The Borough’s Best: 20 Brooklyn Neighborhood Superlatives
Windsor Terrace
We’re unabashed advocates of public transportation and fully believe that one of the benefits of living in New York City is that we don’t need to be reliant on a car to get around. And we’re not just saying that because we, um, can’t really afford a car. In fact, in most parts of Brooklyn having a car would be far more of a burden than it would be an asset. Just think about the headache of alternate side of the street parking, or what it must have been like for car owners this past winter, always having to dig out of huge snow drifts. Terrible. But there’s one neighborhood in Brooklyn where owning a car makes some sense: Windsor Terrace, where parking spaces abound and public transportation is limited. This tiny, mainly residential area lacks basic commercial amenities like a full-service grocery store, meaning that unless you only use Fresh Direct, you’re going to spend a lot of time on the F/G lugging around Trader Joe’s bags. And speaking of the F/G, it’s a rare weekend when the two stations servicing Windy T (15th Street/Prospect Park and Ft. Hamilton Parkway) aren’t shut down, rendering the neighborhood unreachable except by bike, bus (*shudder*)… or car. So it’s tempting, you know? Living in Windsor Terrace almost makes you feel like getting a car wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Almost. Except that living in Windsor Terrace also makes it impossible to ignore the terrible scar that car culture (and Robert Moses) has left on many Brooklyn neighborhoods, because Windsor Terrace (like Red Hook, Park Slope, and Williamsburg among others) is a neighborhood that was torn asunder in order to make room for the Prospect Expressway and the unimpeded flow of traffic. So, yeah. A car might seem like a good idea for a little while, but ultimately, Windsor Terrace reminds you why it’s just not worth it. Get a bike instead.