Living in East Williamsburg: rent, commute and grades

Brooklyn · Updated November 2026

A brick factory-loft building with a tall chimney and street trees under a blue sky on Grand Street.
The Moore Street Retail Market building with flags, a tree and people outside.
A wide Bushwick Avenue with low brick buildings and shopfronts on a clear day.
A red brick corner building with a decorative cornice under a bright sky.
A cafe frontage under a leafy street tree with bikes parked outside.
Photo credits

Rent in East Williamsburg

$2,709 a month

Type of homeA room in a 2-bedroom, shared by two

East Williamsburg is cheaper with roommates

Find people looking in East Williamsburg
A-Overall

East Williamsburg graded

Grades compare NYC neighborhoods with each other. How the grades work.

Everyday life

  • A-Walkability

    The average home has 4.9 of 5 everyday needs within a 10-minute walk (grocery store, restaurant, cafe, subway station, park) and about 351 places to eat or shop.

    Residents: Bushwick, north Williamsburg and Greenpoint are each a 10 to 15 minute walk away. Resident, Oct 2024

  • AFood and shopping

    Within a 10-minute walk of the average home: about 116 places to eat, 32 kinds of cuisine, 6.8 large grocery stores and 190 open storefronts.

    Residents: Grocery stores are closer at hand than in Crown Heights near the Botanic Garden. Resident of 6 years, Sep 2026

    City data and 3 resident threads on Reddit agree on this grade.

  • C+Parks and green space

    100% of residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park of an acre or more, with about 35 acres of parkland within 1 km and about 440 street trees within 300 m of the average home.

    Residents: There is no real green space near the Montrose Avenue L, and running nearby is hard; the lack of it led one household to move. Former resident, Mar 2025

People

  • A+Community

    33% of households moved in since 2018, 22% are roommates sharing a home, 36% of residents are 22 to 34, and there are about 81 cafes and bars within a 10-minute walk of the average home.

    Residents: Neighbors and local businesses get to know you, though working from home here can feel lonely. Former resident, Oct 2024

  • ANightlife

    About 65 bars, clubs and restaurants licensed to serve alcohol on site within a 10-minute walk of the average home.

    Residents: The neighborhood bars are pleasant. Resident, Oct 2024

Home and safety

  • DSafety

    9.6 murders, robberies, felony assaults and burglaries were reported per 1,000 residents in 2025 (486 in all).

    Residents: Walking home late at night near the Morgan Avenue L feels fine, though not entirely comfortable. Former resident, Mar 2025

    City data and 5 resident threads on Reddit agree on this grade.

  • FQuiet

    78 noise complaints to 311 per 1,000 residents in 2025, not counting helicopter complaints, and counting each address at most 12 days a year. That measures how often people complain, not how loud it is.

    Residents: Near the Montrose Avenue stop, apartments on lower floors can get very loud. Former resident of 9 years, Apr 2026

    City data and 3 resident threads on Reddit agree on this grade.

  • B+Building upkeep

    10.7 serious housing code violations (class B or C) were issued in 2025 per 100 rented homes, and there were 3.7 heat or hot water complaints per 100 rented homes.

    Residents: A newer elevator building with no sign of bugs in six years and responsive management. Resident of 6 years, Sep 2026

Who lives there

  • Lots of roommates
  • Recent grads and young professionals

What residents say

Residents like

Residents don’t like

  • QuietNear the Montrose Avenue stop, apartments on lower floors can get very loud. Former resident of 9 years, Apr 2026
  • Parks and green spaceThere is no real green space near the Montrose Avenue L, and running nearby is hard; the lack of it led one household to move. Former resident, Mar 2025
  • SafetyFeels grittier than the rest of Williamsburg, and some blocks by the public housing feel less safe. Resident, Oct 2024
Show 15 moreShow less

Safety

Food and shopping

Nightlife

Walkability

Quiet

Building upkeep

Getting around from East Williamsburg

Map of New York City neighborhoods shaded by travel time by subway or bus from East Williamsburg
By subway or bus, arriving by 9:00 on a weekday:Under 30 min30 to 45 min45 to 60 minOver an hourEast Williamsburg
  • Broadway G
  • Graham Av L
  • Grand St L
  • Lorimer St JM
  • Montrose Av L
  • Morgan Av L

Residents: From Beadel Street in the industrial north, the walk to the L is long and tiresome. Former resident, Aug 2025

Residents: Blocks near Graham Avenue are within walking distance of the L, J, M and G trains. Resident, Oct 2024

What to know about East Williamsburg

  • East Williamsburg mixes homes, local shops and nearby industry. In June 2026 New York State named it the city's winner of a combined $20 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative and NY Forward award. Source
  • Graham Avenue is the neighborhood's main shopping street. Between Boerum Street and Broadway it is co-named the Avenue of Puerto Rico, and it has been the center of a Latino community since the mid-20th century. Source
  • Graham Avenue has two nicknames: Avenue of Puerto Rico south of Grand Street, for its Latino and Puerto Rican heritage, and Via Vespucci north of it, for its Italian American roots. Source
  • Housing ranges from several large co-op and NYCHA public housing developments to blocks on the industrial edges that mix homes with creative studios, small manufacturing and a few ground-floor shops. Source
  • The Newtown Creek waterfront on the neighborhood's northern edge has been a hub of large-scale industry since the early 1800s, when shipbuilding and kerosene and petroleum refineries arrived. Blocks farther from the creek grew up as mixed walk-to-work areas of homes and industry. Source
  • East Williamsburg takes in part of the North Brooklyn Industrial Business Zone, which with adjoining blocks in Greenpoint and Bushwick was the city's third largest industrial hub by employment, with 19,500 jobs in 2016, 77 percent of them industrial. Source
  • Cooper Park is the neighborhood's main local park. The 2026 state funding application listed improvements to it among its projects and noted the area has little other green space. Source

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Sources

Facts about East Williamsburg:

Data behind the grades: