G to Nassau

Photographs: Dave Sanders

It’s hard to believe that two centuries ago, Greenpoint was an isolated land populated by just five families. It’s especially hard to believe this when we start our exploration at kitschy Fred Flare (131 Meserole Ave at Leonard St; 718-349-1257, fredflare.com), where boutique manager Jen Koehl insists that the neighborhood, despite its rapid gentrification, has managed to retain a small-town authenticity.

“Everyone knows everyone,” she says, and we’re immediately reminded of Stars Hollow, which fans of the now-canceled Gilmore Girls may recall fondly. To our knowledge, however, you couldn’t buy a hamburger phone or a frosting-pink Hello Kitty tee at the stores Rory and Lorelai frequented.

As we pause to admire a Gnome & Garden kit, Koehl rattles off a list of her favorite neighborhood haunts, including organic café and music store Eat Records (124 Meserole Ave at Leonard St; 718-389-8083, eatrecords.com). Here we find folks acquiring tunes the old-fashioned way—by scouring dusty bins and plucking out treasures, marked $4–$10 a pop. Co-owner Doug Pressman tells us he loves introducing customers to the shop’s more obscure selections, including rare ’60s soundtracks and experimental cuts. “We cram everything in,” he says.

The same M.O. is in effect at vintage boutique Old Hollywood (110 Meserole Ave at Manhattan Ave; 718-389-0837, oldhollywoodmoxie.com), located just down the street. Owner Tiffany Porter stocks the shop with “dresses that make women look good”—everything from 1950s high-waisted swingers to modern Diane von Furstenberg wraps. Other offerings include pinup-inspired bathing suits and locally made jewelry, which Porter displays in old medicine cabinets.

Back on the street, a native Greenpointer directs us to nearby Monsignor McGolrick Park (between Driggs and Nassau Aves and Monitor and Russell Sts, nycgovparks.org), a 9.13-acre swatch of greenery dotted with a dog run, playground and pair of monuments commemorating the Civil War and World War I. That’s where we meet Alex Popovych, pushing his sleeping daughter’s stroller. Popovych says the park’s crescent-shaped pavilion reminds him of Budapest’s Heroes Square, back in his native Hungary. “Greenpoint has multiple edges to it,” says Popovych, adding that the notoriously Polish enclave also boasts a surprising number of Irish-owned businesses.

One such joint is Connie O’s (158 Norman Ave at Newell St, 917-578-7959), an 80-year-old Greenpoint staple and the epitome of a neighborhood bar. “Nothing has changed,” says co-owner Tracy O’Sullivan, “except we got older.” Then she calls down to a regular seated at the bar: “Right, Norm?” It would seem the prices haven’t changed much over the years either: Draft beers are still $1.50 and bottles are $3.25.

For Polish eats, O’Sullivan likes Relax (68 Newell St at Nassau Ave, 718-389-1665), a dimly lit restaurant where many patrons appear to be from the motherland. For the non-Poles, there’s a menu in English, translating golabki (stuffed cabbage), gulasz wolowy (beef goulash) and other Eastern European delicacies. Another neighborhood fave is Restaurant Pyza (118 Nassau at Eckford St, 718-349-8829), where Popovych often brings guests for what he describes as “home-cooked meals at McDonald’s prices.” In addition to pierogi and blintzes, Andrew Zimmern wanna-bes can devour ozorki w sosie chrzanowym (tongue in horseradish). For the uninitiated, that dish just might sum up Greenpoint: new experience, Old World.

See more Subway tours

See more in Own This City