches, Pier 1. As described by The NY Public Art Fund (the project's curator), Descension is a 26-foot diameter whirlpool that funnels pitch-black, naturally dyed water below ground, inviting visitors to carefully peer into its swirling abyss.
more details here

Events & Things To Do

February 13, 2017

ODA’s crystalline 10 Jay Street gets new renderings of retail and office space

It's been eight months since ODA Architecture received its final approvals from the Landmarks Preservation Commission to convert the former Arbuckle Brothers sugar refinery building in Dumbo into a modern retail and office site. We've previously seen renderings of 10 Jay Street's prismatic East River-facing elevation--which was inspired by sugar crystals, the nearby Manhattan Bridge, and the neighborhood's historic steel and brick facades--and now that the rehab is in full swing, CityRealty noticed that the leasing team has debuted a new website with never-before-seen renderings of the brick east wall, adjoining waterfront plaza, retail space, and offices.
See all the renderings ahead

Jared-less Kushner Companies readies for construction at DUMBO’s Jehovah’s Witness parking lot

Conceptual massing of 85 Jay Street based on approved zoning, via CityRealty

February 3, 2017

Jared-less Kushner Companies readies for construction at DUMBO’s Jehovah’s Witness parking lot

By Ondel Hylton and Julian Friedman

Despite the fact that Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner stepped down as CEO of Kushner Companies in order to transition from developer to full-time presidential advisor, his family's firm is moving ahead with their big plans at a three-acre parking lot in DUMBO. Just over a month ago, the joint partnership among Kushner, LIVWRK, and CIM Group paid $345 million to the Jehovah’s Witnesses for the site at 85 Jay Street, which brought Kushner's total investment in the area to more than $1 billion. CityRealty recently visited the site and found that they've ceased parking operations and moved construction equipment onsite.
All the details ahead

New Developments

June 14, 2016

Landmarks Approves ODA’s Wall Replacement for Former DUMBO Sugar Factory Building

By Ondel Hylton

Last summer, the Landmark Preservation Commission approved ODA Architecture's sugar crystal-inspired vision for a DUMBO commercial loft building at 10 Jay Street. Today the team went back before the LPC and received approvals to replace the building's deteriorated east wall that has been covered in stucco since the 1970s and is in dire need of structural repair. Developer Glacier Global Partners previously fancied condos for the 19th century sugar factory building, but the robust Brooklyn office market led the developers to a change of heart, envisioning 200,000 square feet of class-A office space instead.
Get all the details right here

April 22, 2016

First Look at StudiosC’s Boutique Condominium Underway at 187 Bridge Street

Within Downtown Brooklyn's detached island of urbanity between the Manhattan Bridge on-ramp and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, local architecture firm StudiosC has designed a modestly scaled, ground-up condominium at the corner of Bridge and Nassau Streets. Re-approved plans filed by the architect of record Karl Fischer detail an eight-story building with 12,000 square feet of gross floor area.
More details ahead

December 17, 2015

$1.6 Million Dumbo Apartment Comes With Awesome Views of the Brooklyn Bridge

By Emily Nonko

Views! Views! Views! Seriously, that's what you're getting with this two-bedroom apartment at 70 Washington Street, a former Dumbo warehouse that has been converted into 225 condo apartments. It was converted by Two Trees Management, prominent developers in the neighborhood, who built out luxury loft apartments and included a 24-hour concierge, doorman, fitness room, and roof deck with the building. This apartment has windows in both the living room and bedroom that offer an incredible look out onto the entire stretch of the Brooklyn Bridge and Lower Manhattan skyline. There's a total of 1,310 square feet and a lofty, open floor plan. A view like that in a neighborhood as popular as Dumbo doesn't come cheap -- although you can still find the occasional apartment in the area for under $1 million without the impressive views, of course. This one is on the market for $1.6 million, after last selling in 2007 for $1,055,926.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

September 1, 2015

Loft Renovation in DUMBO’s Eagle Warehouse Building Is Playful and Strategic

By Rebecca Paul

This playfully decorated loft is located in DUMBO's landmarked Eagle Warehouse Building. Although the space has always been generous in square footage, prior to the renovation the original residence only had two small windows and very little natural light. To open up and brighten the home, Etelamaki Architecture removed the kitchen walls and introduced various design treatments to increase the presence of natural light and to define distinct functional spaces.
Check out the rest of the loft

June 18, 2015

Bjarke Ingels Picks Up $4M Dumbo Penthouse with Views of 2 World Trade Center

When we have something to celebrate we usually do it with a glass of wine and some cake, but starchitect Bjarke Ingels is toasting his recently revealed design for 2 World Trade Center with a $3.89 million Dumbo penthouse. The Daily News reports that Ingels will be moving into the three-bedroom duplex at 205 Water Street, which offers a whopping 2,344 square feet of outdoor space, spread across four terraces, that provides the perfect view of the architect's impending Financial District tower. The sellers of the industrial-chic pad are interior designer and lifestyle guru Athena Calderone and her music producer husband, DJ Victor Calderone, who bought the home for $2.3 million in 2012 and originally listed it for $4.3 million back in January.
Take a look around the impressive home

April 2, 2015

Bask in Manhattan Views from the Roof Deck of This $2.4M DUMBO Loft

By Aisha Carter

There's a $2.4 million pad at 50 Bridge Street in DUMBO just waiting to show off its spectacular architecture and indescribable views. This 2,200 square-foot triplex loft has it all, including a private roof deck with views of the Manhattan skyline, the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, and the East River, all in one hot neighborhood.
More pics inside

Distinctive Homes

Fly-Through Video of ODA’s 10 Jay Street Shows Crystalline Facade from Every Angle

Rendering via ODA

March 30, 2015

Fly-Through Video of ODA’s 10 Jay Street Shows Crystalline Facade from Every Angle