Neighborhood Guide · Brooklyn
Carroll Gardens
Brownstones, gardens and a true neighborhood feel.
Joe's Carroll Gardens
Carroll Gardens feels like a second home to me.
For the last ten years I've represented a landlord with a sixty unit building here, so I've spent a lot of time on these blocks. Through the years I've rented and sold many homes in the area too.
The ties run deeper than work. My wife's family owns one of the most famous sandwich spots in Brooklyn, right on the other side of the highway. And when Tina was a court officer, she worked in Red Hook, so the two of us spent a lot of time there and in Carroll Gardens.
I've moved around a lot, and I've always had it in the back of my head that I'd like to try living here with my family. There's so much for kids to do, and you'll see as many people pushing strollers as walking dogs. It's a very green community, with tree lined blocks of brownstones and front gardens, and lots of mom and pop shops.
And the food. There are restaurants on every corner, and some of the best in Brooklyn. Lucali is still one of the hardest pizza reservations in the city, Frankies 457 Spuntino has been a neighborhood staple for years, and Cafe Spaghetti and F&F Pizzeria keep the Italian roots going strong. When I just want a great sandwich, Court Street Grocers never misses.
Getting around couldn't be easier. The F and G trains stop at Carroll Street and Smith–9th Street, so you're in Manhattan in minutes, and you're close to the BQE, the Gowanus, Cobble Hill, Park Slope and the Red Hook waterfront.
It's the kind of neighborhood where you still see neighbors talking in their front yards, and every winter the ten to fifteen year olds ring your bell asking if they can shovel your snow.
I think it's "the dream" neighborhood in Brooklyn, and I hope to keep growing my business here.
Front yards, stoops and neighbors who still stop to talk
Carroll Gardens is one of Brooklyn's most charming brownstone neighborhoods. Its blocks are lined with deep front gardens, its main streets are full of Italian bakeries, cafés and restaurants, and it still has the tight-knit feel of a place where neighbors know each other.
At a Glance
What to expect
Beautiful brownstones, great food and a close-knit community.
The lifestyle
Coffee on Court Street, dinner on Smith Street.
What not to expect
High-rise towers.
Living here
Brownstones, row houses and condos in converted townhouses.
You'll fall in love with
The front gardens and the old-school neighborhood spirit.
Buildings I Know Inside and Out
Carroll Gardens is brownstone country, and every house has its own story. These are the buildings in and around Carroll Gardens where I've sold and rented.
Around the Block
Classic Brooklyn brownstones.
A little history
Carroll Gardens is named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence. Its signature front gardens date to 1846, when surveyor Richard Butt laid out the blocks with homes set unusually far back from the street, leaving room for the deep gardens that give the neighborhood its name.
Irish immigrants settled here first, followed by Italian families who came to work on the nearby docks and at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. That Italian heritage is still everywhere, from the pork stores and bakeries on Court Street to the neighborhood's churches. The Carroll Gardens Historic District was designated in 1973.
Tree-lined streets & old Brooklyn charm
The blocks along Carroll and President Streets and the numbered Places are some of the prettiest in Brooklyn, with deep front gardens, wrought-iron fences and rows of brownstones under old shade trees. Carroll Park, one of Brooklyn's oldest parks, sits in the middle of it all.
The lifestyle
Court Street and Smith Street are lined with restaurants, cafés, wine bars and old-school Italian shops, and on weekends the neighborhood is full of families and strollers. Cobble Hill, Red Hook and Brooklyn Bridge Park are all an easy walk away.
Living here
Most homes are in brownstones and row houses, from single-family townhouses to floor-through co-ops and condos, plus a handful of newer boutique buildings. The F and G trains make the commute to Manhattan easy.
Famous Neighbors
A little mob history, a little movie history and plenty of neighborhood lore.
Getting Around
Subway
The F and G stop at Carroll Street and at Smith–Ninth Streets, and Bergen Street is just to the north. The F runs straight into Lower Manhattan and Midtown.
Street parking
Easier than most of the city. Most blocks have alternate-side street cleaning, and while spots can be competitive at night, plenty of residents keep a car here.
Boundaries & neighbors
Roughly Degraw Street to the Gowanus Expressway, from Hoyt Street west to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, Gowanus, Red Hook and the Columbia Street Waterfront are all next door.
You'll fall in love with the front gardens and the old-school neighborhood spirit.