Vinegar Hill and DUMBO - Burgeoning Artist Neighborhoods In Brooklyn

Once a decaying warehouse and manufacturing district, the fortunes of DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) began to change when artists seeking loft space discovered it in the 1970s. Today the neighborhood is one of Brooklyn's hottest housing districts and features charming cobblestone streets, 19th Century buildings converted to luxury condominiums with breathtaking views of Manhattan, cutting edge art galleries, trendy cafes with live music, attractive office space, new retail establishments, and direct access to Empire Fulton Ferry State Park and the East River waterfront.

DUMBO is the site of outdoor movies in the summer, art and music festivals throughout the year, and the Annual DUMBO Art Under the Bridge Festival when more than 200 neighborhood artists open their studios to the public. Bargemusic at nearby Fulton Ferry Landing offers chamber music concerts every week.

Vinegar Hill is sandwiched between DUMBO and the Brooklyn Navy Yard and like DUMBO has become an attractive haven for artists. The neighborhood takes its name from the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and initially was home to the Irish working class who were employed at nearby factories, docks, and the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Vinegar Hill is not as developed as DUMBO and its homes, both new construction and the 19th Century historic structures given landmark status in 1997, are mixed in with manufacturing firms, warehouses, and a Con Edison power plant.

The 255-acre Brooklyn Navy Yard next to Vinegar Hill was run by the U.S. Navy from 1801 to 1966 and at its peak during World War II employed more than 70,000 workers. Today it's an industrial park filled with hundreds of small businesses including artist studios, a ship repair business, and on a 15-acre site a new enterprise, Steiner Studios, a 280,000 square foot Hollywood-style, full-service, state-of-the-art “production factory” equipped for start-to-finish production of major motion pictures, independent films, television, music videos and broadcast commercials.