Greenpoint is the northernmost neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York in the U.S. state of New York. It is bordered on the southwest by Williamsburg at Bushwick Inlet Park and McCarren Park; on the southeast by the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway and East Williamsburg; on the north by Newtown Creek and the neighborhood of Long Island City in Queens, and on the west by the East River. The area has a large Polish immigrant and Polish-American community, containing many Polish restaurants, markets, and businesses, and it is often referred to as Little Poland. Initially, farmland – many of the farm owners’ family names, such as Meserole (Messerole) and Calyer, are current street names – the residential core of Greenpoint was built on parcels divided during the 19th century, with rope factories and lumber yards lining the East River to the west, while the northeastern section along the Newtown Creek through East Williamsburg became a maritime industrial area.
Greenpoint has long held a working-class and immigrant neighborhood. It initially attracted families and workers with its abundance of factory jobs, heavy industry and manufacturing, and longshoreman or dock work. Since the early 2000s, a building boom in the neighborhood has made the area increasingly a center of nightlife and gentrification. A 2005 rezoning enabled the construction of high-density residential buildings on the East River waterfront. There have also been efforts to reclaim the rezoned East River waterfront for recreational use and extend a continuous promenade into the Newtown Creek area.
Demographics
Greenpoint’s population is mainly working-class and multi-generational; it is common to find three generations of family members living in the community. The neighborhood is sometimes referred to as “Little Poland” due to its large population of Polish immigrants, reportedly the second-largest concentration in the United States after Chicago. Although Polish immigrants and people of Polish descent are present in force, there is a significant Latino population living mostly north of Greenpoint Avenue. Greenpoint has a substantial number of South Asian and North African residents. Top Brooklyn Electrician
Landmarks
When Neziah Bliss created Greenpoint, he named the east-west streets alphabetically from north to south. Initially, these streets were given lettered names such as “A Street” and “B Street,” but in the mid-19th century, the roads were given longer terms. Parks include McCarren Park, the neighborhood’s most significant green space, and the smaller McGolrick Park, which contains the landmarked Shelter Pavilion and an allegorical monument to the ironclad ship USS Monitor. On the East River, WNYC Transmitter Park opened in 2012 on a former radio transmission antenna site.
Restaurants and Pubs
- MADRE is located at 214 Franklin St, Brooklyn, NY
- Mable’s Smokehouse & Banquet Hall is located at 44 Berry St, Brooklyn, NY
- Naked Dog is located at 47 Java St, Brooklyn, NY
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