Garfield Pl, Park Slope

So the 4th - 5th block of Garfield doesn't have the swank of the lordly brownstones on same street 3-4 blocks up the slope toward Prospect Park, but it's rapidly redeveloping for the better. Some of the change amounts to gut renos that produce polished 1,000 SF condos behind beautiful red brick 1900-era facades. Some are tear downs of not-gonna-miss-this garages, replaced by modern, glass and steel units, all within the $1.3-2.5 million price range. The afternoon we came back for a second look, we saw a wedding reception spilling onto the sidewalk, nannies leaning into double wide strollers and a cement truck pouring a new foundation. We talked to an Italian-American couple in their 60s -- I'll call them the Alborgettis -- who had been in the same house since the 1980s. "You should have seen this street 20 years ago," said Mr. Alborgetti, shaking his head dolefully. Now he's a property multimillionaire. From our roof patio, we see the defiant red, white and blue lights of the spire of the new Freedom Tower pulsating three and a half miles northwest, surrounded by the Financial District. Quite a sight at dusk. As for the surroundings, 4th Avenue is never going to be Park Avenue Manhattan but it is changing from a mousy lineup of auto repair and tire shops to mid rise residential and retail, with Whole Foods over on 3rd on the edge of Gowanus, where the Mob has ceased dropping bodies into the canal, clearly a thoughtful nod to gentrification. On 5th, it's an entirely different scene, hip and upbeat, including 31 restaurants (we counted) in a 6-block stretch adjoining Garfield, one of them Al Di La, Brooklyn's No. 1 restaurant, which is a block north of Garfield, several nice bars, a couple delis, a bodega, two wine shops, a cat hospital, a park, a middle school and a dozen blocks north Barclays Center, a Best Buy, a Target and a major transportation center. You complain about parking on Garfield? Look at it this way. Once you solve the parking problem (hint: sell the car), you'll have a place just a 15-minute walk from Barclays, where the Nets and Islanders play. Most normal fans would say you have an advantage, not a problem.

The street itself is pretty quiet. It's a lot of brownstones, most of them chopped up into tiny apartments and ruled over by draconian landlords. Like most other brownstones in the newly trendy Park Slope, it's very expensive. Landlords create rules from anything from when guests can be over to how much air conditioning can be used. Parking is incredibly scarce. A good friend of mine lives there, and I often have to drive around for as much as half an hour to find even an illegal space. It takes less time for me to walk seventeen blocks to see her than to drive and find parking. There are some really great shops around, especially for bagels. All you have to do is walk up an avenue or two to find delicious restaurants as well as the nearby food co-op and whole-foods-type store. Incredible! Also, for those who don't drive, the train is not very far.

Overall, this street didn't really have a lot to offer in terms of entertainment, but plenty in
in terms of convenience. The thing I like about Brooklyn is that it is a very convenient place
and there is always something to do or see. I think that Brooklyn is great, and this street in
particular really articulates why people are willing to "borough" it out and leave behind
the excess and inconvenience of the city.