By Elizabeth Smislova
DUMBO, a popular Brooklyn neighborhood, is sure to entertain visitors with impressive views and delectable eats. (Andrea Garcia/The Fordham Ram)
Brooklyn is the most populated borough in New York City, which makes its diversity and liveliness a given. It is quite a trek from Rose Hill, though, and the multitude of amazing places to go can be intimating. If you are a greenhorn to Brooklyn, or just looking for a foolproof place with good food and sights to explore this weekend, DUMBO Brooklyn has something to offer to everyone.
DUMBO is located on the water in between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. The easiest and fastest way to get there from Rose Hill is from Grand Central (use the city ticket on the Metro North on weekends for a half-price ticket), where you can take the 4 train (Lexington Avenue Express) to Fulton Street, then the A train (8 Avenue Express) to High Street Station. The best part of the DUMBO area is closer to the water, which is about a five minute walk from the subway—just remember that the water is downhill.
Besides the spectacular view of the Freedom Tower, Brooklyn Bridge, East River and the Statue of Liberty in the distance, DUMBO is home to TripAdvisor’s rated best pizza in the United States: Juliana’s Pizza. The restaurant serves slices of heaven and is located right next to Grimaldi’s Pizzeria (there is history between the two, but basically Juliana’s is the real Grimaldi’s). There is usually a line (our wait was forty-five minutes), but it was worth it. To start, we got the arugula salad with goat cheese and walnuts that made a strict junk-food-eater lick the plate. We then split a large margarita pizza—it is that good—and savored every bite. The bill was cheaper than Tino’s on Arthur Avenue and my mouth waters thinking about it. If you’re sick of pizza from late night Pugsley’s runs, Shake Shack is also on the same block and offers the Chicken Shack sandwich (because Brooklyn is even trendier than Manhattan).
If you’re feeling extra adventurous and want some beautiful photo ops, the stairs to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge are easy to find. If you can, do it while the sun is setting for on incredible view. Regardless, you have to stay in DUMBO until it gets dark because the city lights up and reflects on the water. While admiring the amazing view, be sure to grab some ice cream from the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory in the former fireboat house. Everything is made in-house in small batches, so the flavors are limited but delicious. I got the coffee chocolate chip, which was insanely good. Then, walk towards the Manhattan Bridge to see a signature filming spot in “Gossip Girl” (cue Kristen Bell’s voice) and have a life changing cappuccino from One Girl Cookies. Their cookies are tiny but melt-in-your-mouth good and definitely worth the belt loosening after the pizza and ice cream—you can walk it off on the uphill haul back to the subway!
