Williamsburg
Neighborhood Intelligence

Williamsburg was an independent city until 1855, when it was annexed by Brooklyn and the spelling lost its final "h." Its East River waterfront was a vital industrial district until the mid-twentieth century, anchored by the Domino Sugar Refinery. Jewish, Italian, Polish, Puerto Rican, and Dominican communities still have enclaves here, and the Williamsburg Bridge, completed in 1903, brought many Jewish residents from the Lower East Side. The official area covered here combines NYC Planning's Williamsburg and South Williamsburg neighborhood tabulation areas, running from the Greenpoint line near North 12th Street south to Flushing Avenue.

An arts scene grew here in the 1990s, the neighborhood became a center of indie rock in the early 2000s, and later zoning changes brought waterfront towers. Domino Park now occupies the former refinery site along the river, and Marsha P. Johnson State Park, formerly East River State Park, lies a few blocks north. The Music Hall of Williamsburg on North 6th Street and Brooklyn Bowl on Wythe Avenue are among its best-known venues, while on Broadway near the bridge the landmark Kings County Savings Bank building houses the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center and Peter Luger Steak House is a long-running fixture.