Yesterday, we went on a walking tour, sponsored by the Municipal Arts Society, of Greenpoint in Brooklyn. That would be the old Greenpoint, the one with the classic NY shopping street, historic district, and working peoples’ vinyl-sided housing.

It’s also the Greenpoint that’s about to disappear behind a concrete wall of 40-story condos. Right now, it’s still populated largely by Polish immigrants and it’s Polish you hear spoken on the street as much as English. Polish is also the language of choice for signs dotting pharmacies, markets, and other stores in the neighborhood.

With its beautiful churches, classic Brooklyn row houses, and early-20th century industrial architecture—most, sadly, which will be torn down soon—Greenpoint is a pleasure to walk around, even on a rainy day like yesterday.

Then there are the food locales. If you make a circuit around Manhattan and Nassau avenues, you’ll come upon a large number of them.

After emerging from the G train at Greenpoint and Manhattan Avenues (creating the mood, a man was playing a lilting polka on accordion just as we came up from the subway), we headed for Chirstina’s. It’s a place that announces it serves Polish cuisine, but the menu sports just as many cheeseburgers as pirogis.

The atmosphere is kitsched-up coffee shop. There are chandeliers and fancy window treatments that render the eatery a little over the top for such a modest establishment.

We ordered mushroom and sauerkraut pirogi, which were definitely improved by a large dollop of sour cream; satisfying if a bit under-seasoned mushroom-barley soup; and nicely grilled kielbasa.

Borscht arrived in a coffee cup as a clear red broth with a side of a fried meat pirogi. It was a nice gentle start to the meal, but frankly, I prefer the cold Russian variety.

The place was packed and the waitress was concerned that we hadn’t gotten the best the eatery had to offer.

“Come back again when it’s not so crowded,” she advised.

After that, we passed a half dozen meat markets, all of which featured dazzling displays of kielbasa and other porcine products hanging from racks strung across the store. We stopped in at the tiny Podlaise Market on Nassau Street where the counter staff spoke only a bit of English. It turned out to be the kind of neighborhood place that’s, unfortunately, fast disappearing in New York. A friendly customer helped us pick out sausage made with potato and meat, as well as a large link of kielbasa to take home.

“Bake it with horseradish,’ she suggested. “You’ll really like it.”

With our sausage in hand, (we had also stopped earlier at candy store Stodyce Wedel on Manhattan Ave. to purchase waffle cookies similar to ones we had enjoyed in Czechoslovokia ) we stepped into Jaslowiczanka Polish Bakery on Nassau. Earlier in the day, we had sampled a plum-filled doughnut, which was so bready, we could barely get it down.

This time, we weren’t disappointed. The friendly girl behind the counter rattled off a number of babka flavors, ranging from blueberry to cherry. We chose chocolate chip and she pulled a confection from the shelf that resembled a bundt cake more than the traditional Russian babka. Buttery and tender, it recalled a classic pound cake.

Let’s hope all this doesn’t disappear in favor of wall-to-wall chain stores when the condo people arrive.

Christina’s
853 Manhattan Ave.
Greenpoint
718 383 4382

Stodyce Wedel
772 Manhattan Ave.
Greenpoint
718 349 3933

Poldaise Market
121 Nassau Ave.
Greenpoint
718 383 3476

Jaslowiczanka Polish Bakery
163 Nassau Ave.
718 389 0263

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