Not long ago, North and South Williamsburg were areas where people could find deals.

Both sit behind a promenade along the river in South Williamsburg.

On a sprawling, well-maintained rooftop in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on a frigid December night, five amateur fire dancers dug into their pockets and came up wanting.

This was years before anything was in South Williamsburg," Mr. Davis added.

This project, the South Williamsburg Partnership Homes, is now in conventional, on-site construction.

South Williamsburg and Wall Street have two of the highest concentrations of renters under 25 in New York City, according to the 2000 census.

Neighbors in South Williamsburg, they met on his front stoop during the blackout of 2003.

It began to rain as they slogged from South Williamsburg to North Greenpoint to see yet another unfinished place, this one far from the train.

On various sites not far away, new construction for South Williamsburg's substantial Hasidic population has gathered momentum since the mid-90's, and more projects are in the planning stage.

There's also a factory outlet store in South Williamsburg and other branches in Park Slope and Boerum Hill.