On a recent afternoon, the line stretched down the block from L’Appartement 4F, a French bakery that started as an Instagram account during the pandemic and opened in a Brooklyn Heights storefront in June. Since then it has been bullied.
On Montague Street, a stylish crowd bruised at Felice, a new Italian restaurant run by the group behind fashion hotspot Sant Ambroeus. Felice recently created the celebrity-obsessed site Deux Moi when actress Tommy Dorfman was spotted there.
And a few blocks away, actor Paul Rudd was hanging out on his porch with his family after recently buying and renovating a brownstone in the neighborhood.
In the last year or so, the stodgy and affluent enclave of Brooklyn Heights, New York’s old Volvo neighborhoods, has undergone a subtle but significant transformation.
The change is still in its infancy: Senior Discount Tuesday at Gristedes is still on the rise, and the closest thing to a home furnishing store is mattress company. But the leafy neighborhood south of the Brooklyn Bridge along New York Harbor has a destination for dining and shopping for the first time in ages. Its grand historic townhouses are treasured by the new super-rich, who are crowding out the merely wealthy lawyers and bankers that have long defined the local nobility.
And celebs are everywhere now. Amy Schumer made headlines in July when she paid more than $12 million for the “Moonstruck” home, the 5,600-square-foot, five-bedroom townhouse built in 1829 and where the Oscar-winning 1987 film was filmed .
Matt Damon paid $16.7 million in 2018 for a 6,000-square-foot penthouse at Standish Brooklyn, the Beaux-Arts-style hotel-turned-celebrity-filled Columbia Heights condo. His neighbors include John Krasinski and Emily Blunt. Three blocks away, Michelle Williams paid $10.8 million for a 3,000-square-foot townhouse in 2020.
Celebrity sightings have become so commonplace – Jennifer Connelly takes her kids to school; Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys on a weekend walk; Adam Driver fetching at the dog park – no wonder the paparazzi didn’t mark the boardwalk.
In another sign of the neighborhood’s growing cultural prestige, Jenny Jackson, vice president and editor-in-chief at Knopf, has written a romance novel set in Brooklyn Heights that follows an old-money family. Pineapple Street isn’t scheduled for release until next year, but has been chosen for development as a TV series.
“It’s about the understated, extraordinary wealth that can be found in pockets in this neighborhood,” said Ms. Jackson, who moved to Brooklyn Heights from the West Village 11 years ago. “It’s a fun neighborhood. It’s not flashy. Yet there are pockets of deep riches that you can glimpse.”
She, too, has had her share of celebrity run-ins. “The West Village is where you went if you wanted to see celebs in their natural habitat,” Ms. Jackson said. Now she meets Keri Russell at SoulCycle and Adam Driver at the ice cream truck. “I saw Matt Damon outside the pharmacy. He’s so conspicuous because he pulls his hat down to try not to be noticed.”
“West Village, uninterrupted”
The West Village analogy isn’t far off. Ever since Carrie Bradshaw was spotted emerging from a brownstone on Perry Street, the neighborhood has been considered one of the most desirable in New York City for a certain breed of downtown celebrity who coveted a West Village townhouse as their ultimate real estate prize. Architectural Digest once questioned whether West 11th Street was home to the city’s “star-studded” block.
But maybe the West Village was overdoing it. The best townhouses have been gobbled up by billionaires like Steve Cohen, the hedge fund manager and owner of the Mets. Tourists flocked to the bakery on Magnolia Street and the boutiques on Bleecker Street.
In a city where the ultra-rich want not just one but two home offices and plenty of outdoor space — desires that have gone into overdrive during the pandemic — Brooklyn Heights has emerged as a quaint alternative for those who can afford, to live anywhere.
“Right now there are tons of buyers shopping in the Village and Brooklyn Heights at the same time,” said Ravi Kantha, a partner at Leslie Garfield, a real estate agency that specializes in townhomes. “I tell people, ‘It’s like the West Village, non-stop,'” he added, referring to the well-preserved row houses on the tree-lined streets.
In a way it’s even more beautiful. Brooklyn Heights homes are typically larger than those in the West Village, many built in the 19th century by wealthy merchants in Manhattan’s first suburb.
The charming streetscapes are also more seamless, offering a monastic calm that other brownstone neighborhoods lack.
“In the West Village, you’re sandwiched between the avenues, and all these people come from out of town to go to the comedy clubs or the jazz clubs,” said Elizabeth Roberts, the architect known for blowing up the back of Brooklyn Brownstones and installation of a glass wall. “Brooklyn Heights is block after block of calm. Why do celebrities and others go there? It’s the most beautiful brownstone townhouse neighborhood in Brooklyn.”
And it has spectacular views of the Manhattan skyline, creating a visual connection to downtown that’s reassuring for anyone venturing across the river for the first time. That may explain why the private rooftop has become a trophy feature of Brooklyn Heights.
Just ask Robert Taffera and his brother Eric of Taffera Inc., the “It” contractors in Brooklyn Heights – yes, there is. New brownstone owners are taking a no-holds-barred approach to gut cleanups, with budgets sometimes exceeding $4 million based on estimates of $1,000 per square foot for renovations.
“On some projects, we’ve dug up almost the entire lot and put the garden back on top” to make room for offices, a gym and a wine cellar, said Robert Taffera.
Real estate prices have also skyrocketed. In 2020, a penthouse unit in the Quay Tower waterfront condominium sold for $20 million, breaking the borough’s sales record held by Mr. Damon. That record was short-lived: In 2021, a sprawling home on Montague Terrace owned by Vincent Viola was sold to an unnamed buyer for $25.5 million.
Many of the newcomers have made their fortunes in the new economy and are drawn to the beautiful architecture, proximity to Manhattan, and elite private schools like Packer Collegiate Institute and St. Ann’s School.
These include Joseph Lallouz, a cryptocurrency executive who last month paid $18.3 million ($3 million more than the previous listing price) for a five-story brownstone with a coach house, private garden, and a roof overlooking the water . Other notable residents include Dan Houser, a founder of Rockstar Games; Michael Lynton, the chairman of Snap Inc; and Julie Greenwald, Atlantic Records Chief Operating Officer.
“People walking around the neighborhood often say, ‘Wow, that’s so nice. It’s so quiet, it’s so peaceful,’” said Mr. Kantha, the real estate agent. “For anyone looking for an escape from the pressure, noise and everything that can be overwhelming about the city, this is quite an amazing find.”
Retail revival on Montague
But there are still many amenities that Brooklyn Heights lacks. Until recently, there weren’t any trendy bars or restaurants worth posting on Instagram. There are no gourmet shops where you can buy grass-fed beef or cheese from Hudson Valley vendors. Not a boutique hotel with a meeting lobby scene.
The closest thing to a social club is the Heights Casino, a vintage squash and tennis club that feels like it’s been imported from 1950s Greenwich, Connecticut.
Montague Street, the neighborhood’s main shopping street, is notoriously monotonous, a boulevard lined with chain stores like Starbucks and Key Food interspersed with mom-and-pop hardware stores, bodegas, and restaurants, and plenty of empty storefronts. (Upscale shopping and dining can be found on Atlantic Avenue to the south and Dumbo to the north, both a short walk away.)
Ashley Coiffard, who opened L’Appartement 4F with her husband Gautier Coiffard, first visited Montague Street three years ago and recalled thinking there was nowhere to eat but a subway.
“After we signed our lease, a lot of people said, ‘Brooklyn Heights – it’s not busy. Are you sure that was a good decision?’” she said.
But the bakery appears to have sparked a retail revival. Across the street at 122 Montague, novelist Emma Straub is opening a new branch of her bookstore Books Are Magic, a store so cute it has more than 200,000 followers on Instagram. (The bookstore’s original location is in Cobble Hill.)
Both businesses were brought to the neighborhood by the Brooklyn Heights Association, a more than century-old civic association that works with landlords, residents and business owners to stimulate local commerce. “The older generation might not like it, but I think a really cool bar on Montague Street is the next thing we need to aim for,” said Erika Belsey Worth, until recently president of the association.
Maybe her wish has come true. In June, Sean Rembold, a former chef at Williamsburg’s Marlow & Sons and Diner, and his wife, fashion designer Caron Callahan, opened Ingas Bar, a chic neighborhood restaurant at 66 Hicks Street, a space formerly occupied by neighborhood Jack the Horse Tavern.
Ingas is often packed with crowds who look like they’ve migrated over from the cooler parts of Brooklyn. On a recent night, Amy Schumer was hanging out at the bar.
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