Brooklyn Heights

Brooklyn Heights is the borough's oldest neighborhood, and this area immediately south of where the Brooklyn Bridge now stands still has an air of historical mystique: it's very much the enclave of shady lanes, cobblestone streets, centuries-old row houses, and landmark buildings that Walt Whitman rhapsodized about. Many brownstones and redbrick row houses are on display, but take note, too, of the wooden-frame beauties that predate them; most of the latter are over near the "Fruit" streets. Along the East River waterfront, and above it from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, the views of the Manhattan skyline and the Brooklyn Bridge have inspired countless artists and photographers over the years. From the early to mid-20th century, Brooklyn Heights was a bohemian haven, home to such writers as Arthur Miller, Truman Capote, Carson McCullers, Paul Bowles, Marianne Moore, Norman Mailer, and W. E. B. DuBois. Montague Street, the main retail and dining artery, heads east from Brooklyn Heights toward bustling Downtown Brooklyn, which goes about its modern-day business. The eastern corner of Downtown has the 16-acre MetroTech Center, built as part of the area's revitalization in the 1980s and '90s. Its high-rises are now among the many that continue to rise in the borough's main financial, commercial, and civic center.