And now, the conclusion of the Curbed Cup, our annual award to the New York City neighborhood of the year. Because this is the most important decision of all time, the polls will be left open until midnight on Thursday, December 31. Let the final battle begin!
After a fierce battle, we're at the final round of voting to determine New York City's neighborhood of the year. Meet your Curbed Cup 2015 finalists: Flushing and Gowanus.
For the third year running, a serious underdog has made it all the way to the final round of the Curbed Cup: Flushing, which was seeded at no. 13, could pull off yet another upset if it beats Gowanus (which, to be fair, was seeded only slightly higher). Flushing has trounced its competition in every round thus far, beating out more high-profile neighborhoods like the Financial District and Long Island City; in its Final Four match-up against the West Village, the Queens neighborhood won by a margin of just 70 votes. But its place here is well-deserved: as several commenters have noted, Flushing is experiencing a development boom, all while retaining many of the things—a strong sense of community, plenty of cultural offerings, historic charm—that lend the neighborhood its character.
It'll be going up against another underdog, the no. 10 seed, Gowanus. The canal-adjacent neighborhood has pulled off a series of upsets (despite some disbelief from the commenters), besting Brooklyn heavyweights Dumbo and Downtown Brooklyn in previous match-ups. In the Final Four, it actually trounced development-heavy Nomad, earning a spot in the Curbed Cup finals. Chalk it up to the changes that have been taking place in the Brooklyn neighborhood: Yes, it's a Superfund site, but that hasn't stopped developers from adding apartments, or restaurateurs from opening new dining and drinking options there.
So now, it's time to vote: Should Flushing or Gowanus become New York City's neighborhood of the year? We'll announce the results next week. Happy voting!
· All Curbed Cup 2015 Coverage [Curbed]
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