LITMIR.BIZ

      Dating to 1850, the Brooklyn Inn’s building (right) on Hoyt Street was given a Queen Anne exterior in the 1880s

      Go left (east) on Bergen Street. The entire left side past the corner store–apartment building was built by one developer from 1869 to 1873. By that time, houses were being constructed in larger groups versus singly or just a couple at a time, as you’ve seen on other blocks.

      Turn right on Bond and right again on Wyckoff Street. The first two houses after the community garden were erected in 1854 and set a no-stoop standard that was copied as more homes were built alongside them. Continue across Wyckoff to #108, whose facade, stoop, pavement, and even window bars are covered with a mosaic of tiles, beads, mirrors, and shells. And to think, it once probably looked just like its sedate next-door neighbor.

      Turn right on Smith Street.

Make a left at Bergen Street. Drop in at The Invisible Dog, partway down on your right. This multidisciplinary arts center opened in 2009 in an ex-factory where the “invisible dog leash” novelty used to be manufactured. Encouraging collaboration and experimentation, the center contains artist studios, exhibition and performance space, and a pop-up store.

      Turn right on Boerum Place, opposite a colorful row of Bergen Street clapboard houses, appearing impeccably maintained yet somewhat misplaced on this primarily commercial and brickfront block.

      Go right on Dean Street. A couple of orphaned wood frame houses from the 1850s still stand toward the end of the block.

      Turn right on Smith Street. Bar Tabac, at the right corner, was an early factor in Smith Street’s reputation as a “restaurant row,” and the French bistro has remained while many other restaurants on the street have come and gone.

      The F/G subway station is at Bergen Street.

      Points of Interest

      Barclays Center 620 Atlantic Ave.; 917-618-6100, barclayscenter.com

      Williamsburgh Savings Bank clocktower 1 Hanson Place

      Brooklyn Academy of Music 30 Lafayette Ave.; 718-636-4100, bam.org

      Roulette 38 3rd Ave.; 917-267-0363, roulette.org

      Brooklyn Inn 148 Hoyt St.; 718-522-2525

      The Invisible Dog 51 Bergen St., 347-560-3641, theinvisibledog.org

      Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill

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      Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill:

      Standing the Test of Time

      Above: Within the Carroll Gardens Historic District, on Carroll Street

      BOUNDARIES: Atlantic Ave., Hoyt St., 2nd Pl., Hicks St.

      DISTANCE: 2.9 miles

      SUBWAY: F or G to Carroll St. (President St. exit)

      The “Carroll” comes from Declaration of Independence signatory Charles Carroll; the “Gardens” from the unusually large plots of land bestowed on each house in an 1846 design for the neighborhood conceived by surveyor Richard Butts. Those deep front yards were well cared for over the years by garden-loving Italians, who moved to the area for the longshoreman work and were the dominant immigrant group here throughout the 20th century. Today most parts of Carroll Gardens are unrecognizable as a working-class community, as its proximity to Manhattan and abundance of brownstones have attracted an upscale populace. Cobble Hill, which borders Carroll Gardens to the north, first emerged as a fashionable residential district in the mid–19th century. A plethora of specialty shops and dining destinations that opened over the past 15 years have added a new facet to these neighborhoods rich in historic homes and churches along tree-lined streets.

      Walk Description

Exit the subway at Smith and President Streets, and head west on President beside Carroll Park. Use the second entrance to the park, opposite a row of brownstones. Walk straight ahead to the memorial for local World War I casualties. Note that the surnames of the fallen are primarily Irish, Scandinavian, and East European; by World War II, the area’s Italian population would surge. One indicator of the Italian influence in the neighborhood lies nearby: the bocce alley alongside one edge of the basketball courts. Go to your left, passing between playgrounds and to the left of the parkhouse, and exit down the steps onto Smith Street.

      Cross Smith and walk straight onto

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