Marine Park, Mill Basin & Gerritsen Beach

The increasingly-hard-to-find dropped R’s and blunt pronunciations of the Brooklyn accent live on in the borough’s waterbound, blue-collar southern enclaves. A unique combination of salt marshes, modest rowhouses (some with definitively un-Brooklyn porches), drydocks and a lack of public transit define this lesser-known area. While Marine Park is renowned for its large, eponymous public park which hugs Jamaica Bay’s westernmost inlet, Mill Basin is defined by its drawbridge and waterfront homes. Gerritsen Beach has alphabetical streets and Brooklyn’s only remaining volunteer fire department.