A Guide to Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn

Boerum Hill: Hoyt Street to Nevins Street

The northern side of Atlantic Avenue between Hoyt Street and Bond Street is a veritable gold mine of antique shops, each with a unique offering. At cityFoundry you can find things such as early televisions, mid-century furniture, Peanut character figurines and Mad Men-esque tea sets. It’s packed to the gills, and the fun is digging through the three rooms.

The beautifully merchandised Collier West is where to go if you need, for example, an antler chandelier. They also carry quirky things like jewelry made of spoons and candles in vintage glass containers found at Dead Horse Bay in Brooklyn.

Circa Antiques sells 19th century American Classical and Victorian furniture and European finds. In Days of Old focuses solely on the Victorian and turn-of-the-century era.

Greenhouse & Co. has a great collection of mid-century furniture, along with curated selections for the home including bedding and tableware.

Bright Lyons specializes in Modernist furniture, art and books.

Finally, it’s pretty hard to miss Horseman Antiques with its sidewalk display. Currently featured are some bronze lions, a horse, and wooden Indian and cowboy. Generally, though, they focus on the mid-century era.

Intermixed are retailers such as Hollander & Lexer, whose outpost on Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg was used as a Boardwalk Empire film location.

Paris-based Atelier Cologne has a shop here. Inside, the store is furnished with industrial furniture from both French and American factories. You can personalize leather bottle cases at their engraving table, even for the small 30 ml travel sizes.

Small retailers predominate on the other side of this block. Twisted Lily, a fragrance boutique and apothecary that opened just five months ago, carries local Brooklyn purveyors like PLANT Brooklyn and CB I HATE PERFUME, along with fun brands like Etat Libre d’Orange and Juliette Has a Gun.

Meg boutique, by designer Megan Kinney, has a great selection of dresses with modern, clean lines, as well as accessories. They even offer same-day altering.

Thanks to last year’s inaugural Atlantic Avenue Wedding Extravaganza, Atlantic Avenue has become an alternative wedding shopping destination. You can find affordable vintage engagement and wedding rings dating as far back as 1750 at Erica Weiner. These pieces, along with Wiener’s own line, are displayed in glass cases along with old telegrams, cigarette cases and vintage fans. For gowns, the bridal shops on Atlantic Avenue between Hoyt and Nevins include Michelle New York, Kimera Design and VeKa Bridal Couture.

Some of the furniture shops have made it over to this side of the street too. The Primary Essentials shop has an über-clean aesthetic and beautiful products for every day life.

Near the corner of Bond Street, between the Belarusian Orthodox and Pentacostal churches, are a series of restaurants. French-owned Bacchus has an extensive wine list, while the adjacent Bacchus cafe plays up the Parisian influence in its decor. You can bask in the sunlight while savoring a delectable Vendôme Macaron (better than Ladurée, hands down) and using the free Wi-Fi.

Fisherman’s Dawta, serving Jamaican cuisine like jerk chicken for $10, is just next door.

Across the street is By Robert James Jazz, selling a more polished, cleaned-up version of its edgier rocker style found in the Williamsburg and the Lower East Side shops. A little further towards Nevins Street is Betty Bakery, worth a stop for its elaborate window displays and custom cakes. The rest of this block is a smattering of local services like day cares, a health center, salon, and a Salvation Army. The former Ex-Lax Inc sign on the former factory that takes up the middle half of the block may elicit a snicker, if you notice it.

[sponsored_by action_blurb=”Presented By” name=”Douglas Elliman” url=”http://www.elliman.com/new-york-city/brooklyn” logo=”http://sub.brooklynbased.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/DE_logo_1XStack_120x60_Blue+Gray.jpg” attribution_action_blurb=”Created By” attribution_name=”BlankSlate” attribution_url=”http://blankslate.com/advertisers/”]The only way to truly understand Brooklyn is to walk its streets, see its homes, meet its people, and understand its ebb and flow. Never before has looking for a home in Brooklyn been this exciting.

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