Dumbo, an acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, is a neighborhood in the New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 borough

Borough (New York City)

New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...

 of Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

. It encompasses two sections: one located between the Manhattan

Manhattan Bridge

The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan with Brooklyn . It was the last of the three suspension bridges built across the lower East River, following the Brooklyn and the Williamsburg bridges...

 and Brooklyn Bridge

Brooklyn Bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...

s, which connect Brooklyn to Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

 across the East River

East River

The East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...

, and another that continues east from the Manhattan Bridge to the Vinegar Hill

Vinegar Hill, Brooklyn

Vinegar Hill is a neighborhood in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City on the East River waterfront between DUMBO and the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The neighborhood is served by Brooklyn Community Board 2. The neighborhood is served by the NYPD's 84th Precinct....

 area. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 2

Brooklyn Community Board 2

Brooklyn Community Board 2 is a local governmental body in the New York City borough of Brooklyn that encompasses the neighborhoods of Downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO, Vinegar Hill, Fulton Mall, Boerum Hill, Fort Greene, Brooklyn Navy Yard, Fulton Ferry, and Clinton Hill...

. Jerry Seinfeld

Jerry Seinfeld

Jerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and television and film producer, known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the situation comedy Seinfeld , which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David, and, in the show's final two seasons,...

 once referred to Dumbo on a late-night talk show appearance, joking that it stands for "Down Under Manhattan Bridge," but that New Yorkers arbitrarily added the "O" at the end because they did not want to have a neighborhood called "Dumb."

History

Until the 1890s, the western portion of the neighborhood was known as Fulton Landing, after the ferry

Ferry

A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

 stop that connected it to Manhattan before the Brooklyn Bridge

Brooklyn Bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...

 opened. Then, it was primarily a manufacturing district, housing warehouses and factories that made machinery, paper boxes and Brillo soap pads. With deindustrialization

Deindustrialization

Deindustrialization is a process of social and economic change caused by the removal or reduction of industrial capacity or activity in a country or region, especially heavy industry or manufacturing industry. It is an opposite of industrialization.- Multiple interpretations :There are multiple...

 it began becoming primarily residential, when artists and other young homesteaders seeking relatively large and inexpensive loft apartment spaces for studios and homes began moving there in the late 1970s. The acronym Dumbo arose in 1978, when new residents coined it in the belief such an unattractive name would help deter developers. Near the end of the 20th century, as property became more and more expensive in Manhattan, Dumbo became increasingly gentrified

Gentrification

Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...

. Joy Glidden

Joy Glidden

Joy Glidden is a contemporary art administrator, visual arts curator, filmmaker, and advocate for local arts communities. She is currently living near Lafayette, Louisiana.-Career:...

 is the Founding Director of the Dumbo arts center (DAC) and co-founder of the Dumbo Art Under the Bridge Festival in Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, where she served as the Executive Director from 1997-2006. Using art as a catalyst for change, Glidden’s efforts achieved successful development in Dumbo that is now a model for similar waterfront developments around the world.

Historic preservation

On December 18, 2007, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The Commission was created in April 1965 by Mayor Robert F. Wagner following the destruction of Pennsylvania Station the previous year to make way for...

 voted unanimously to designate the Dumbo section of Brooklyn as the city's 90th historic district

Historic district (United States)

In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...

. The Dumbo historic district consists of properties bound by John Street to the north, York Street to the south, Main Street to the west, and Bridge Street to the east.

Points of interest

The area has emerged as one of New York City's premier arts districts, with a cluster of for-profit art galleries and such not-for-profit institutions as the St. Ann's Warehouse

St. Ann's Warehouse

St. Ann's Warehouse is a performing arts institution in Brooklyn, New York.History: 1980-2001The original home of Arts at St. Ann's was the National Historic Landmark Church of St. Ann and the Holy Trinity on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights. For twenty-one years, St...

 and the A.I.R. Gallery

A.I.R. Gallery

A.I.R. was the first all female cooperative gallery in the United States. It was founded in 1972 with the objective of providing a professional and permanent exhibition space for women artists during a time in which the works shown at commercial galleries in New York City were almost exclusively by...

. Chef Jacques Torres

Chocolate with Jacques Torres

Chocolate with Jacques Torres is a North American television cooking show hosted by renowned pastry chef and chocolate aficionado, Jacques Torres. It premiered in on the Food Network in 2002....

 opened a chocolate

Chocolate

Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...

 factory in Dumbo in December 2000. Other culinary businesses in the area include Grimaldi's, the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory

Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory

The Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory is an ice cream shop at a converted 1922 fireboat house at 1 Water Street on the Fulton Ferry Landing Pier in Brooklyn, New York City. It is located in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge in the neighborhood called DUMBO....

, the River Café, and, in the One Old Fulton Street building, Pete's Downtown Restaurant. All of these businesses cluster in Fulton Landing, which is also home to Bargemusic

Bargemusic

Bargemusic, formally known as Bargemusic, Ltd. is a classical music venue and cultural icon in Brooklyn, New York. Founded in 1977, it is housed on a converted coffee barge moored at Fulton Ferry Landing on the East River near the Brooklyn Bridge....

, a floating venue for classical music. The first public space in the neighborhood was Fulton Ferry

Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn

Fulton Ferry is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is named for a prominent ferry line crossing the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn, and is also the name of the ferry slip on the Brooklyn side...

, followed by Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park

Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park

Empire–Fulton Ferry Park, formerly Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park, is a park in Brooklyn, New York, United States. The park is located next to the East River, extending north and south of the Brooklyn Bridge...

. Brooklyn Bridge Park

Brooklyn Bridge Park

Brooklyn Bridge Park is an park currently under construction on the Brooklyn waterfront in the vicinity of the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges. As of March 22, 2010 the first newly built section of the park, Pier 1, has been open to the public...

, a joint state/city venture presently under development, was launched in 2006.

Transportation

NY Waterway

NY Waterway

NY Waterway, or New York Waterway, is a private transportation company running ferry and bus service in the Port of New York and New Jersey and in the Hudson Valley...

 runs a water ferry from the Fulton Slip at Fulton Landing. New York City Subway

New York City Subway

The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...

 stations are located at York Street

York Street (IND Sixth Avenue Line)

York Street is a station on the IND Sixth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Served by the F train at all times, it is located at York Street and Jay Street in DUMBO and is the only Sixth Avenue Line station in Brooklyn.- History :...

 ( train) on the IND Sixth Avenue Line

IND Sixth Avenue Line

The Sixth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in the United States. It runs mainly under Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, and continues south through the Rutgers Street Tunnel to Brooklyn...

, and High Street – Brooklyn Bridge ( trains) on the IND Eighth Avenue Line

IND Eighth Avenue Line

The Eighth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line in New York City, United States, and is part of the B Division of the New York City Subway...

. Bus

MTA New York City Transit buses

New York City Transit buses, marked on the buses MTA New York City Bus, is a bus service that operates in all five boroughs of New York City, employing over 4300 buses on 219 routes within the five boroughs of New York City in the United States...

 service is provided by the B25, B67, and B69. A convenient staircase connects the Brooklyn Bridge walkway to Washington Street, one of Dumbo's main streets. The East River Ferry began operations in July 2011, connecting the wharf at Fulton Landing to stops in Governor's Island, Wall Street, Williamsburg, Greenpoint and midtown Manhattan at E. 34th Street. A free bus picks up passengers at E. 34th for more convenient locations in midtown.

External links

• Interactive map of Dumbo - Mondomap.com
• New York magazine (March 10, 2003): "Neighborhood Profile: Dumbo"
• Paint a Parking Lot, Put Up a Paradise, a short documentary on the neighborhood's urban rehabilitation in 2007.
• October 10, 1997 New York Times Article by P. Marks about Dumbo artists (accessed Nov. 12, 2010)