14 JUL 2017: There was a time when being from Brooklyn meant getting heckled for hailing from the wrong part town. But in the past few years, the city that got no respect has become the gotta-see place on a visit to New York. It’s considered so cool that Brooklyn has ranked among the top 50 names for baby girls in recent years.
The sudden surge of interest has even shocked the locals, like the cabbie who was taking me to the newly opened 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge. He grew up near the once- gritty Flatbush Avenue and has seen his hometown transform in the past 10 years.
The changes have mostly been for the good, he said. Places that used to be run down are getting a new sparkle; second hand stores are out and organic cafes are in. But there has been a downside: a surge of people moving from ridiculously pricey and crowded Manhattan to the low-rise neighbourhoods here has driven prices skyward.