I’ve been to Red Hook quite a few times, however I’ve only been to the side that housed Ikea and Fair Way. I expected more commercial shops and markets, however I was surprised to see how barren the area was.
I paid a visit to Red Hook on February 23 around 2:03 pm by car. It is difficult to take public transportation to Red Hook, since the nearest train station is closer to Cobble Hill, Borough Hall. The only way to get to Red Hook is by transferring from Borough Hall to the B61, however the bus will only take you to as far as IKEA and Fairway. The lack of transportation makes it troublesome and strenuous to get to the remote district, specifically the residential areas, especially for residents that lack cars.
Red Hook is heavily congested in industrialized and manufacturing buildings. The district is made up of mostly storage warehouses that take up an entire block, old and abandoned commercial properties, along with undeveloped lots. These underdeveloped lots are used to store rows and rows of cars, school buses, and tour buses. I noted the absence of public bus stops around the heavily industrialized areas. And I noticed how there were mostly eighteen-wheeler trucks around the industrial areas that had worn down warehouses. Besides that, there was also a docking port for cruise ships and cargo ships.
As for the residential areas in Red Hook, most of the homes were glued besides one another like linked-houses. However, I did not observe any brownstone homes. There was a park, and a public pool nearby with school buses parked outside. When I went around 2:03 pm, there was barely any foot traffic. This could be due to the snow that was still lying around and the extremely cutting winds; the temperature was around 16 degrees Fahrenheit. I saw a few residents baring the bitter wind, however the few people that were out were mostly the blue-collared working class people or the truck drivers. While going around the residential areas, there are some new developing homes. I was surprised to see the construction of a fancy building around Columbia and Bay Street, but even more surprised to find it was a school for grades K-12. Although the sign read opening Fall 2014 and accepting applications, the construction was still incomplete and in progress.
Fair Way was at the end of Van Brunt Street, which is the only main street where business in the form of commercial boutiques is. The only main produce store in Red Hook is Fair Way; this would imply Red Hook being a food dessert before Fair Way opened. In fact, the only active parts of Red Hook were around Van Brunt Street, Fair Way, and Ikea.
Even though Red Hook is barren, there are still some creative and resourceful residents. Some of the empty lots are used as gardening centers, like nearby Fair Way is the Chelsea Gardens and the street art on the walls of worn down buildings bring life to the community.
