A Guide to Dumbo


To my Neighbors and Visitors

This guide tells the story of a sloping dirt path to a river that turned into a road, then a highway, and finally a boulevard of memories about Brooklyn and New York City.

The flatlands, gently sloping hills and waterfront heights of today's Brooklyn barely resemble the ancient landscapes of the First Nation People. Today's bustle of residents and commuters, park enthusiasts and bicyclists, hordes of tourists and food lovers - this cross-section of every type of humanity - converges on one historic thoroughfare.

It winds its way from the oldest of ferry docks along the East River, past the ghost of Walt Whitman who molded the prose of generations of unsung dock workers, tanners, cobblers and journeymen into the poetry of every American, continuing its way through the unceasing murmur of the struggles, hopes, fears, joys and sorrows of the people of Brooklyn Today we humbly call that sloping dirt path to a river, Old Fulton Street.

Few places can claim the right, privilege and distinction of being among the oldest streets in America, and one so intricately connected to the birth and history of our City and our Republic.

Old Fulton Street has been in the same location for over 400 years of written history and for millennia before that serving the First Nation People. It is an enchanted place located in the Fulton Ferry Historic District.

Hopefully, the following sections will provide you with an engaging overview of the area from the unique perspective of a long-time resident who knows and loves the neighborhood well. 

This guide is a humble token of appreciation to the neighborhood on and around Old Fulton Street, a neighborhood which has been and continues to be full of wonder as it changes and grows with each generation of new faces, tides and the always lively discourse of life and commerce along this well-traveled corridor of Brooklyn.

Richard A. Mauro, President
Fulton Ferry Business Association