Moving to New York is one of my best decisions ever. I left my cool advertising job in Istanbul and moved to New York after my boyfriend was located here. That’s a quiet love story, which you can read here. But I am talking about living in Greenpoint with pros and cons.
It has been seven years since I moved to New York, and things have changed a lot in my life, both professionally and privately. I am a mom now.
I’ve never thought I would leave my awesome Upper East Side apartment and move to Brooklyn one day. But I changed a lot. I long for neighborhood vibes more than 7/24 sirens all around the city. I want to chat with my pharmacist at the corner of Greenpoint and Manhattan. (I do have that relationship with my pharmacist now :))
How to Find An Affordable Apartment in NYC: Facebook Groups, Craigslist, Couch Surf
Table of Contents
Living in Greenpoint Pros and Cons
So, I want to start my list with my favorite Pros.
Jungle Print Camisole: Asos (very similar) | White culotte: Asos | Bag: Danse Lente | Pumps: Ralph Lauren | Vintage Sunglasses: Asos | Layered Necklace: Baublebar
Closeness
Living in a neighborhood like Greenpoint makes you close to everything. You have a bakery at the corner (Charlotte on Manhattan Ave), your favorite coffee shop (Norman Restaurant), and the best brunch place (Five Leaves or Magador). I’ve never felt the same when I used to live in UES. You have all these great places to spend your whole day, but at the same time, you are still very close to Manhattan (I mean relatively when you compare it with other neighborhoods in the city.)
How to Find An Affordable Apartment in NYC: Facebook Groups, Craigslist, Couch Surf
People
Don’t get me wrong, but UES is a people town. I know the neighborhood has changed a lot since we moved to Brooklyn, but It was like that when I lived there, and I am pretty sure that It is still predominantly old people who live there. But Greenpoint and the Williamsburg area are the best to meet and talk to young, like-minded people. My biggest styling inspiration comes from L train. Everybody is super cool on that train. 4-5-6 trains are the worst in terms of getting your inspiration from the crowd of the subway.
Space
It’s more likely to find a bigger apartment in Brooklyn. This is one of Manhattan’s problems. The apartments are tiny and really old. In these last three years, many new constructions and renovated buildings have been in the Greenpoint, Williamsburg area. And it’s more likely to find a two-bedroom apartment with a reasonable rent.
10 Best Williamsburg Boutiques
How about the Cons of living in Greenpoint?
Feeling Too Safe
When you start to live in Brooklyn, you don’t want to travel Manhattan as much as you do. You start to feel like Manhattan is this crazy place, and you don’t want to deal with all this craziness. Brooklyn’s safe feeling makes you stuck with your small environment. Before I traveled to Turkey, I stayed in Chinatown for 5 days. It was the nicest place, even though it was a bit chaotic. All the nicest places are steps away from the street we stayed in. Suddenly I feel, I missed Manhattan so much. This is why I don’t like being stuck in Brooklyn all the time, and I blame Brooklyn itself.
Gentrification
This is one of the biggest issues about Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Greenpoint still manages to keep its authentic self, but Gentrification is inevitable. For months, you can lose your favorite coffee shops to the biggest companies like Starbucks.
Is it weird that I couldn’t find any other cons about Greenpoint? I hope you enjoy my List of Pros and Cons of living in Greenpoint.
This post updated on May 14th, 2024. Published on June 18, 2018.
