Text size:

City Living: Windsor Terrace

By Jonathan Schienberg | Special to amNewYork

February 22, 2006

If you've been priced out of Park Slope, the first place you're likely to think about moving is the neighboring area of Windsor Terrace. This is a neighborhood not of lofty brownstones but of more modest two-family houses.

Instead of trendy restaurants, there is an old-fashioned Irish bar, and instead of boutiques sellling upscale baby clothes, you'll find a Hallmark card store.

You'll also find streets that have a small-town feel, with miniature porches, and people who sit on the stoops, passing the time of day with their neighbors while the local kids toss a football in the street. Just how much more Brooklyn can a neighborhood get?

Not much, and the locals like it that way. Windsor Terrace has always turned a cold shoulder toward its fancier, busier neighbor. Although it shares the pleasures of Prospect Park and the Botanical Garden with the gentrifiers in the Slope, it didn't draw them until fairly recently. Instead, it remained a stronghold of the Irish and Italians who had settled here a few generations back: schoolteachers, cops, and firefighters.

To this day, Holy Name Roman Catholic Church is the center of much of the neighborhood's social life.

Although some of those old-timers have held on, the neighborhood began to change a decade or so ago, when property values began to soar. Today, a house in the neighborhood can go for up to $1 million, which effectively puts the neighborhood well beyond the reach of most civil servants.

TO FIND IT:

This neighborhood is bordered by Prospect Park to the north and east, Green-Wood Cemetery on the west, and Caton Avenue to the south.

TO LIVE:

Mostly outfitted with two- and three- family homes, Windsor Terrace, like the rest of Brooklyn, has seen a property value explosion over the past several years. There are scattered co-ops in the area, and they can make for a great deal, if only you can find one.

TO BUY:

According to Peers, expect to pay between $600,000 and $1 million to buy a home in the area. Listing for one-bedroom co-ops mostly go for between $250,000 and $500,000, with two-to-three bedrooms running anywhere from $500,000 - $800,000. (Source: WindsorTerraceInfo.com)

Recent Sales:

--30 Ocean Parkway, one-bedroom, one-bath co-op, 900 square feet, $400,000 (Broker: Robert Frye, Brooklyn Bridge Realty)

--201 Seeley St., two-family, 75-year-old semi-detached brick house, with garage, $1,040,000 (Broker: Warren Lewis Realty)

TO EAT:

Laura's Gourmet Kitchen (1235 Prospect Ave., 718-436-3715) is rumored among the locals to be the best kept Italian secret in the city. Laura's is a family run Italian restaurant, with Laura's mom serving as the main chef.

Da Vincenzo (256 Prospect Park West, 718-369-3590), a recently opened Italian bistro that offers northern, and a little bit of southern Italian cuisine, and a snazzy dessert called the "banana turtle cake."

Terrace Bagels (224 Prospect Park West, 718-768-3943) revered by many as the best bagel joint in all of Brooklyn.

Tookata Thai Grill (268 Prospect Park West, 718-369-2472) This Thai place accepts cash only.