Brooklyn Movers for Walk-Ups, Brownstones, and High-Rises

We are Brooklyn movers based in Long Island City, just over the Pulaski Bridge from Greenpoint. Our Brooklyn work runs three ways: moves inside the borough, moves between Brooklyn and Manhattan, and moves out to Queens and beyond. On most of them the hard part is not the distance. It is the front steps, the stair turn on the second floor, or the building office that wants a certificate before anyone comes in. We are NYC movers for all five boroughs; to get a number for your move, send both addresses.

Brooklyn Movers and the Brownstone Stair

Nearly half of Brooklyn’s apartments, 48%, are in walk-ups, going by our tally of the city’s PLUTO building records. Hardly any of them are tall. Only about 5% of Brooklyn walk-up apartments sit in buildings five floors or taller, where in Manhattan it is 79%. The typical Brooklyn walk-up is a brownstone, a rowhouse or a small apartment building of four floors or fewer.

That changes what the hard part is. In a Manhattan tenement it is the number of flights. In a brownstone it is the stoop out front and the stair inside: narrow, steep, with a tight turn at each landing. A sofa that came up ten years ago may not go down the same way.

So the large pieces decide the job. Measure the sofa, the box spring and the dresser before you book, and check the narrowest turn on the stair; our post on whether your couch will fit through the door shows how. The walk-up map has the share of walk-ups for every part of Brooklyn.

Towers on the Waterfront and in Downtown Brooklyn

The elevator buildings are concentrated in a few places: Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO, and the waterfront in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. They work the way any managed tower does. The building wants a certificate of insurance before move day, books the service elevator, and decides the hours.

Book with us and the COI is ready within one business day. Ask the building office for its requirements in an email that copies us; the certificate goes back on that same email. While you have them, ask for the move rules in writing: elevator times, how long a booking lasts, and whether the halls need protection.

Parking and Loading on Brooklyn Streets

There is no permit to reserve the curb for a move in Brooklyn either. NYC DOT has no permit that sets aside curb space for a moving truck to load.

On a rowhouse block that usually means the truck stands in the closest legal space, which can be a few doors down. Street-cleaning signs count for a moving truck like any other vehicle, so on a cleaning day the posted side is off-limits for the whole window on the sign. Driveways, hydrants and bike lanes take more of the curb.

Tell us what your block looks like when you book. A long carry from the truck adds time, and time is what a local move costs.

Moving Within Brooklyn

Brooklyn to Brooklyn is the move people expect to be cheap, and Brooklyn movers know it often is not. Ten blocks or ten miles, the stairs and the loading take the same time at each end, and those are most of the bill. A short move between two fourth-floor walk-ups can take longer than a long one between two elevator buildings.

What helps: a date away from the end of the month, boxes packed and closed before the crew arrives, and the large pieces measured. The cost guide explains what goes into the price.

Brooklyn to Manhattan, Queens and Further

For Brooklyn movers, Manhattan is the most common trip out of the borough, and it comes with Manhattan’s own rules; our Manhattan movers page covers them. Into Queens, see Queens movers, or Long Island City movers for the neighborhood where our office is.

Heading to New Jersey? See our NYC to NJ movers page. For a move out of state, see long distance movers. If the date is close, our last-minute movers page covers moves booked on short notice.