On any given Saturday in the summer, Carolina Salguero watches the hordes of mostly young Manhattanites disembark from the New York City ferry at Atlantic Basin, a South Brooklyn inlet serving Red Hook.<\/p>\n
Salguero lives on the Mary A. Whalen, the rusty, 1930s-era red oil tanker permanently moored in the basin, just opposite Governor\u2019s Island.<\/p>\n
\u201cI look up, I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh my god, here come another 150 of them,\u201d Salguero said of the day-trippers.<\/p>\n
The New York City ferry, the Hornblower, arriving into Red Hook’s Atlantic Basin, alongside the Mary A. Whalen, which is headquarters for Portside, a maritime nonprofit.<\/p>\n
Willow Higgins\/Gothamist<\/p>\n
For business owners in Red Hook, which was ravaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and two major fires within the last year, the ferry is proving a difference-maker \u2013 for the arts community, entertainment, restaurants and jobs.<\/p>\n
The historic maritime port is home to Brooklyn\u2019s largest public housing development, and also home to trendy and expensive restaurants, hundreds of art studio spaces and the city\u2019s only IKEA. Those who live there acknowledge they are relatively isolated \u2013 there is no subway stop nearby \u2013 but say that is also part of the neighborhood’s appeal.<\/p>\n
The ferry from Manhattan only started coming to Red Hook in 2017. After a slow start<\/a>, ridership on a typical summer weekend day approached nearly a thousand last summer<\/a>, almost triple the first summer\u2019s count. Local business owners say the crowds have only grown since.<\/p>\n Views from Strong Rope Brewery on a Saturday, where bartender Gordon Taylor works.<\/p>\n Willow Higgins\/Gothamist<\/p>\n Summertime visitors are mainly Manhattanites who, thanks to ferry stops in Murray Hill, the East Village, and Wall Street, are making Red Hook a favorite summertime daycation. Those who have caught word of the jaunt say that a day in Red Hook feels like an escape to a funky beach town a world away without having to leave the city.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn’t quite feel like you’re in the city anymore,\u201d said Gordon Taylor, who moved to Red Hook during the pandemic. \u201cIt feels like you’re living in a small sort of seaside town just squished right up against the side of Brooklyn.\u201d<\/p>\n But the boat ride itself is only the beginning of the popular pilgrimage, which includes stops at any number of Red Hook staples, both historic and new-aged, that have gone viral on social media in recent years. And while most people who live and work in the neighborhood admit that the summers can be overwhelming, they acknowledge the local economy depends on it.<\/p>\n The Red Hook ferry port, with a Hurricane Sandy water mark.<\/p>\n Willow Higgins\/Gothamist<\/p>\n Salguero said Red Hook wasn\u2019t always like this. When she first moved to the neighborhood in the late 1990s, she said there was a whole lot of nothing around. The cobblestone roads were so empty, neighbors would catch up with each other through their car windows in the middle of the street.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was like being on a country road,\u201d she said. If anyone drove by, you could just wave them around. There weren\u2019t any parked cars to dodge.<\/p>\n It’s a totally different scene this August.<\/p>\n Twenty-somethings, some in kitten-heel sandals, others in trucker hats, flood Van Brunt Street, which offers a straight shot from the dock to the waterfront bars. Along the way they pass local boutiques, the Red Hook Tavern \u2013 which is known for its burger and for the usual line down the block \u2013 and a museum of unlocked vintage pinball machines that you can play for a suggested donation.<\/p>\n Getting visitors to stray from the typical foot traffic pattern requires a creative approach: Drew Villano, who grew up in Red Hook, advertises her vintage pop-up in sidewalk chalk from the ferry port to the doors of her business, just a few blocks off the main street.<\/p>\n \u201cSexy vintage THIS WAY,\u201d her signage reads alongside large arrows.<\/p>\n Mostly, local residents say, visitors head toward the same few bars and restaurants. Brooklyn Crab is one of them. The triple-decker crab shack was so crowded on a recent weekend that people overflowed into the street, where they played corn hole with pina coladas in hand.<\/p>\n Brooklyn Crab on a Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n Willow Higgins\/Gothamist<\/p>\n