01. (-) Greenpoint
In July, the city finally struck a deal with big corporate polluters to bankroll the Superfund clean up of Newtown Creek. Still number one!
02. (+1) Fort Greene/Clinton Hill
The nabe’s flagship bookstore, Greenlight, announced it’d move its administrative operations to a new office next door, freeing up space for a larger sales floor to accommodate bigger events. Take that, post-Borders trend pieces.
03. (+1) Ditmas Park
The Church Avenue BID installed 63 historic-looking streetlights, mimicking a style once ubiquitous in Brooklyn and making an attractive neighborhood a little bit prettier.
04. (-2) Cobble Hill
Anecdotal evidence suggests an out-of-control rat problem in Cobble Hill Park thanks to nearby construction sites. On the bright side, it seems like July was the worst of it. Still, though…
05. (-1) Williamsburg
Bushwick Inlet Park, the negotiated green space locals got in exchange for the 2005 waterfront rezoning, won’t happen after all, at least not anytime soon. Also, the USPS split the nabe into two zip codes, fomenting rivalry.
06. (+4) Gowanus
The Superfund designation has stalled, if not killed, large development. But that has allowed restaurants and galleries to flourish, making this arguably the hippest nabe in Brooklyn right now, despite that dirty, stinky canal.
07. (+1) Bushwick
Chelsea gallery Luhring Augustine announced it’d open an exhibition space here, while Williamsburg’s NURTUREart decided to move east into the neighborhood, too. Still, the armed robbery in August of state-assembly candidate Jesus Gonzalez’s office is sobering news.
08. (-2) Park Slope
Privacy concerns extended to Steve Buscemi’s stoop, shutting down a Tumblr that chronicled the junk the Golden Globe winner left out there. That attitude is what keeps neighbors from forming communities—stoops should be considered public spaces!
09. (-2) Carroll Gardens
Signs for Barclays, sponsor of the coming Atlantic Yards stadium, appeared on the playground fences of a local elementary school. Blech.
10. (-1) Brooklyn Heights
New portions of Brooklyn Bridge Park will include a hotel-condo, and perhaps even more housing. Because that’s where hotel-condos belong, in parks.
11. (+2) DUMBO
An announcement that the NYPD might move its Brooklyn property-office here brought out the worst NIMBYism in locals. But, hey, that new carousel will be open soon…
12 (-1) Red Hook
The Smith-Ninth Street subway station closed, cutting off rail access to Red Hook until 2012. And a pedestrian bridge over Hamilton Avenue is closed for renovations. Inconvenient, sure, but doesn’t inaccessibility add to the mystique?
13. (-1) Windsor Terrace
The parks department doused the neighborhood with probably carcinogenic pesticides when they sprayed Prospect Park and Green-Wood Cemetery for West Nile in August. Living near green space has its price.
14. (+1) Coney Island
Job growth was relatively strong here in 2010, and not just in amusements. Still, construction-and-demolition has increased the feral-cat population.
15. (+1) Crown Heights
This August saw the 20th anniversary of the Crown Heights riots, revealing how far race relations in the neighborhood—and the city—have come in the intervening decades.
16. (-2) Prospect Heights
Atlantic Yards construction has inundated the neighborhood with rats. Plus, it looks like the Islanders will make Barclays their home within a few years (yuck).
17 . Downtown Brooklyn
Despite lobbying from the borough president, a development on Joralemon Street won’t include an Apple store. Just one more reason not to visit.
18. Brighton Beach
The summer started off with a tragic shooting; then an NRDC report suggested Brooklyn’s Atlantic-facing beaches were polluted. Worst of all, reality show Russian Dolls premiered, Jersey Shore-ing the place in the public imagination.
19. (-) Bay Ridge
Local Republican state senator Marty Golden is the landlord of the catering hall where he spent $40,000 in campaign cash in the first six months of 2011. He also fought tooth-and-nail against gay marriage this summer. Bay Ridge won’t be a nice place to live until he’s out of office.
20. (-2) Sunset Park
Two local post offices could be shuttered, leaving those near the southern border with Bay Ridge without access to stamps and money orders (and whatever else people go to post offices
for… passports?)
