By TIM RONALDSON
When people arrive in Brooklyn over the Manhattan Bridge, they find themselves in DUMBO.
But do they know that’s where they are, and do they know that DUMBO – the acronym for the neighborhood known as Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass – is a vibrant and historical community?
That is the challenge for the DUMBO Improvement District and its new executive director, Alexandria Sica – educating visitors and instilling within them an excitement about the neighborhood. The challenge isn’t people – at peak hours, approximately 1,000 per hour come down from the Manhattan Bridge – it’s engaging them.
“We need to let people know they have arrived in DUMBO and that they should be excited to be in DUMBO,” said Sica, who came to her current position following four years at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
While Sica is new to the job, she is energized about the task at hand. She says that the challenges the neighborhood faces are all “great opportunities;” while the streets need improvement, the historical cobblestones are also an attraction to visitors, for example.
Before she took the job, Sica said someone told her that you get hooked on DUMBO after you visit it twice. On the first visit, you have to figure everything out – where you are, what’s available and how to get from here to there. Once you return that second time, you’re more familiar with the surroundings and ready to enjoy all it has to offer.
“It feels like a little village down here. It’s so close to Manhattan and everything that Brooklyn has to offer,” she said. “It’s the perfect opportunity to break down some of those boundaries. You can feel like you’re in a space that transforms you to an historical time. You’re not in a grid; you’re in a quieter space.”
Since 2005, the DUMBO Improvement District has been marketing and promoting its neighborhood, with boundaries of the East River waterfront on the north, Old Fulton Street on the west, York Street on the south and Bridge Street on the east. It’s one of 56 improvement districts within the city, funded by local commercial property owners.
The Improvement District has been involved in the planning and initiation of various projects throughout DUMBO, including street reconstruction; a re-zoning project; The Archway, a tunnel under the Manhattan Bridge; and the Brooklyn Bridge Pedestrian Walkway.
It conducts street beautification projects through its sanitation contracts, operates the Pearl Street Triangle and The Archway, coordinates outdoor programming, installs street furniture and plantings, and “activates” public space, Sica said.
“The Improvement District has a unique ability to work on things to make the neighborhood feel like home,” she said.
The group is also working with the city’s Economic Development Corporation on a cultural tourism initiative, and just last year, the District was selected as a lead organization for the Promoting Arts Clusters program, an EDC initiative founded to foster collaboration between businesses and arts organizations to spur economic activity and increase tourism.
Sica believes that DUMBO’s cultural entities – its theaters, independent book shops, public amenities and artistic works – are a trait that sets the neighborhood apart from others. It’s hard to find similar areas anywhere that offer the location, the views of the Bridge and the unique culture and history that DUMBO does.
“The arts give us this creative vibe,” she said. “It creates a destination space and adds to the allure of DUMBO. Being around artistic folks and creative folks is as inspirational as the amazing views of the bridges.”
It will be important for the Improvement District to highlight what’s going on in DUMBO, Sica said, to show the rest of the city that it’s more than just a stop-over.
The neighborhood is now home to a community of entrepreneurs, with business incubator graduates coming “in droves.”
The goal of the Improvement District isn’t just to increase awareness to outside visitors, though.
Sica said it’s important for residents of Brooklyn to realize that coming to DUMBO isn’t a long trip.
While student and corporate offices downtown aren’t that far from DUMBO, it’s the Improvement District’s job to improve the connectivity for the rest of Brooklyn, she said.
After all, Sica believes DUMBO can serve as more than just a place for people to visit on occasion.
“There’s one thing that I truly believe DUMBO can do, and it’s inspire folks,” she said.
Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 9:00 am
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