Get to know the Columbia Street Waterfront District

No New York City neighborhood name is so specifically descriptive as western Brooklyn’s Columbia Street Waterfront District. Primarily concentrated along Columbia Street by the New York Harbor, this 22-block area became de facto distinct in 1957 when BQE construction separated it from communities it was once considered part and parcel with. However, Columbia Street has endured despite the division and now combines the verdant stillness of Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill with the dockside quietude of Red Hook into something all its own. Low-rise residential architecture predominates as old mingles with new. Erstwhile factories have undergone condo conversions, and side streets like President and Carroll feel like continuations of their cross-highway counterparts lined with townhouses. The Columbia Street Waterfront District’s footprint in Brooklyn may be small, but it’s a delightful impression worth getting lost in.