Scaling the Heights: Brooklyn-born or transplanted, devoted residents here plant their deep roots
Around Halloween, when golden maple leaves collect along the streets and orange pumpkins give stoops and steps a warm glow, Brooklyn Heights looks and feels almost, for New York City at least, like small town America — but reconstructed among brownstones and apartment blocks. This welcoming, neighborly feel goes beyond Halloween curb appeal, though: residents attest to the Heights’ year-round livability due to its natural splendor, architectural grandeur, access to major to major subway lines and congenial street life and walkability. Perhaps that’s why, unlike many parts of the city with a resiliently transient population, people move to Brooklyn Heights to set up home, and never leave.
Koren Volk, a retired bank executive, moved to New York City from Toronto when her fellow Canadian husband, Rick, was transferred for work. “We were in corporate housing here in the Heights at first. We toured apartments in Chelsea, Greenwich Village and the Upper West Side, and we just thought, ‘No!’ We were attracted to the Heights because of reasonable rent; then we saw the view: Oh my gosh. We thought, why would you leave?”
The view Volk refers to is seen from the Promenade, which draws tourists and residents alike to take in what is probably the best sight of Manhattan to be had in the state.