The neighborhood of Dumbo is not nearly as drab as it was when I first moved from my office on Park Avenue a few years ago. It was dingier then, very cold, devoid of any color at all. Red exposed brisk was about as good as it got on the Brooklyn Pantone color wheel. But along with the new wave of hipsters and artists that have recently migrated here, there is also a huge contingent of the preppy set, fresh off the boat from Nantucket, that happily now call Dumbo home or work, like me. The upper east side must be waning over the recent and steady loss of the collegiate set. Without any ado, these young urban professionals brought with them pink bike cruisers with white wicker baskets, peach & turquoise Vespas, navy baby prams, orange Hunter boots and lots of yellow dogs (my lab Ryleigh, has a lot of blonde competition now.)
Since the massive Brooklyn Boom recently, there is now lot more color – even on the streets, outside my windows. Technicolor murals are painted on underpasses and pedestrian plazas, store fronts are now covered with stark white painted shingles and flower boxes, CitiBike stations planted their signature blue schematic everywhere you look and green taxis add a pop of chartreuse as they seem to be replacing yellow cabs by the drove.
Recently a woman in the elevator at my office was wearing a Lilly Pulitzer skort, which I also have. I commented on how pretty it was and she said, “I guess you don’t see many people dressed like us down here, huh?” I smiled and thought – she must be new to the neighborhood. While preservation codes do not officially govern resort wear or exterior paint colors in this neck of the woods, I think it is safe to say that working in a green building, like my elevator companion will soon find out does jibe with our classic aesthetic. Life has also become easier since I arrived on the scene: when giving directions to my messenger service that hails from midtown and never used to find me on time to deliver a package on time, I can now just say, “I’m at the green desk building, a few doors away from the from the kelly green wall.” Follow the yellow, or pink or blue or green or red brick road…and you have reached a technicolor tapestry. down under the manhattan Brooklyn overpass. Now known as simply as Dumbo.
pants | shoes | belt and buckle | watch
photographs by Viva Violeta Photography
