Brooklyn Heights is often lauded as Brooklyn's most prestigious neighborhood. With Brooklyn Bridge Park at its front yard, the neighborhood is bordered by Atlantic Avenue, the Brooklyn Promenade, Cadman Plaza and Court Street, this neighborhood is most known for its historic brownstones and tree-lined streets.
Brooklyn Heights features many elegant historic homes, many of which were converted from single-family townhomes and mansions. The neighborhood was the first to be protected in its entirety by the 1965 Landmarks Preservation Law. Adding to the area's quaint appeal are lovely courtyards and gardens along its quiet streets. One notable neighborhood residence is Truman Capote's home, the very place where he wrote "In Cold Blood" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's." In addition to the large quantity of brownstones, Brooklyn Heights also features multi-family homes, including more recent luxury developments such as One Brooklyn Bridge Park, The Heights at 30 Henry Street, a 19th-century building converted into five exclusive residences and Pierhouse at Brooklyn Bridge Park.
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Formerly named Ihpetonga (meaning "the high sandy bank") by the local Lenape tribe, Brooklyn Heights was settled by the Dutch in 1645. It is also the place where then-General George Washington watched the British defeat his army in the Battle of Brooklyn. Later, it would house the Brooklyn Dodgers headquarters. The office building that has since replaced the headquarters at 215 Montague Street displays a plaque acknowledging the location as the spot where Jackie Robinson signed his major-league contract.
Today, Brooklyn Heights is home to young professionals and affluent families, as well as older residents with established roots in the community. The upscale area has a suburban vibe and is marked by beautiful landscapes and architecture.
Some of the best spots to enjoy in Brooklyn Heights are the Promenade and Cadman Plaza. Featured in movies like "Annie Hall" and "Moonstruck," the Promenade is a prime location for first dates and wedding proposals, boasting breathtaking views of the Manhattan skyline, the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge. Meanwhile, Cadman Plaza, together with the nearby Korean War Veterans Plaza and Whitman Park, form a mall from Brooklyn Borough Hall to Brooklyn Bridge.
Brooklyn Heights is home to Saint Ann's School, a K-12 co-ed program that boasts a strong academic and artistic curriculum, and such noteworthy alumni as Jennifer Connolly and Lena Dunham. Also in the neighborhood is the top-ranked Saint Francis College, the first private school in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn.
The area has many popular restaurants and shops, particularly along Montague Street. Despite its posh reputation, many of the neighborhood's establishments are surprisingly casual and laid back. Henry Street Ale House is a nice, non-pretentious place to grab a beer after work. The local Iris Cafe offers a number of vegetarian options; and Lassen & Hennigs is a great place to go to for a standard New York deli experience. Montague Street is also home to a number of retail chains such as Banana Republic and Ann Taylor Loft, as well as local boutiques including popular independent bookstore Books Are Magic.
Brooklyn Heights is home to Saint Ann's School, a K-12 co-ed program that boasts a strong academic and artistic curriculum, and such noteworthy alumni as Jennifer Connolly and Lena Dunham. Also in the neighborhood is the top-ranked Saint Francis College, the first private school in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn.
The area has many popular restaurants and shops, particularly along Montague Street. Despite its posh reputation, many of the neighborhood's establishments are surprisingly casual and laid back. Henry Street Ale House is a nice, non-pretentious place to grab a beer after work. The local Iris Cafe offers a number of vegetarian options; and Lassen & Hennigs is a great place to go to for a standard New York deli experience. Montague Street is also home to a number of retail chains such as Banana Republic and Ann Taylor Loft, as well as local boutiques including popular independent bookstore Books Are Magic.
In the pipeline for Brooklyn Heights
One Montague Place on the rise in Brooklyn Heights
Rendering of One Montague Place (Landau Properties)
When One Montague Place is complete, it will be one of Brooklyn's tallest buildings. The condos will start on top of retail space and 90 rental units, the better to make the most of panoramic views of the Manhattan skyline and New York Harbor. These half-floor, full-floor, and triplex apartments will have at least three bedrooms and 3,000 interior square feet, custom kitchens with appliances by Gaggenau, and private outdoor space. Amenities will include a 63' indoor swimming pool, four padel courts, multiple children's playrooms, a private jazz club, and a BONDST restaurant.
The building will rise on the former site of the Brooklyn Dodgers headquarters, where Jackie Robinson signed his contract with the team. This building has since been demolished to make way for a post-war office building which displays a plaque acknowledging its site's history. The plaque would likely be included at One Montague Place, but there has been no word on this yet.
One Montague Place rendering and construction (Reddit via KeeperEUSC)
St. Francis College campus turning residential
Rockrose Development acquired St. Francis College’s longtime Brooklyn Heights campus at 180 Remsen Street for $160 million in 2023, taking control of a five-building assemblage stretching between Remsen and Joralemon streets from Court to Clinton streets in Brooklyn Heights.
St. Francis College occupied the campus for more than six decades before relocating to a new facility at 179 Livingston Street in Downtown Brooklyn. The site can accommodate roughly 500,000 square feet of as-of-right development, with approximately 100,000 additional square feet through an inclusionary housing bonus. Construction permits filed in December 2025 at 176 Remsen Street call for a mix of new construction and adaptive re-use. There will be a total of 789 residential units provided.
Axonometric diagram
Rendering of 180 Remsen Street (SLCE Architects for Landmarks Preservation Commission)
Conversion details (SLCE Architects for Landmarks Preservation Commission)
Rezoning sought to convert Panorama Brooklyn to residences
As of September 2026, the Department of City Planning is reviewing an application to convert Panorama Brooklyn, a Brooklyn Heights office/commercial project at 25-30 Columbia Heights, to a mixed-use development with a sizeable residential component overlooking the East River and the Manhattan skyline. Developer CIM Group seeks to enlarge the 12-story 25 Columbia Heights to 17 stories and convert its interiors to 14,850 square feet of commercial/community facility space on the ground floor with 392 residential units on top. The 13-story 30 Columbia Heights would be expanded to 14 stories and contain 269 residential units, commercial or community facility space, and residential parking. Approximately 25% of units in each building will be designated as affordable.
Crain's New York Business reports that the application comes about ten years after developers CIM Group, LivWrk, and Kushner Cos. acquired the early 1900s manufacturing buildings for $340 million and sought to transform them into an entertainment and creative office complex with retail at the base and terraced outdoor spaces for tenants. Many architectural details were carefully preserved, including a skybridge between 25 and 30 Columbia Heights, and the red "Watchtower" sign at the top of the building, a holdover from its time as part of the Jehovah's Witnesses campus, was changed to read "Welcome." But for all the updates, leasing momentum never happened, and LivWrk and Kushner Cos. are no longer involved. And sadly, the skybridge will not be part of the residential conversion.
Landmarks approves rooftop addition for Hotel Bossert condo conversion
Historic photos of the Hotel Bossert
In the Brooklyn Heights Historic District, developer SomeraRoad is in the process of converting the historic Hotel Bossert at 98 Montague Street, which was also known as the Waldorf-Astoria of Brooklyn," to a 61-unit luxury condominium. The residential conversion involves constructing rooftop and infill additions, and installing a new window assembly to meet light and air requirements.
At a June 2026 hearing, the team noted that the hotel's celebrated Marine Roof restaurant and bar was housed inside a rooftop addition, and that various rooftop additions have taken shape at the building over the years. Landmarks was largely supportive of the concept, but found the proposed rooftop addition too dominant and did not approve it.
Previously proposed
To that end, the team just returned to Landmarks with a revised presentation that took feedback into account. The presentation by SLCE Architects shows that the fifteenth floor has been pushed back about eight feet and that the thirteenth floor is more recessive. Between these changes, the elimination of one elevator bulkhead, and better organization and screening of rooftop mechanical equipment, the addition is less visible in all directions. They also changed the design of an infill to feature metal balcony railings instead of glass and new materials to match the existing masonry.
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Landmarks Chair Lisa Kersavage found the addition to be "simpler and less visible, and more sympathetic to the historic building." Her fellow commissioners were similarly pleased about the changes, with Commissioner Michael Goldblum going so far as to say, "I think it's perfect," and the application was unanimously approved.
Repairs announced for BQE Central
Last week, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Mike Flynn announced plans to rehabilitate "BQE Central," a 1.5-mile, City-owned section of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) between Atlantic Avenue and Sands Street. This section included multiple bridge structures, including the "Triple Cantilever," and was only ever meant to support around 50,000 car trips per day when it was completed in 1954. Today, though, it serves 130,000 vehicles every day and is about 20 years past its design life.
To prevent disaster, the plan calls for building temporary bypass structures; one on top of Furman Street below the Promenade, and one over the Brooklyn Bridge approach from Columbia Heights to the Manhattan Bridge. These will allow the DOT to repair deteriorated sections and improve drainage, railings, and lighting without forcing shutdowns that would send thousands of commercial trucks onto local neighborhood streets. It is expected to extend the service life of BQE Central for 40 years.
"This approach opens the possibility for future transformational change that communities up and down the BQE corridor have long advocated for" - Joint statement from New York State Senator Andrew Gounardes, Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon, and Council Member Lincoln Restler
For all the urgency related to the BQE, though, completion remains some years away. Environmental review is set to begin this fall, at which time the city will host public information sessions that include virtual Q&As and pop-up events where members of the public can see project materials and speak with team members. The DOT expects to complete an environmental impact statement in summer 2028. If all goes according to plan, groundbreaking is estimated for 2030, and the entire project is expected to take ten years to complete.
There have been mixed reactions to the plan. Its $4 billion price tag has raised some eyebrows, though the city has pointed out that every year of inaction costs the city an additional $160 million in escalation alone. And, as relieved as many have been to know that the crumbling expressway will be repaired, some see it as a missed opportunity to shift away from the BQE and its congestion for good. New York State Senator Andrew Gounardes, Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon, and Council Member Lincoln Restler, whose districts include BQE Central, said in a joint statement, “Our hope is that this rehabilitation project will be an interim step that allows us to plan for a post-BQE era and create a real timeframe to finally retire this Robert Moses relic."
The Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE) from the south end of the Brooklyn Promenade. Photo by Joe Mabel via Wikimedia | https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Search&limit=20&offset=20&profile=default&search=brooklyn+queens+expressway&advancedSearch-current={}&ns0=1&ns6=1&ns12=1&ns14=1&ns100=1&ns106=1#/media/File:BQE_from_south_end_of_Brooklyn_Heights_Promenade_01_(9420592065).jpg
30 Monroe Place, #1D (Corcoran Group)
40 Clinton Street, #4E (Argo Residential)
The Robert Livingston, #3F
$505,000 (-9.8%)
Downtown Brooklyn | Cooperative | 1 Bedroom, 1 Bath | 657 ft2
The Robert Livingston, #3F (Corcoran Group)
The Breukelen, #1D (Keller Williams NYC)
282 Henry Street, #9 (Sothebys International Realty)
40 Remsen Street, #1 (Brown Harris Stevens Brooklyn LLC)
56 Court Street, #2B (Coldwell Banker Warburg)
St. George Tower, #23H (Douglas Elliman Real Estate)
21 Monroe Place, #5F (Compass)
100 Remsen Street, #8A (Home By Choice LLC)
63 Cranberry Street, #3 (Corcoran Group)
The Mansion House, #B57 (Brown Harris Stevens Brooklyn LLC)
2 Grace Court, #4N (Compass)
150 Joralemon Street, #7A (Compass)
One Brooklyn Bridge Park, #301
$1,350,000 (-3.2%)
Brooklyn Heights | Condominium | 1 Bedroom, 1.5 Baths | 1,085 ft2
One Brooklyn Bridge Park, #301 (Hauseit LLC)
44 Remsen Street, #12 (Serhant)
24 Monroe Place, #11D (Brown Harris Stevens Brooklyn LLC)
Pierhouse at Brooklyn Bridge Park, #N808
$3,350,000 (-2.9%)
Brooklyn Heights | Condominium | 2 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths | 1,814 ft2
Pierhouse at Brooklyn Bridge Park, #N808 (Brown Harris Stevens Residential Sales LLC)
160 Henry Street, #8C (Serhant)
25 Grace Court, #TH
$14,500,000 (-3.3%)
Brooklyn Heights | Townhouse | 6+ Bedrooms, 4.5 Baths | 5,975 ft2
25 Grace Court, # (Compass)
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