New to the neighborhood? Know Gowanus like the back of your hand but want to explore other Brooklyn neighborhoods? Not sure what folks mean when they refer to DUMBO? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then a Brooklyn walking tour should be on your to-do list this fall.
Go Over The Bridge
This enlightening and entertaining three-hour tour starts at the City Hall Park fountain and proceeds to the iconic Brooklyn Bridge. Rather than merely standing and gazing at the historic structure, the tour takes you across the bridge. Your guide during this mile-long journey delights you with stories about the famous bridge’s design, construction, history and influence. Frequent pauses in the journey allow you to indulge in the magnificent views of Manhattan, Brooklyn and New York Harbor. By the end of this mile-long walk, your head will be filled with fun facts – and your phone will be filled with amazing pictures.
Discover Brooklyn Heights
After traversing the Brooklyn Bridge, you’ll enter Brooklyn Heights. Considered “America’s first suburb”, this legendary neighborhood has a rich history filled with important events and colorful characters. Your guide traces the neighborhood’s history from the early days of American Revolutionary War, it’s development during the rise of the New York and Brooklyn Steam Ferry Boat Company and the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge, right up to the recent construction of the Brooklyn Bridge Park. Along the way, you’ll learn about some of the historical figures and luminaries who called Brooklyn Heights home such as Marilyn Monroe, Arthur Miller, Norman Mailer, Adam Driver, Matt Damon and Truman Capote among others.
What is DUMBO?
Next, the tour takes you to DUMBO (which is an acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass). Once a thriving industrial park and manufacturing district, DUMBO was previously known by several other names throughout its existence, including Olympia, Fulton’s Landing and Gairville. With its industrial boom days behind it, the area seemed destined for doom.
Fortunately, it gained some new residents – and its current name – when many struggling artists and musicians moved into the abandoned factory buildings and manufacturing plants in the mid-1970s. Many of these residents would become some of the most popular influential artists and musicians of the 1980s. Soon after, DUMBO was developed into the residential and business district that it is today.
This is just a quick glimpse of many wonderful things you’ll discover during the Brooklyn and DUMBO walking tour. It’s a great way to spend a weekend afternoon in the fall when the sun is out but the temperatures are a bit more comfortable. The Brooklyn walking tour is just one of many fantastic free events and activities that are fun, informative and a great way to explore the neighborhoods.