If there’s one thing the proclamations of New York’s “best of” lists are always good for, it’s sparking debate. But when a list has categories like “Best ’90s Musical Hero Hiding Out Scruffily in Brooklyn” (Blake Schwarzenbach), who can argue? That distinction and about 250 others are from the just-released Village Voice Best of NYC 2009—a guide to people, places and things around the city that might otherwise have gone unnoticed to the average New Yorker. Naturally, Brooklyn makes a solid showing on this year’s list, nabbing more than 40 in all. From pretend vacations to supplying your DIY needs, here are just a few of Brooklyn’s best unique virtues.
First, let’s drink to the borough’s success. With Brooklyn’s seven nods out of the 22 best bars and clubs, you have plenty of places to do so:
Feed off the excitement with some Arkanoid and beers at Barcade (Best $10 Recession-Friendly Bar Zone-Out). Toast the old fashioned way with $2 whiskey shots at Char No. 4 (Best Brooklyn Whiskey Bar), or with all your friends at Union Hall (Best Bar for Large Get-Togethers). Get away from them all with a cheap pretend vacation to Black Mountain Winehouse (Best Bar to Spirit Yourself Away to the Adirondacks). Or toast in true NY style with the city’s finest and bravest at Farrell’s (Best Place to Get Loaded With Hooligans and Cops).
Once you’ve drunk your way through Brooklyn, it’s time to pick up some sharp, heavy objects and get to the much-needed home improvements (naturally). Head to Sisters Community Hardware (Best Hardware Store) for a hammer and nails—build your own desk, hang those shelves or paint over that strange stain on the wall you’ve been staring at for months.
In need of a wallet-friendly wardrobe upgrade? The Voice touts A-OK in Williamsburg (Best Clothes for Under $100). This cousin to OAK is a more affordable version of the designer clothing store. They even have a 60 percent warehouse sale on their web site.
With buzz in-head, and the handy tools and wardrobe in-hand, you now face the task of getting it all back up to your seventh-floor walk-up. No worries, just call Park Slope Movers (Best Movers for Less). They’ll lug everything, and with no extra charge for the stairs.
Finally, wind down with a spooky, pre-Halloween walk through Green-Wood Cemetery (Best Creepy Stroll ). Wear those smart new purchases and imagine you’re back a hundred years when the cemetery was a tourist spot to rival Niagara.
Oops! A previous version of this story said that the ever-popular Brooklyn Flea was snubbed by the Village Voice. Damn straight it was—back in 2007. This year, Brooklyn Flea got a deserving nod for NYC’s best quesadillas. Our apologies for the mix-up.
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I’ve only been to the Brooklyn Flea once, and while I thought it was neat, it certainly didn’t strike me as the place to go if you’re trying to live on “small change.” PS 321 probably fits that bill better, albeit with much less to see/shop.
I think you mean Blake Schwarzenbach?
Yes, Blake. Thanks for that, jawbreaker. It will be fixed.
Anyone saying the PS 321 Flea Market is somehow more authentic than the Brooklyn Flea is disconnected from reality. The biggest difference between the two is that Brooklyn Flea has food and designer booths, but both are filled to the brim with traditional flea market wares at reasonable prices.
Granted when it started Brooklyn Flea was a tad more “twee” and precious and focused on just the designers. But now? It’s far more balanced.
And not for nothing, but the PS 321 flea has some really bad vendors by any standard. Guys who sell old toys from the 1980s that nobody wanted then, and nobody wants now.
It takes time to hook the upstate and out-of-state vendors to come to the Brooklyn Flea, but the Voice is wrong.
people still read the voice? yawn.