City's Most Livable Neighborhoods, but a few surprises
On a Magazine’s List of the City’s ‘Most Livable Neighborhoods,’ a Few Surprises
Kirsten Luce for The New York Times
Marian Meller, left, and Andrew Pietrzykowski moved to Greenpoint from Poland.
By CARA BUCKLEY
Published: April 12, 2010
, Greenpoint, Brooklyn. A neighborhood at once blessed and cursed.
Kirsten Luce for The New York Times
From left, Marie Pizzariello, Jennie Gaeta and Angelo Trocchia are residents of Greenpoint
Upside: It borders the East River and has glorious views of Manhattan’s spires. Downside: Much of the waterfront is blocked off by a grim stretch of decaying industrial sites.
Upside: A subway runs through its heart. Downside: The train is the widely loathed G.
Upside: Its northern border is also along a waterfront — of a creek, no less! Downside: The creek was the site of one of the worst oil spills in United States history, and it houses lots of raw sewage. Both can be very smelly, and neither has yet been fully cleaned up.
But now, at long last, Greenpoint is finally getting some props. In a ranking of New York City’s “50 most livable neighborhoods,” compiled by the wunderkind statistician Nate Silver, Greenpoint sailed past dozens of more glamorous competitors to land in an impressive fifth place.
Greenpoint outranked TriBeCa by nine spots and its fashion-fixated neighbor Williamsburg by 15. It trounced the West Village, which finished a surprisingly low 24th. (“There’s a lot to love, which is the problem,” Mr. Silver, wrote of its sky-high housing prices. “Everybody loves it.”)
Mr. Silver, who runs the Web site fivethirtyeight.com and gained notice for accurately predicting the results of 49 states in the 2008 presidential race, compiled the rankings for the April 19 issue of New York magazine. He took into account factors like affordability, safety, green space and nightlife. Greenpoint scored highest for its schools, measured by test scores and parent satisfaction ratings.
Befitting such a diverse neighborhood — home to Latinos, post-collegiate young people and a high concentration of Poles — local reaction to Greenpoint’s relatively high ranking was mixed. Denizens were satisfied, smug, indifferent and, in the case of Shawn King, 38, flummoxed.
“I like it, but I don’t know why we would be fifth,” said Mr. King, as he strolled along Franklin Street late Monday morning with his miniature bull terrier, Bruce. Mr. King glanced at nearby row houses and opined that the neighborhood was “not the most aesthetically pleasing.”
“The vinyl siding and all that,” he said. “There are nice bars and restaurants. But it’s kind of dirty.”
Several blocks north, Monique Aiuto, 36, was playing with her toddler son, Isaiah, on a patch of manicured grassland bordering Newtown Creek. Ms. Aiuto, who plays the glockenspiel in the Welcome Wagon, a band she formed with her husband, the Rev. Thomas Vito Aiuto, said Greenpoint was community-oriented, if a little short of green space.
The wind turned, and a pungent blast of something chemical — nail polish remover? — wafted by. “The smells are bad; you know, they worry me,” said Ms. Aiuto, as Isaiah ran a few circles on the grass. “I guess a lot of places in New York are not going to be great for your health.”
(In Mr. Silver’s index, Greenpoint ranked 51st in the “health and environment” category.)
Meanwhile, lifelong residents clustered in and around Manhattan Avenue, Greenpoint’s bustling commercial heart, said they were not surprised their neighborhood ranked so high.
Lucy Wierzbicki, co-owner of the Polam International market, said she liked the area because there were so many Poles. “We have everything,” she said. “Quiet. Very good area. Good schools.”
Several blocks south, at the Peter Pan Donut and Pastry Shop, five retirees, all Greenpoint natives, discussed the ranking over coffee. Their neighborhood has everything, they said. A quick commute into Manhattan, even if it does require switching trains. An influx of restaurants. And an increase in young people, many with college degrees.
“We’re on the map,” said Jennie Gaeta, a retired teacher’s assistant, with satisfaction. “I think we deserve even one, or two.”
Not many were surprised that Park Slope was ranked first by Mr. Silver and that Cobble Hill/Boerum Hill was fourth. Ms. Gaeta was shocked, however, to learn that her beloved neighborhood was bested by the Lower East Side (second place) and Sunnyside, Queens (third).
“I never, never,” said Ms. Gaeta, aghast. “They beat us?”
“Sunnyside?” asked Ms. Gaeta’s sister, Marie Pizzariello. “What does Sunnyside have?”
“Irish bars,” said Bob Grady, 71, a retired bank vice president.
Several locals conceded to being a bit worried about the steady arrival of trendy youngsters, having seen how quickly they subsumed much of Williamsburg.
Henry Balaga, 61, a retired post office worker, said he liked their energy. “It makes the place look younger,” he said. “When I went to Mass, it was like an AARP Mass.”
But Greg Pitts, 53, a ceramics instructor who moved to Greenpoint four years ago, said he loved the working-class Polish character of the neighborhood and had wearied of the noisy weekend stampedes of the young, drunk and club-bound.
“It’s New York, so I guess I shouldn’t be complaining,” he said. “I like what I came to. But I don’t like what it’s becomin
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