Greenpoint's Got the Power! (But Bushwick Takes the Cake)

Looks like the verdict is still out on where Bed-Stuy falls in the rankings of most desirable 'hoods...

Last week, Time Out New York listed Bedford Stuyvesant as one of 12 "Best Neighborhoods 2011."

(Blows knuckles)

However, yesterday, Bed-Stuy didn't fare so well in L Magazine's Brooklyn Neighborhood Power Ranking, coming in at #19 out of Brooklyn's 48 nabes, just behind Crown Heights and in front of Starrett City, East New York and Brownsville (whooptie doo).

L Magazine used what they're calling "a very scientific approach" (if they do say so themselves), judging each neighborhood on the quality of its restaurants, general accessibility, culture, infrastructure, affordability, and the L Magazine staff's own "deeply held prejudices about the time they’ve spent there personally."

Greenpoint came in at #1, and the usual suspects followed close behind, including Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens, Park Slope, DUMBO, Fort Greene and Gowanus. Also not-so-surprising was Williamsburg sitting high on the list.

But what was, however, a little shocking was the sudden appearance of Bushwick as the newly ordained “great place to live” (ranked ahead of Park Slope, no less).

No disrespect to Bushwick (recently dubbed “East Williamsburg,” by the way) but, umm… Who are these people, and did any of them, with their “deeply held prejudices” know anything about Bushwick ten years ago and what it looked like in the 80s or 90s…?

As a teen in the 80s, I used to visit my aunt who lived in the apartment building on Gates and Bushwick Avenues, and the idea it one day would grow up to be #7 out of 48 in a Brooklyn neighborhood power ranking is… well, I won’t go there. Not today.

Anyway, congratulations Greenpoint. Apparently, you've got the power!

Here's the complete list:

1. Greenpoint

2. Fort Greene/Clinton Hill

3. Ditmas Park

4. Cobble Hill

5. Williamsburg

6. Gowanus

7. Bushwick

8. Park Slope

9. Carroll Gardens

10. Brooklyn Heights

11. DUMBO

12. Redhook

13. Vinegar Hill

14. Windsor Terrace

15. Prospect Lefferts Gardens

16. Boerum Hill

17. Prospect Heights

18. Crown Heights

19. Bedford-Stuyvestant

20. Parkville

21. Kensington

22. Bay Ridge

23. Sunset Park

24. Brighton Beach

25. Gravesend

26. Coney Island

27. Midwood

28. Sheepshead Bay

29. Flatbush

30. Dyker Heights

31. Bergen Beach

32. Marine Park

33. Bath Beach

34. Manhattan Beach

35. Sea Gate

36. Mill Basin

37. Bensonhurst

38. Canarsie

39. Flatlands

40. Downtown Brooklyn

41. Homecrest

42. Starrett City

43. Wingate

44. East Flatbush

45. Brownsville

46. East New York

47. Gerritsen Beach

48. Borough Park