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The Family Guide to BoCoCa: Paris on the BQE

A trip to the City of Lights not in the cards? Head to this Brooklyn 'hood to sample all things French!

By Mimi O'Connor February 14, 2016

“BoCoCa” — AKA, the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens — has long attracted a French-speaking and French-loving population, likely influenced by (among other things) the dual language program at area school P.S. 58. In the past year, a host of new French services and businesses have joined the BoCoCa pioneers, making this Brooklyn spot feel like a far-flung arrondissement of Paris. Click through to see how resident and visiting families can sample its joie de vivre!

For an Art Center with French Sensibility: The Invisible Dog

Founded by French ex-pat and former theater and opera director Lucien Zayan back in 2008, The Invisible Dog Art Center is (somewhat improbably) a 30,000-square-foot multi-purpose art space housed in a 19th century industrial building. (Its name is derived from one of the factory's last outputs: those 1970s novelty gags in the form of stiff leashes attached to empty harnesses.) The space is home to artist studios (which are occasionally open to the public), galleries, permanent installations and an ever-changing roster of marquee exhibits — as well as, for the time being, Tattly's Temporary Tattoo Parlor. The arts hub also hosts events, takes part in neighborhood and citywide festivals, including, of course, the area's Bastille Day Celebration.

51 Bergen St.
Cobble Hill
347-560-3641
Online: theinvisibledog.org

photo: via The Invisible Dog Facebook page

Do you have a favorite place to soak up French culture in NYC? Tell us about it in the comments below!

—Mimi O’Connor

cover photo: via Jacadi London Facebook page