Prospect Heights is the perfect melding of historical and modern Brooklyn. In between important monuments is a neighborhood filled with family-owned restaurants and shops and a thriving bar scene. Local Alexander-Julian Gibbson's insider's guide.
LessBrooklyn Botanic Garden is a stunning 52-acre garden next to the Brooklyn Museum. You can buy an “Art & Garden” ticket and visit both the museum and garden for $16 for seniors/students or $25 for adults.
This beautiful architectural structure once known as Prospect Park Plaza is technically considered the entrance to Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. Originally erected to memorialize the Battle of Long Island, the plaza now hosts one of the biggest farmers markets in New York every Saturday.
The beautiful, streamlined Beaux Arts-style library designed by Raymond F. Almirall is an architectural feat first and library second. If you don’t necessarily have the time to delve into the 1 million-plus books, magazines and multimedia materials the library has, visit just to take in its impressive design.
Cafe Rue Dix is an amazing French/Senegalese restaurant attached to a trendy African concept store called Marche Rue Dix. Both the cafe, with its fresh ingredients and bold spices, and Marche Rue Dix, with authentic African trinkets, home goods and fashion, are a nice bit of the motherland in the borough.
Morgan’s Barbecue is the sweet marriage of Texas technique with upscale NYC steakhouse knowledge. It’s served out of a casual neighborhood spot on the edge of Prospect Heights. Grab some bourbon and try anything smoked by the restaurant’s pitmaster, Houston native Eric Springer.
The brick-oven Neapolitan pizza from Barboncino has been called “the best pizza in the city” by notably biased Prospect Heights locals. While the validity of this statement is still debated by pizza scholars, the objectively great pizza and tasty cocktails make this shop the perfect neighborhood date-night spot.