THE SMITH

87 Smith Street, Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, NY 11201

If you come to Boerum Hill looking for hills to climb, you’ll be out of luck. Contrary to its name, the neighborhood is about as flat as they come. Not only is the elevation low, but the homes are, too: Most apartment buildings are three-to-four-story rowhouses built in the late 1860s and early 1870s. Boerum Hill wouldn’t become Boerum Hill until much later. Before the 1960s, it was either “North Gowanus” or just part of South Brooklyn (which, not to be confused with southern Brooklyn, was a catch-all term for the area below Atlantic Avenue and west of Prospect Park that longtime residents still use today). The Boerum Hill name came in the 1960s as residents moved in with the desire to create a distinct community. At present, Boerum Hill might feel as if it were perched somewhere atop a hill — a quiet haven from the city beyond.