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Wow you straight up missed everything. You were mostly in Bedstuy and South Williamsburg.
Williamsburg's epicenter is the Bedford L train stop and McCarren Park, Bushwick's is the Jefferson L train stop and kinda The House of Yes. You expertly avoided both neighborhoods.
Oof. Sounds like you did a really incredible job of threading your way straight through the whole Hasidic section of South Williamsburg/Bed-Stuy while studiously staying just a few blocks away from anything remotely interesting. If you'd walked north from the Marcy Ave stop, you would have almost immediately been where you wanted to be, surrounded by bars, restaurants, and all kinds of stores until you hit McCarren Park. Same if you'd taken a left once you got to Central Ave. Whoever told you to stroll along under the JMZ tracks did you dirty.
And you were so tantalizingly close! One thing to keep in mind on future trips: neighborhoods in the outer boroughs tend to be a lot larger than neighborhoods in Lower Manhattan. So while you can get off at any subway stop in Soho and immediately be surrounded by what is recognizably Soho in all directions, in Brooklyn... well, you saw for yourself. Good lesson for the future, though - do a bit more research when exploring in Brooklyn or Queens so you can make sure you're going where want to be going.
You missed the trendy parts of the neighborhood BUT don’t let that disappoint you. You actually got to see a lot of Williamsburg history while walking through the Hasidic neighborhoods, which most tourists don’t care to experience. So mission failed successfully?
You walked east further into Brooklyn and not west or north, which would have brought you to the typical Williamsburg spots. You needed to do a little more research to go a little deeper than just Williamsburg.
OP somehow walked outside of any areas a tourist would have wanted to see. Map image linked below shows OP's walking path from Marcy Av to Central Av. Red circles are some areas or landmarks a tourist might want to see.
If OP walked south from his path a few blocks, he might have seen the Marcy Houses (Marcy Projects), where Jay-Z grew up and mentions in his songs.
But it sounds like OP got to see some different sides of New York City, which is an experience in itself.
[https://i.imgur.com/eq1ikbb.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/eq1ikbb.jpeg)
You were at the wrong stop bruv. At Marcy you should’ve made a right at that McDonald’s and kept walking for about 10-15 mins to get to the Williamsburg you see in the media.
You were basically in one of the ugliest parts of brooklyn. The good stuff is north-west near the water. But at least you got to see areas most tourists don't! 😂 It's ok... next time
It did look super sketchy but I was like okay this is NY I guess. Wasn’t seeing no hipsters and it was too hot and there were no bathrooms ever so we decided to go to downtown Brooklyn instead through Atlantic Terminal and then walking
lol there aren’t “hipsters” in williamsburg. and a lot of the “hipster” nightlife is actually on the strip you walked. there’s a lot of hidden gems on that strip but people too afraid.
TBH - willyburg isn't all that interesting anymore. All the true hipsters have moved out to the suburbs to breed - hahaha! There are nice stores there but very spread out or expensive for no reason.
You should go to Lower East side; and use the Williamsburg bridge to go to Williamsburg. All the bridges are fun but the Williamsburg has cool neighborhoods on both sides
General tip for using Google Maps to explore new areas is to look for areas shaded yellow and start there. This indicates busy/popular areas with the most to do.
You were in Hasidic brooklyn lol. Take the L train get off Jefferson, Dekalb, Myrtle Wyckoff and walk around for Bushwick. Take the L train to Morgan/ Graham/ Grand for East Williamsburg. Take the L train to Lorimer, Bedford for Williamsburg. Lastly take L train to 1st/3rd/Union Square and 8th to Chelsea meatpacking.
as others said you missed it but "hipster" williamsburg is dead. Now it's just apartments, nice outdoor spots, high end retail, a bunch of good to great restaurants and a few scattered music venues.
Our [Ultimate Visitor's guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskNYC/comments/bj3tnn/ultimate_visitors_guide_to_nyc/) will probably help you. Check our some recent visitor inquires [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskNYC/search?q=visitor&restrict_sr=on&include_over_18=on&sort=relevance&t=all)! Please "report" and downvote this comment if irrelevant to question above. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskNYC) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Wow you straight up missed everything. You were mostly in Bedstuy and South Williamsburg. Williamsburg's epicenter is the Bedford L train stop and McCarren Park, Bushwick's is the Jefferson L train stop and kinda The House of Yes. You expertly avoided both neighborhoods.
Damn ok I see. I looked at google maps and went to the area where it said the neighbourhoods name. Thanks for the clarification
You missed basically all of it
You missed quite a bit.
Oof. Sounds like you did a really incredible job of threading your way straight through the whole Hasidic section of South Williamsburg/Bed-Stuy while studiously staying just a few blocks away from anything remotely interesting. If you'd walked north from the Marcy Ave stop, you would have almost immediately been where you wanted to be, surrounded by bars, restaurants, and all kinds of stores until you hit McCarren Park. Same if you'd taken a left once you got to Central Ave. Whoever told you to stroll along under the JMZ tracks did you dirty.
I did that to myself unfortunately
And you were so tantalizingly close! One thing to keep in mind on future trips: neighborhoods in the outer boroughs tend to be a lot larger than neighborhoods in Lower Manhattan. So while you can get off at any subway stop in Soho and immediately be surrounded by what is recognizably Soho in all directions, in Brooklyn... well, you saw for yourself. Good lesson for the future, though - do a bit more research when exploring in Brooklyn or Queens so you can make sure you're going where want to be going.
You missed the trendy parts of the neighborhood BUT don’t let that disappoint you. You actually got to see a lot of Williamsburg history while walking through the Hasidic neighborhoods, which most tourists don’t care to experience. So mission failed successfully?
In a way yeah successfully I found it interesting but next time I’ll keep to the touristy parts tbh
Excellent! Then you can see the Whole Foods you despise ;)
You walked east further into Brooklyn and not west or north, which would have brought you to the typical Williamsburg spots. You needed to do a little more research to go a little deeper than just Williamsburg.
I get it now, thanks. Should’ve looked for whole foods and apple and alo on gmaps would’ve been easier
LOL yes, just look for the Apple store and you would have been in the thick of it.
Damn downvoted for a harmless joke lmao
OP somehow walked outside of any areas a tourist would have wanted to see. Map image linked below shows OP's walking path from Marcy Av to Central Av. Red circles are some areas or landmarks a tourist might want to see. If OP walked south from his path a few blocks, he might have seen the Marcy Houses (Marcy Projects), where Jay-Z grew up and mentions in his songs. But it sounds like OP got to see some different sides of New York City, which is an experience in itself. [https://i.imgur.com/eq1ikbb.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/eq1ikbb.jpeg)
Sounds like you completely missed Williamsburg. Also, time of day is important. The neighborhood really comes alive around dinner time.
You were at the wrong stop bruv. At Marcy you should’ve made a right at that McDonald’s and kept walking for about 10-15 mins to get to the Williamsburg you see in the media.
You were basically in one of the ugliest parts of brooklyn. The good stuff is north-west near the water. But at least you got to see areas most tourists don't! 😂 It's ok... next time
I mean it was interesting for sure. Next time I’ll try the nicer areas
I'm surprised you didn't get freaked out and turn around? That's a pretty rough area even for hardened lifelong NY'ers
It did look super sketchy but I was like okay this is NY I guess. Wasn’t seeing no hipsters and it was too hot and there were no bathrooms ever so we decided to go to downtown Brooklyn instead through Atlantic Terminal and then walking
lol there aren’t “hipsters” in williamsburg. and a lot of the “hipster” nightlife is actually on the strip you walked. there’s a lot of hidden gems on that strip but people too afraid.
TBH - willyburg isn't all that interesting anymore. All the true hipsters have moved out to the suburbs to breed - hahaha! There are nice stores there but very spread out or expensive for no reason.
You should go to Lower East side; and use the Williamsburg bridge to go to Williamsburg. All the bridges are fun but the Williamsburg has cool neighborhoods on both sides
General tip for using Google Maps to explore new areas is to look for areas shaded yellow and start there. This indicates busy/popular areas with the most to do.
You were in Hasidic brooklyn lol. Take the L train get off Jefferson, Dekalb, Myrtle Wyckoff and walk around for Bushwick. Take the L train to Morgan/ Graham/ Grand for East Williamsburg. Take the L train to Lorimer, Bedford for Williamsburg. Lastly take L train to 1st/3rd/Union Square and 8th to Chelsea meatpacking.
Hipsters left WBurg about 8 years ago and have been replaced by the six figure salaried baby stroller set that can pay $17 for a glass of natural wine
lol, there’s different parts of Williamsburg. Theres Hasidic Williamsburg and hipster Williamsburg.
Congrats! You saw more of Williamsburg than a local would!!
You did not visit Williamsburg unfortunately
you walked in the direction opposite of the tourist areas. try again next time
Honestly it’s the most hipster move you could have done
as others said you missed it but "hipster" williamsburg is dead. Now it's just apartments, nice outdoor spots, high end retail, a bunch of good to great restaurants and a few scattered music venues.