50 Best Blocks in Brooklyn

The L Magazine has published its annual list of the best blocks in Brooklyn – an eclectic and fun 29-page clickfest through the entire borough. Some annotated local highlights:

11. Best Example of Gentrified Ugliness: North 3rd between Berry and Bedford. Quadriad’s development on the south side street (fully rented out on the retail side, but still no one living there – even though parts have been completed for over a year). “Looks like a public high school airlifted from the Des Moines suburbs, c. 1996.”

12. Best Example of Gentrified Perfection: Wythe Street [sic] between Metropolitan and North 3rd. A block away from #11, and a good choice. But I would have gone with North 3rd between Wythe and Berry – a great mix of new buildings, converted lofts and strong local retail throughout (which the L tags as one of the 5 best blocks in Brooklyn to live on, so I guess we kind of agree on this one – but what’s up with the photo of Wythe?).

13. Best Block for Illustrating the Multiple Stages of Gentrification: South 2nd street between Wythe Avenue and Kent Avenue. A lot going on here, from Stage 1 through endgame (though the preschool dates to the pre-gentrification days of the neighborhood, and the “Soho-esque trattoria doubles as a job-training facility for local residents).

17. Best Block for Accidental Voyeurism: Grand Street between Driggs and Roebling. True. Excellent picture choice too (William H. Gayor’s ca. 1888 Tuttle Department Store, a cast-iron beauty that has absolutely nothing to do with the accidental voyeurism in question).

25. Greenest Block: Grand Street between Bedford and Driggs. Never thought of it that way, but I guess it works.

And my favorite of the 50:

1. Best Dead-End Block: Central Avenue between Cooper and Trinity Cemetery. Perfect.