At the kickoff to the Celebrate Brooklyn concert series in Prospect Park earlier this month, buffoonish Borough President Marty Markowitz took the stage to give a little speech recalling an out-of-town trip, bragging about the reactions he got when he told people about his home town: "When they heard I live in Brooklyn, they all said, 'Ooh, Brooklyn! I want to move there!'" To our pleasant surprise, the audience erupted into a welcoming cheer for the next wave of infamous "transplants."

We do seem to be living in a moment of Brooklyn triumphalism, so it's to be expected there's a backlash against Brooklyn's hyped hip cachet. But what's remarkable is that as overhyped and overmarketed as Brooklyn gets, it still manages to live up to its reputation—and often exceed it. Over the past twenty years, we've watched as Manhattan's character has been steadily stripped away and strangled into a strip mall of American homogeneity. Meanwhile, Brooklyn keeps getting better. Here are just 100 reasons why; click through on the photos for the full listicle.

Contributions by John Del Signore, Jamie Feldmar, Elyssa Goldberg, Bethany O'Grady, Melanie Jane Parker, Rachel Pincus, and Eva Saviano.