IF IT WERE A CITY UNTO ITSELF, it would be the fourth-largest in the country. As it is, Brooklyn, with more than 2.5 million people, is the most heavily populated of the five boroughs that together make up New York City.

With nearly a third of New York’s total population, Brooklyn is a thriving borough, growing enormously in the past few years in new features and facilities. Lying across the East River from Manhattan, it has become a leading center for business and events and welcomes more than 15 million visitors a year.

Great growth brought new hotels, among them Hotel Indigo Brooklyn, Hilton Brooklyn New York, Dazzler Brooklyn and 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, as well as a recent renovation of the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge. Another 28 hotels have plans to build in Brooklyn, adding to the borough’s current inventory of 5,953 hotel rooms.

Exhibits at Brooklyn Museum © RITU JETHANI | DREAMSTIME.COM

As more hotels opened, the choice of meeting spaces grew, among them the Vale Ballroom at The William Vale, the Meadow Rue in 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge and flexible banquet and meeting spaces at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge.

In the past five years, Brooklyn has become a sought-after location for technology companies, both startups and mature entities. Since being elected borough president of Brooklyn in 2013, Eric Adams has worked to strengthen the borough’s economy by, among other moves, developing the concept of the Brooklyn Tech Triangle and investing in that entity at three Brooklyn spots: the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Downtown Brooklyn and DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass).

Brooklyn also serves as a desired location for small creative businesses and back offices of large Manhattan companies. It hosts offices of a number of major corporations, among them Amazon Fashion, Time Inc. and Etsy. There is ample room for more; currently, the borough offers about 17 million square feet of office space.

“Brooklyn has seen a steady increase in business development growth, from well-known business brands and brand hotels to industry startups in tech and design,” said Jerry Cito, senior vice president of convention development, NYC & Company. “With these new businesses, Brooklyn is becoming the next destination in New York City for companies of all sizes and interests to host their next big meeting or event.”

Since 2014 the borough also focused on strengthening its industrial and manufacturing sector, with the city’s administration investing in the Brooklyn Army Terminal. Built in 1918 and used as the country’s largest supply center during World War II, it is today evolving into a food manufacturing hub and a home for other light industries. The city recently announced it will add a new Made in NY campus as a center for garment manufacturing and film and television production.

In general, Brooklyn has seen the highest growth (12.8 percent) in private sector jobs of all five boroughs, more than double the national average. The sectors with the strongest growth include health, accommodations and food service, scientific and technical services, administrative services, education and construction.

Brooklyn, in short, is an enticing place with a bit of everything. As Eric Adams likes to say, “There are only two types of people: those who live in Brooklyn and those who wish they could.”

If visitors want to go somewhere outside of Brooklyn at the end of the workday, there are 13 subway lines and 15 city bus lines as well as cabs and the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. And if visitors prefer to stay in Brooklyn, the borough has a great deal to offer.

Its restaurant scene grew and developed with the borough and now offers many excellent and interesting places to dine. The highly rated Al Di La Trattoria specializes in northern Italian cuisine. Vinegar Hill House serves new American fare in a rustic setting. Blanca is known for its lengthy tasting menus. Olmsted, a neighborhood restaurant, grows some of its ingredients in its backyard garden. And at Robert’s Pizza, Robert Garvey, who spent years perfecting his thin crust, makes artisanal pizza.

Barclays Center © LITTLENY | DREAMSTIME.COM

There is Barclays Center for NBA basketball in season and concerts through much of the year. The highly regarded Brooklyn Academy of Music, an organization consisting of a number of small theaters, offers a rich and varied choice of productions. And you can usually find interesting theater in small venues in DUMBO. Don’t miss the Brooklyn Museum, one of the largest museums in New York City and particularly rich in Egyptian antiquities and American art. Or get away from it all with a walk in Prospect Park, Brooklyn’s 585-acre green respite.

When Brooklyn was first settled in the 1600s, it consisted of six Dutch towns, one of which was Breuckelen, named for a village in the Netherlands. After the English took control of the region in 1664, the area became one and the name was anglicized to Brooklyn.

And Brooklyn it remains, a singular place to live, work and create.

SCENIC DRIVES

About 75 miles from Brooklyn at the farther end of Long Island (about 90 minutes to two hours), 50 wineries produce wines mostly from the grape varieties of Bordeaux, as well as some excellent sparkling wines. Three especially outstanding wineries: Bouké Wines, Sparkling Pointe and Wölffer Estate.

If you prefer a winery close by, Brooklyn even offers that, with wineries located right in the borough.

At Brooklyn Oenology Winery, usually called BOE, winemaker Alie Shaper produces a wide variety of wines from grapes grown on Long Island and upper New York state. Brooklyn Winery, a wine bar and a working winery, offers tours and tastings. Or head to the one-of-a-kind Rooftop Reds, where the vineyard and winery occupy a rooftop. It claims to be the only urban rooftop vineyard and winery in the world.