Curbed Cup 1st Round: (7) G-Slope vs. (10) Nolita

The Curbed Cup, our annual award to the New York City neighborhood of the year, is taking on a different tone in this, its fifth running. West Village, Long Island City, Williamsburg?they've all been done. Instead, we're mixing things up by focusing on the most newsworthy microneighborhoods. Let the eliminations commence!

Today's the final pair of first-round matchups in the Curbed Cup; we'll be back on Friday with the updated 16-nabe bracket and our next-round faceoffs. But before we get ahead of ourselves, two more battles to resolve. Up first: sassy #7 seed G-Slope—our (and Joyce Cohen's) longtime fave nickname for the Fourth Avenue DMZ that straddles Park Slope and Gowanus had quite the year. From the start (was it getting a Whole Foods after all?) to the finish (in a recession, the nabe is devolving back into anarchy, right?), the fun never stopped. Nor did it do so in #10 seed Nolita, one of the more conventional neighborhoods appearing in this year's Curbed Cup faceoff. Naturally, our focus never wavered from 11 Spring Street. So who's moving on?

#7 G-Slope (aka the Fourth Avenue DMZ between Park Slope/Gowanus)
2008 Notables:
· Is the neighborhood ready to burst into flames? Er, metaphorically? [Curbed]
· Nah, there's still plenty of gigantoid development like this [Curbed]
· And places like The Argyle, located in exclusive Gowanusville [Curbed]
· Gowanus whole Foods debate raged on, and on, and on [Racked]
· Gowanus got some bona fide restaurant design [Eater]
· The neighborhood proved it's still not ready for BBQ [Eater]
· And the ol' Gowanus may yet score its own Starbucks [Racked]

#10 Nolita
2008 Notables:
· Our longtime love 11 Spring Street lingered on the market, gloriously [Curbed]
· SHoP's 290 Mulberry Street fed our love for undulation [Curbed]
· 211 Elizabeth: rare new development attuned to neighborhood context [Curbed]
· Fire closes nabe fave Lovely Day, possibly for good [Eater]
· The neighborhood got its own, uh, fondue cave [Eater]
· 19 Kenmare, kept from Ivan Kane, may yet turn into something, maybe [Eater]
· Longtime retailer Tracy Feith moved on [Racked]

Any notable events we've forgotten? Do chime in.