DUMBO Brooklyn: An Architecture Guide to the Warehouse District

Key Facts and Dates

The table below gathers the dates and figures used throughout this guide. They come from the park's official site, New York City designation records and standard reference entries on the neighborhood and its buildings. Together they explain why DUMBO looks the way it does: a working port turned landmark district with a new park along 1.3 miles of waterfront.

How a Warehouse District Became DUMBO

The name came last. The area was historically called Gairville, after Robert Gair, a paper-box maker born in Edinburgh in 1839. In 1879 a creasing ruler in his building on Washington Street shifted and cut a bag, and the accident produced the folding paperboard carton. His factories grew along the waterfront, and in the 1890s the western part of the district was known as Fulton Landing. Before the 1970s the factories here made machinery, paper boxes, spices and Brillo soap pads.

The acronym DUMBO, Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, was coined in 1978 by artists who had moved into the lofts. They chose an unattractive name on purpose, believing it would deter developers. It did not hold them off forever, but the factories survived long enough to be protected. The National Register listed the DUMBO Historic District in 2000 with 95 contributing buildings, and the city designated its own historic district on December 18, 2007, the 90th in the five boroughs. The district includes the earliest large-scale reinforced concrete factory buildings in America.

Look down as you walk. The Jay Street Connecting Railroad ran through the waterfront from about 1904 to 1957, and its tracks are still visible set into the streets. The Belgian block streets themselves completed a $108 million restoration.

The simplest way to take all of this in is on foot with a guide. The Brooklyn Bridge and DUMBO neighborhood tour runs 2 hours 30 minutes for $49 per person, starting at the Tweed Courthouse in Manhattan and finishing in the district. For more walking options across the city, see the comparison of New York architecture tours.

The Washington Street View of the Manhattan Bridge

The view from Washington Street is the neighborhood's best-known photo spot. You stand in the middle of a Belgian block street and the Manhattan Bridge frames itself between the brick warehouses on either side. The bridge behind the camera opened on December 31, 1909, designed by Leon Moisseiff with a main span of 1,480 feet. Its Manhattan-side arch and colonnade, by Carrere and Hastings, were completed in 1915.

The entry plaza of Main Street Park sits at Washington Street. For the story of the other bridge, the one you most likely crossed to get here, see the page on the Brooklyn Bridge tour, which covers the walk itself in detail.

Main Street Park and the Water's Edge

Main Street Park covers 4.8 acres under the Manhattan Bridge and opened in December 2002. It has a playground, a dog run, a rock-climbing area and beach portions at the water's edge. The Cliffs opened DUMBO Boulders here in April 2016, then the largest bouldering facility in North America. Next door, Empire Fulton Ferry adds 4.5 acres with a lawn and a promenade facing the East River, and was a state park until 2010.

All of this is part of Brooklyn Bridge Park, 85 acres designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, running 1.3 miles from Atlantic Avenue to Jay Street. Entry is free and the park is open seven days a week from 6 AM to 1 AM. Ramps and staircases connect both bridge walkways to the neighborhood, so you can walk down from the Brooklyn Bridge and land directly in the park.

Jane's Carousel and Empire Stores

Jane's Carousel sits on the Empire Fulton Ferry waterfront in a pavilion designed by Jean Nouvel. The carousel itself is far older: 48 horses built in 1922 by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company, carved by John Zalar and Frank Carretta. Jane and David Walentas bought it at auction in 1984 for $385,000 and restored it over 22 years. It reopened in the park at 65 Water Street on September 16, 2011. Its current ticket price and hours are not stated here.

Nearby stands Empire Stores, a seven-building warehouse complex of 330,000 square feet completed in 1869 with additions in 1885. It stored coffee, sugar and molasses. The redevelopment by Midtown Equities with Studio V Architecture and S9 Architecture kept the schist walls, the iron hoisting wheels and the coffee chutes. Time Out Market opened inside in May 2019, and the Brooklyn Historical Society runs a 3,200-square-foot museum there.

At Fulton Ferry Landing you reach Brooklyn's first ferry landing, opened in 1642, now a viewing point for the Manhattan skyline and home to the Bargemusic concert venue. An NYC Ferry stop at Fulton Ferry on the East River route serves the same pier. Gleason's Gym, the oldest boxing gym in New York, where Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson trained, has been at 130 Water Street since 2016. On Sundays from April to October, the Brooklyn Flea fills the DUMBO Archway under the Manhattan Bridge.

Two Subway Stops Serve DUMBO

The F train stops at York Street on the IND Sixth Avenue Line, and the A and C trains stop at High Street on the IND Eighth Avenue Line. Both stations serve the district, which takes its name from the Manhattan Bridge overhead: Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, a name coined in 1978.

For more walking routes across the East River, see the Brooklyn Bridge tour guide, which covers the bridge itself and the approaches on both sides. And if you want to compare this district with Manhattan's buildings, the New York architecture tours hub lists every district and style in one place.

Arriving on Foot, by Ferry or by Ramp

Ramps and staircases connect both the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge walkways directly into DUMBO, so the neighborhood is the natural landing point for anyone crossing on foot. On the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Bridge, pedestrians enter from the Adams Street median at Tillary Street or by a staircase near Prospect Street between Cadman Plaza East and West. The DUMBO Archway under the Manhattan Bridge hosts the Brooklyn Flea every Sunday from April to October.

There is also a water route. DUMBO has an NYC Ferry stop at Fulton Ferry on the East River route, which drops you at a landing that has served Brooklyn since 1642, when the first ferry opened there.

What to Expect on the Ground

Wear shoes you do not mind scuffing. DUMBO's Belgian block streets completed a $108 million restoration. The tracks of the Jay Street Connecting Railroad, which ran along the waterfront from about 1904 to 1957, are still visible set into the streets, and spotting them is half the pleasure of walking here.

Brooklyn Bridge Park runs 1.3 miles along the water and is free to enter, open daily from 6 AM to 1 AM, so you can end any arrival with a skyline walk.

The Brooklyn Bridge and DUMBO Tour, What You Get

The pick for this district is the Brooklyn Bridge & DUMBO Neighborhood Tour, listed at $49 per person on the booking platform. It runs 2 hours 30 minutes, is led by a local guide from Inside Out Tours LLC, and groups run up to 30, with a private option for 1 to 10 people. It starts in front of the Tweed Courthouse between Broadway and Centre Streets, crosses the Brooklyn Bridge with the construction story told along the way, and ends in DUMBO and the Brooklyn waterfront. The listing names Tweed Courthouse, the Brooklyn Bridge, DUMBO and the Brooklyn waterfront as the landmarks passed. Gratuities are not included, and free cancellation is available 24 hours ahead.

It is honest to note what the listing does not claim. It does not say the tour enters any building, so you should not expect access to Empire Stores' interiors or the carousel on a guided ticket. If the bridge crossing itself is the priority rather than the district, the dedicated Brooklyn Bridge tour guide covers the walkway, its history and how to do it unguided. For the wider catalog, the New York architecture tours homepage compares tours by district and by style.

Why a Guided Crossing Works for DUMBO

The bridge is 5,989 feet long measured from the Centre Street curb, or 6,016 feet with approaches per NYC DOT, with a main span of 1,595.5 feet, and its story is dense enough that a guide earns the $49. John A. Roebling designed it and his son Washington Roebling took over as chief engineer after his father's death in 1869, while Emily Warren Roebling supervised much of the construction and was the first to cross. The bridge cost $15.5 million and about 27 people died building it. Arriving in DUMBO with that story behind you changes how the district reads.

If you prefer to end your day on the water instead of on your feet, the Manhattan architecture cruise with AIA New York architects at $86 per person circles the island past the Brooklyn Bridge, though it does not stop in DUMBO itself.