Take An [Art] Walk Through Williamsburg
For two days in May, thousands of New Yorkers met on street corners across the city to go explore places that most of them had never before seen, but always wondered about.
One group was at North 7th Street and Bedford Avenue, where a dozen people gathered for the Williamsburg Art Scene tour – one of nearly 70 Jane’s Walk tours hosted by the Municipal Art Society to illuminate neighborhoods and community treasures. The walks were part of a nationwide project to honor Jane Jacobs, the late author and urban planning activist.
The Williamsburg Art Scene walk epitomized Jacobs’ mission of preserving local communities. Block after block of once-vacant warehouse space now houses photo studios, art galleries and new restaurants and shops. Old factories and paper mills now house breweries, hotels and other lodgings.