'Brooklyn' (named after the
Dutch city
Breukelen) is one of the five
boroughs of
New York City. An independent city until its consolidation into New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with nearly 2.5 million residents.
[1] Brooklyn is coterminous with 'Kings County', which is the most populous
county in
New York State, and the second most densely populated county in the United States (after
New York County, which is the borough of Manhattan).
[2]
Though a part of
New York City, Brooklyn maintains a distinct character of its own. Brooklyn is characterized by cultural diversity, an independent art scene,
distinct neighborhoods, and a unique architectural heritage.
History
Main articles: History of Brooklyn
The Brooklyn Bridge
The
Dutch were the first Europeans to settle the area on the western edge of
Long Island, which was then largely inhabited by the Canarsie
Native American tribe. The first Dutch settlement was
Midwout (Midwood), established in 1634.
[3] The Dutch also purchased land in the 1630s from the
Mohawks around present day
Gowanus,
Red Hook, the
Brooklyn Navy Yard, and
Bushwick.
The Village of Breuckelen was authorized by the
Dutch West India Company in 1646 and became the first municipality in what is now New York State. At the time Breuckelen was part of
New Netherland.
Dorie named the bourough. The Dutch lost Breuckelen in the British conquest of New Netherland in 1664. In 1683, the British reorganized the
Province of New York into 12 counties, each of which was sub-divided into towns. Over time, the name evolved from Breuckelen, to Brockland, Brocklin, Brookline, and eventually Brooklyn.
Kings County was one of the original 12 counties, and Brooklyn was one of the original six towns within Kings County. The county was named in honor of
King Charles II of England.
In August and September 1776, the
Battle of Long Island (occasionally now called, anachronistically, the "Battle of Brooklyn") was fought in Kings County. It was the first major battle in the
American Revolutionary War following the
Declaration of Independence, and the largest battle of the entire conflict. New York, and Brooklyn along with it, gained independence from the British with the
Treaty of Paris in 1783.
The first half of the 19th century saw urban areas grow along the economically strategic East River waterfront, across from New York City. The county had two cities: the City of Brooklyn and the City of
Williamsburgh. Brooklyn annexed Williamsburgh in 1854, which lost its final "h." It took until 1896 for Brooklyn to annex all other parts of Kings County.
The building of
rail links such as the
Brighton Beach Line in 1878 heralded explosive growth, and in the space of a decade the City of Brooklyn annexed the Town of New Lots in 1886, the Town of Flatbush, the Town of
Gravesend, and the Town of New Utrecht in 1894, and the Town of Flatlands in 1896.
Brooklyn had reached its natural municipal boundaries at the ends of Kings County. The question was now whether it was prepared to engage in the still-grander process of consolidation now developing throughout the region.
In 1898, Brooklyn residents voted by a slight majority to join with
Manhattan,
The Bronx,
Queens and
Richmond (later Staten Island) as the five
boroughs to form modern New York City. Kings County retained its status as one of New York State's counties.
Geography
Brooklyn is located on the westernmost point of Long Island and shares its only land boundary with
Queens to the northeast. The westernmost section of this boundary is defined by
Newtown Creek, which flows into the East River.
Brooklyn's waterfront faces different bodies of water. Northern Brooklyn's coast is defined by the East River, while middle Brooklyn adjoins
Upper New York Bay. This area of the waterfront features the
Red Hook peninsula and the
Erie Basin.
Buttermilk Channel separates this part of the waterfront from
Governors Island. Southwest is Gowanus Bay, connected to the
Gowanus Canal. At its south westernmost section, Brooklyn is separated from
Staten Island by the Narrows, where Upper and Lower New York Bay meet.
Brooklyn's southern coast includes the peninsula on which stretch
Coney Island,
Brighton Beach and
Manhattan Beach. The southeastern coast lies on island-dotted
Jamaica Bay.
The highest point in Brooklyn is the area around
Prospect Park and
Green-Wood Cemetery, rising approximately
200 feet (60 m) above sea level. There is also a minor elevation in
Downtown Brooklyn known as
Brooklyn Heights.
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the County has a total area of 251.0
km² (96.9
mi²). 182.9 km² (70.6 mi²) of it is land and 68.1 km² (26.3 mi²) of it is water. 27.13% of the total area is water.
Populations of wild
Monk Parakeets, also known as the Quaker Parrot, live in Green-Wood Cemetery, Midwood, Flatbush, Marine Park, Bensonhurst, and Bay Ridge.
Neighborhoods
Brooklyn has many well-defined neighborhoods, many of which developed from distinct towns and villages that date back to its founding in the Dutch colonial era in the early 1600s.
Today,
Downtown Brooklyn is the third-largest central business district in New York City, after
Midtown Manhattan and
Lower Manhattan. It has many commercial towers and a rapidly increasing number of residential buildings.
The northwestern neighborhoods between the
Brooklyn Bridge and
Prospect Park, including
Boerum Hill,
Brooklyn Heights,
Carroll Gardens,
Cobble Hill,
Clinton Hill,
Vinegar Hill,
DUMBO (an acronym for "Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass"),
Fort Greene,
Gowanus,
Park Slope,
Prospect Heights, and
Red Hook, are characterized by many Nineteenth Century brick townhouses and
brownstones. These neighborhoods include some of the most
gentrified and affluent neighborhoods in Brooklyn, along with ample subway lines, cultural institutions, and high-end restaurants.
Further North along the
East River lie
Williamsburg and
Greenpoint. Traditionally working class communities with a vibrant cultural mix, many artists and
hipsters have moved into the area since the late 1990s. Further changing the area, the city completed an extensive rezoning of the Brooklyn waterfront in 2005 which will allow for many new residential condominiums. As prices have risen, redevelopment has moved eastward away from the waterfront into
Bushwick along the
L subway line.
The Saitta House of Dyker Heights.
Central and southern Brooklyn contains many more architecturally and culturally distinct neighborhoods, some of which grew rapidly in the late 19th and early 20th century as upwardly-mobile immigrants moved out of tenement buildings in Manhattan neighborhoods like the Lower East Side.
Borough Park is largely
Orthodox Jewish;
Bedford-Stuyvesant is one of New York City's most notable
black neighborhoods;
Bensonhurst is historically
Italian.
Dyker Heights is an affluent
Italian neighborhood. East
Flatbush and Fort Greene is home to a large number of middle-class black professionals.
Brighton Beach is home to many Russians. Since 1990, Brooklyn has seen a rise in new immigration to neighborhoods like
Sunset Park, home to flourishing
Mexican and
Chinese American communities.
Adjacent counties
★
Richmond County - west
★
New York County - north
★
Queens County - east
Government
Main articles: Government of New York City
Since consolidation with New York City in 1898, Brooklyn has been governed by the New York City Charter that provides for a "strong"
mayor-council system. The centralized New York City government is responsible for public education, correctional institutions, libraries, public safety, recreational facilities, sanitation, water supply, and welfare services in Brooklyn.
The office of
Borough President was created in the consolidation of 1898 to balance centralization with local authority. Each borough president had a powerful administrative role derived from having a vote on the
New York City Board of Estimate, which was responsible for creating and approving the city's budget and proposals for land use. In 1989 the
Supreme Court of the United States declared the Board of Estimate unconstitutional on the grounds that Brooklyn, the most populous borough, had no greater effective representation on the Board than Staten Island, the least populous borough, a violation of the
Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause pursuant to the high court's 1964 "one man, one vote" decision.
[4]
Since 1990 the Borough President has acted as an advocate for the borough at the mayoral agencies, the City Council, the New York state government, and corporations. Brooklyn's Borough President is
Marty Markowitz, elected as a
Democrat in 2001 and re-elected in 2005.
'Presidential election results'| Year | GOP | Dems |
|---|
| 2004 | 24.3% ''167,149'' | '74.9%' ''514,973'' |
| 2000 | 15.7% ''96,605'' | '80.6%' ''497,468'' |
| 1996 | 15.1% ''81,406'' | '80.1%' ''432,232'' |
| 1992 | 22.9% ''133,344'' | '70.7%' ''411,183'' |
| 1988 | 32.6% ''230,064'' | '66.3%' ''368,518'' |
| 1984 | 38.3% ''285,477'' | '61.3%' ''328,379'' |
| 1980 | 38.4% ''200,306'' | '55.4%' ''288,893'' |
| 1976 | 31.1% ''190,728'' | '68.3%' ''419,382'' |
| 1972 | 49.0% ''373,903'' | '50.8%' ''387,768'' |
| 1968 | 32.0% ''247,936'' | '63.1%' ''489,174'' |
| 1964 | 25.0% ''229,291'' | '74.8%' ''684,839'' |
| 1960 | 33.5% ''327,497'' | '66.2%' ''646,582'' |
| 1956 | 45.2% ''460,456'' | '54.7%' ''557,655'' |
The Democratic Party holds the majority of public offices. 69.7% of registered voters in Brooklyn are Democrats. Party platforms center on affordable housing, education and economic development. The most controversial political issue is over the proposed
Brooklyn Nets Arena, a large development project. Pockets of Republican influence exist in
Bay Ridge and
Dyker Heights.
Each of the city's five counties (coterminous with each borough) has its own criminal court system and
District Attorney, the chief public prosecutor who is directly elected by popular vote. Charles J. Hynes, a Democrat, has been the District Attorney of Kings County since 1989. Brooklyn has 16 City Council members, the largest number of any of the five boroughs. It also has 18 administrative districts, each served by a local Community Board. Community Boards are representative bodies that field complaints and serve as advocates for local residents.
Brooklyn has not voted for a
Republican in a national
presidential election in the last 50 years. In the 2004 presidential election Democrat
John Kerry received 74.9% of the vote in Brooklyn and Republican
George W. Bush received 24.3%.
Brooklyn is split between five congressional districts, three of which are based in the borough.
10th Congressional district, which covers
Fort Greene,
Bedford Stuyvesant,
Brownsville,
East New York, and
Canarsie is represented by Democrat
Ed Towns.
Yvette Clarke represents the
11th Congressional District encompassing Park Slope,
Crown Heights,
Flatbush,
East Flatbush and Prospect Heights. It was created by the
1965 Voting Rights Act with the intention of increasing African-American representation in the
United States Congress. In 1968 the district elected
Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman to hold a seat in the Congress and a founding member of the
Congressional Black Caucus. The district's population of 654,361 is 57% black, 24% white, and 12% Latino.
[5].
In the
12th district
Nydia Velazquez represents
Bushwick,
Williamsburg,
Red Hook, and
Sunset Park, as well as Manhattan's
Lower East Side and parts of western
Queens.
The
9th district, represented by Democrat
Anthony Weiner, includes
Bergen Beach,
Brighton Beach,
Gerritsen Beach,
Kensington,
Manhattan Beach,
Marine Park,
Midwood,
Mill Basin and
Sheepshead Bay in southeast Brooklyn, as well as portions of Queens.
[6]
The midtown Manhattan-based
8th District, represented by Democrat
Jerry Nadler, includes Coney Island, Boro Park and parts of Bensonhurst and Bay Ridge. The
Staten Island-based
13th district, represented by Republican
Vito Fossella, includes some of the more conservative areas of the borough, including most of Bay Ridge and Bensonhurst and all of Gravesend and Dyker Heights.
Brooklyn's official motto is ''Een Draght Mackt Maght''. Written in the (old)
Dutch language, it is inspired by the motto of the
United Dutch Provinces and translated as ''In Unity There is Strength''. The motto is displayed on the borough
seal and
flag, which also feature a young robed woman bearing
fasces, a traditional emblem of
republicanism.
[7] Brooklyn's official colors are blue and gold.
[8]
'Party affiliation of Brooklyn registered voters'| Party | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 |
|---|
| Democratic | 69.7 | 69.2 | 70.0 | 70.1 | 70.6 | 70.3 | 70.7 | 70.8 | 70.8 | 71.0 |
| Republican | 10.1 | 10.1 | 10.1 | 10.1 | 10.2 | 10.5 | 10.9 | 11.1 | 11.3 | 11.5 |
| No affiliation | 16.5 | 16.9 | 16.1 | 16.2 | 16.3 | 16.5 | 15.9 | 15.5 | 15.4 | 15.2 |
| Other | 3.7 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 2.9 | 2.8 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 2.3 | 2.3 |
Economy
Brooklyn's job market is driven by three main factors: the performance of the national/city economy, population flows, and the borough's position as a convenient back office for New York's businesses.
[9]
Forty-four percent of Brooklyn's employed population, or 410,000 people, work in the borough; more than half of the borough's residents work outside its boundaries. As a result, economic conditions in Manhattan are important to the borough's jobseekers. Strong international immigration to Brooklyn generates jobs in services, retailing and construction.
In recent years Brooklyn has benefited from a steady influx of financial back office operations from Manhattan, the rapid growth of a high-tech/entertainment economy in DUMBO, and strong growth in support services such as accounting, personal supply agencies and computer services firms.
Jobs in the borough have traditionally been concentrated in manufacturing, but since 1975, Brooklyn has shifted from a manufacturing-based economy to a service-based economy. In 2004, 215,000 Brooklyn residents worked in the services sector, while 27,500 worked in manufacturing. Although manufacturing has declined, a substantial base has remained in apparel and niche manufacturing concerns such as furniture, fabricated metals, and food products.
[10] The pharmaceutical company
Pfizer has a manufacturing plant in Brooklyn that employs 990 workers. First established as a shipbuilding facility in 1801, the
Brooklyn Navy Yard employed 70,000 people at is peak during World War II and was then the largest employer in the borough. The ''
Missouri'', the ship on which the Japanese formally surrendered, was built there, as was the iron-sided Civil War vessel the ''
Monitor'', and the ''
Maine'', whose sinking off Havana led to the start of the Spanish-American War. The Navy Yard is now a hub for industrial design firms, food processing businesses, and artisans, along with a growing film and television production industry. About 230 private-sector firms providing 4,000 jobs are at the Yard.
Construction and services are the fastest growing sectors.
[11] Most employers in Brooklyn are small businesses. In 2000, 91% of the approximately 38,704 business establishments in Brooklyn had fewer than 20 employees.
[12]
The unemployment rate in Brooklyn in March 2006 was 5.9%.
Demographics
Main articles: Demographics of Brooklyn
| 'Brooklyn Compared' |
|---|
| '2000 Census' | 'Brooklyn' | 'NY City' | 'NY State' |
| Total population | 2,465,326 | 8,008,278 | 18,976,457 |
| Population density | 34,920/mi² | 26,403/mi² | 402/mi² |
| Median household income (1999) | $32,135 | $38,293 | $43,393 |
| Per capita income | $16,775 | $22,402 | $23,389 |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 22% | 27% | 24% |
| Foreign born | 38% | 36% | 20% |
| White | 41% | 45% | 67% |
| Black | 36% | 27% | 16% |
| Hispanic (any race) | 20% | 27% | 15% |
| Asian | 8% | 10% | 6% |
Brooklyn has been New York City's most populous borough since the mid-1920s. (Key: Each borough's historical population in millions. 'The Bronx', 'Brooklyn', 'Manhattan', 'Queens', 'Staten Island')
According to 2005 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, there are 2,486,235 people (up from 2.3 million in 1990), 880,727 households, and 583,922 families residing in Brooklyn.
[13] The population density was 13,480/km² (34,920/mi²). There were 930,866 housing units at an average density of 5,090/km² (13,180/mi²).
In 2000, 41.20% of Brooklyn residents were
white; 36.44% were
black; 7.54% were
Asian; 0.41% were
Native American; 0.06%
Pacific Islander; 10.05% were of other races; and 4.27% were from two or more races. People of
Hispanic or Latino origin, who may be of any race, comprised 19.79% of the population. 18.00% of the population reported speaking
Spanish at home, 5.95%
Russian, 4.19%
French or a
French-based creole, 3.92%
Chinese, 3.10%
Yiddish, 2.10%
Italian, 1.42%
Polish, 1.13%
Hebrew, 1.09%
Arabic and 0.68%
Urdu.
[14]
Of the 880,727 households in Brooklyn, 38.6% were married couples living together, 22.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.7% were non-families. 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households 27.8% are made up of individuals and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.41.
In Brooklyn the population was spread out with 26.9% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 11.5% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. Brooklyn has more women, with 88.4 males for every 100 females.
The median income for households in Brooklyn was $32,135, and the median income for a family was $36,188. Males had a higher median income of $34,317 than females, whose median income was $30,516. The
per capita income was $16,775. About 22% of families and 25.1% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 34% of those under age 18 and 21.5% of those age 65 or over.
Brooklyn has long been a magnet for immigrants, and presently has substantial populations from many countries, including China, Jamaica, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Russia. The borough also attracts people previously residing in the United States. Of these, most come from Chicago,
San Francisco,
Washington DC/
Baltimore,
Boston, and
Seattle. An overwhelming majority of those who leave Brooklyn go to the Broward, Dade, Palm Beach, and Orange Counties of
Florida. The Brooklyn population continues to grow because there is more immigration than emigration.
[15]
Residents of Brooklyn are known as ''Brooklynites'', and their distinctive Brooklyn
accent is colloquially known as ''
Brooklynese''.
Culture
Brooklyn has played a major role in American letters.
Walt Whitman wrote of the Brooklyn waterfront in his classic poem ''Crossing Brooklyn Ferry''. Betty Smith's 1943 book ''
A Tree Grows In Brooklyn,'' and the
1945 film based on it, are among the best-known early works about life in Brooklyn. William Styron's novel ''
Sophie's Choice'' is set in Flatbush, just off Prospect Park, during the summer of 1947. Arthur Miller's 1955 play ''
A View From the Bridge'' is set in Brooklyn. Paule Marshall's 1959 novel, Brown Girl, Brownstones, about Barbadian immigrants during the Depression and World War II is also set in Brooklyn. More recently, Brooklyn-born author
Jonathan Lethem has written several books about growing up in the borough, including ''
Motherless Brooklyn'' and ''
The Fortress of Solitude.'' The neighborhood of
Park Slope is home to many contemporary writers, including
Jonathan Safran Foer,
Jhumpa Lahiri,
Jonathan Franzen,
Rick Moody,
Jennifer Egan,
Kathryn Harrison,
Paul Auster,
Franco Ambriz,
Nicole Krauss,
Colson Whitehead,
Darin Strauss,
Siri Hustvedt and
Suketu Mehta, among others. So many writers live in the area that Brooklyn-based band
One Ring Zero released an album with lyrics written mainly by Brooklyn-based writers. The Discovery Kids show
Time Warp Trio is also set in Brooklyn.
The borough has had a part in theater and film as well.
Lynn Nottage's play ''Crumbs from the Table of Joy'' is set in post-World War II Brooklyn and deals with the hopes and frustrations of an African American family recently arrived from Florida. The John Travolta movie ''
Saturday Night Fever'' was set in Bay Ridge, an Italian neighborhood in south Brooklyn. Neil Simon's 1983 play "Brighton Beach Memoirs" is set in 1937 Brooklyn. In the late 1980s Brooklyn achieved a new cultural prominence with the films of
Spike Lee, whose ''
She's Gotta Have It'' and ''
Do The Right Thing'' were shot in Brooklyn neighborhoods. The 2005 film ''
The Squid and the Whale'', by
Noah Baumbach, the son of novelist Jonathon Baumbach and ''Village Voice'' film critic Georgia Brown, examined the family life of the Park Slope intelligentsia.
Although the Bronx gets much of the credit for the founding of
hip-hop music, Brooklyn is equally as notable in the genre's rise. The large African-American communites such as Bedford-Stuyvesent are currently looked upon by
pop culture as hip-hop hotbeds. Many notable hip hop artists came from Brooklyn, including
The Notorious B.I.G.,
Ol' Dirty Bastard,
Jay-Z,
Smif-N-Wessun,
Papoose,
Big Daddy Kane,
fabolous,
Talib Kweli,
Masta Killa,
Mos Def,
Shyne,
Jeru the Damaja,
James Mack and
AZ.
Brooklyn is also home to some of the most influential urban artists including Host18 of the world famous DYM crew.
[7]
The
Brooklyn Museum, opened in 1897, is among the world's premier art institutions with a permanent collection that includes more than 1.5 million objects, from ancient Egyptian masterpieces to contemporary art. The
Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), a complex including the 2,109-seat Howard Gilman Opera House, the 874-seat Harvey Lichtenstein Theater, and the art house BAM Rose Cinemas are notable venues. BAM is recognized internationally as a progressive cultural center well known for The Next Wave Festival, which began in 1983. Artists who have presented their works there include
Philip Glass,
Peter Brook,
Laurie Anderson,
Lee Breuer,
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan,
Steve Reich,
Robert Wilson,
Ingmar Bergman,
The Whirling Dervishes and the
Kirov Opera directed and conducted by
Valery Gergiev among others. Founded in 1863, the
Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) is a museum, library, and educational center dedicated to preserving and encouraging the study of Brooklyn's rich 400-year past, while reflecting upon the future of the culturally rich borough. BHS houses a treasure trove of materials relating to the founding of the U.S. and the history of Brooklyn and its people.
Brooklyn has a rich African-American cultural history. The
Weeksville Heritage Center in Bedford-Stuyvesant was an important 19th century free black community, whose residents established schools, churches and benevolent associations and were active in the
abolitionist movement. The Heritage Center focuses on tours, arts and crafts, literacy and historical preservation programs. The
Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) in Fort Greene presents work by contemporary black artists. Brooklyn is also home to many well known Dance Companies including
Mark Morris, and
Cheryl Byron's Something Positive Dance Company. Hip hop artists Mos Def and
Talib Kweli revived Brooklyn's oldest
African American bookstore, Nkiru Books, as a nonprofit cultural organization called
Nkiru Center for Education and Culture in 2000.
Variously called the "City of Trees," "City of Homes," or the "City of Churches" in the 19th century, Brooklyn is now often styled the "Borough of Homes and Churches".
As a promotional gesture by the current borough administration, distinctive traffic signs are posted along major traffic arteries at Brooklyn’s border crossings. They incorporate colorful expressions associated with Brooklyn, including: "Fugheddaboudit," "
Oy vey!," and "How Sweet It Is." One sign identifies the borough as: "Home to Everyone From Everywhere!"
Brooklyn and Red Hook feature in Arthur Miller's play "A View From The Bridge" which is a tragedy set in 1940-50s New York about an Italian American Family.
Media
Brooklyn has three local newspapers, the ''
Brooklyn Daily Eagle'', the ''Brooklyn Paper'' and
Courier-Life Publications.
Courier-Life Publications is Brooklyn's largest chain of newspapers, with a weekly readership exceeding more than one million. Courier-Life publishes newspapers reaching every sector of the borough, in addition to its myriad supplements.
''
Bay Currents'' is a bi-weekly newspaper published in south Brooklyn. ''The Brooklyn Rail'' is a glossy monthly magazine emphasizing arts and literary criticism and winner of the Utne Independent Press Award in 2002 and 2003 for Best Local/Regional Coverage. Brooklyn is also served by the major New York dailies, including ''
The New York Times'', ''
The New York Daily News'', and ''
The New York Post''. HelloBrooklyn.com is Brooklyn's largest portal with more than 10,000 links. http://www.hellobrooklyn.com
Brooklyn has a thriving ethnic press. Major ethnic publications include the Brooklyn-Queens Catholic paper ''The Tablet'', "
Hamodia" an orthodox Jewish daily, as well as several Haitian newspapers including ''The Haitian Times'', ''Haiti Observateur'', and ''Haiti Progress''. Many nationally-distributed ethnic newspapers are based out of offices in Brooklyn. Over 60 ethnic groups, writing in 42 languages, publish some 300 non-English language magazines and newspapers in New York City.
The City of New York also has an official television station, run by the
NYC Media Group, which features programming based in Brooklyn. There is also Brooklyn Cable Access Television, the borough's
public access channel.
Tourism
Southern Brooklyn was once the premier resort destination for New York City.
Coney Island developed as a playground for the rich in the early 1900s, when wealthy New Yorkers would bet on horses at the
Gravesend or
Sheepshead Bay Race Track and dined at high-class restaurants and seaside hotels. No trip to Sheepshead Bay would be complete without a stop at the docks and then dinner at
Lundy's Restaurant. The introduction of the subway made Coney Island a vacation destination for the masses, and it evolved into one of America's first amusement grounds. The Cyclone rollercoaster, built in 1927, is on the National Register of Historic Places. The 1920 Wonder Wheel and other rides are still operational at
Astroland. Coney Island went into decline in the 1950s, but is undergoing a renaissance. The annual
Coney Island Mermaid Parade is a hipster costume-and-float parade which honored
David Byrne, pre-punk music guru, as the head merman in 1998. Coney Island also hosts the annual
Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.
Green-Wood Cemetery, founded by the social reformer Henry Evelyn Pierrepoint in 1838, is both one of the most significant cemeteries in the United States and an expansive green space encompassing
478 acres (1.9 km²) of rolling hills and dales, several ponds, and a baroque chapel. Still in use, the cemetery is the burial ground of some of the most famous New Yorkers, including
Albert Anastasia (1903-1957), mobster, "Lord High Executioner" for "Murder Inc.";
Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988), artist;
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990), composer;
Laura Jean Libbey (1862-1924), best-selling "dime-store" novelist;
Samuel F.B. Morse (1791-1872), inventor of the telegraph;
Edward R. Murrow (1908-1965), journalist;
Martha Bulloch Roosevelt (1834-1884), mother of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt;
Margaret Sanger (1879-1966), birth control advocate;
F.A.O. Schwarz (1836-1911), toy store founder;
William M. "Boss" Tweed (1823-1878), notorious boss of the New York political machine.
The
New York Transit Museum is a museum which displays historical artifacts of the New York City Subway and bus systems; it is located in the unused Court Street subway station in Brooklyn Heights. The
Brooklyn Children's Museum was the world's first museum for children and has many exhibits on culture and zoology. The 52 acre (210,000 m²)
Brooklyn Botanic Garden includes a cherry tree esplanade, a one acre (4,000 m²) rose garden, a Japanese hill and pond garden, a fragrance garden for the blind, a water lily pond esplanade, several conservatories, a rock garden, a native flora garden, a bonsai tree collection, and children's gardens and discovery exhibits. Brooklyn's rich African American history can be seen at the
Weeksville Houses, where the first freed black community was formed in the early 1800s, and the Simmons African Arts Museum.
Sports
Main articles: Sports in Brooklyn
Brooklyn has a storied sports history. It has been home to many famous sports figures such as
Joe Paterno,
Joe Pepitone,
Joe Torre,
Larry Brown,
Mike Tyson,
Vitas Gerulaitis,
Herbie Kronowitz,
Paul Lo Duca,
John Franco,
Stephon Marbury,
John Halama,
Rico Petrocelli,
Michael Jordan and
Vince Lombardi. Parks throughout the borough such as
Prospect Park,
Marine Park, and the community sports complex at
Floyd Bennett Field provide residents an opportunity to practice and hone their sports skills and talents.
Brooklyn's most famous team, the
Brooklyn Dodgers, played at
Ebbets Field and was named for "trolley dodgers," a reference to the many streetcar lines that once criss-crossed the borough. The Dodgers most historic achievement came in 1947 when
Jackie Robinson took the field in a Dodgers uniform, becoming the first Major League African American player of the modern era. In 1955, the Dodgers won the first and only
World Series for Brooklyn against their rival, the
New York Yankees. The event was marked by mass euphoria and celebrations all over Brooklyn. Just two years later, the Dodgers moved to
Los Angeles, causing a widespread sense of betrayal.
After a 43-year hiatus, pro baseball returned to the borough in 2001 in the form of the
Brooklyn Cyclones, a
minor league team that began playing in
Coney Island.
Developer
Bruce Ratner announced in 2004 that he had purchased the
New Jersey Nets basketball team. He hopes to move the Nets to a proposed 20,000-seat
Brooklyn Nets Arena as part of a controversial housing and office development.
One of the most popular skateboard spots resides in Brooklyn, called the Brooklyn Banks. Many skaters have included the banks in skateboard videos. There is also a skateboard company based out of Brooklyn called 5boro. It is co-owned by Mark Nardelli and Steve Rodriguez.
Transportation
Brooklyn's transportation infrastructure provides the means to efficiently move goods and people throughout the borough.
Brooklyn is well served by public transit. Due to the fact that 18
New York City Subway lines including the Franklin Avenue Shuttle traverse the borough it is not surprising that 92.8% of Brooklyn residents traveling to Manhattan use the subway. Major stations include,
Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street,
Broadway Junction,
DeKalb Avenue,
Jay Street-Borough Hall, and
Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue.
[16]
The public bus network covers the entire borough. There is daily express bus service into Manhattan. New York's famous yellow cabs also provide transportation in Brooklyn, although they are less numerous in Brooklyn than in Manhattan. There are three commuter rail stations in Brooklyn, including
East New York station,
Nostrand Avenue station, and
Atlantic Terminal, the terminus station of the
Atlantic Branch of the
Long Island Rail Road. Atlantic Terminal is a major intermodal transit hub with several connecting subway lines.
The grand majority of limited-access expressways and parkways are located in the western and southern sections of Brooklyn. These include, the
Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, the
Gowanus Expressway, which is part of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, the
Prospect Expressway,
New York State Route 27, the
Belt Parkway, and the
Jackie Robinson Parkway. Major thoroughfares include,
Atlantic Avenue,
4th Avenue,
86th Street,
Kings Highway,
Ocean Parkway,
Eastern Parkway,
Linden Boulevard,
McGuiness Boulevard,
Flatbush Avenue,
Pennsylvania Avenue, and
Bedford Avenue.
Brooklyn is extensively connected to Manhattan by three bridges, the
Brooklyn,
Manhattan, and
Williamsburg bridges, and a tunnel, the
Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. The
Verrazano Narrows Bridge links Brooklyn with the more suburban borough of Staten Island. Though its border is mostly made up of land, Brooklyn shares three water crossings with Queens, the
Kosciuszko Bridge (part of the
Brooklyn-Queens Expressway), the Pulaski Bridge, and the JJ Byrne Memorial Bridge all carry traffic over
Newtown Creek.
Historically Brooklyn's waterfront was a major shipping port, especially at the
Brooklyn Army Terminal in
Sunset Park. Most container ship cargo operations have shifted to the New Jersey side of New York Harbor, while the city has recently built a new cruise ship terminal in Red Hook that is to become a focal point for New York's growing cruise industry. The
Queen Mary 2, the world's largest ocean liner, was designed specifically to fit under the
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the United States. The Queen Mary 2 makes regular ports of call at the Red Hook terminal on her transatlantic runs from
Southampton,
England.
Education
Education in Brooklyn is provided by a vast number of public and private institutions. Public schools in the borough are managed by the
New York City Department of Education, the largest public school system in the United States. Private schools range from the elite
Berkeley Carroll School to religious schools run by
Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and Jewish organizations. The
Satmar Jewish community of Brooklyn operates its own network of schools, which is the fourth largest school system in New York state.
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the
City University of New York, and was the first public co-ed
liberal arts college in New York City. The College ranked in the top 10 nationally for the second consecutive year in
Princeton Review’s 2006 guidebook, ''America’s Best Value Colleges''. Many of its students are first and second generation immigrants. Emblematic of its students’ potential is Eugene Shenderov, the son of Russian immigrants who received a 2005
Rhodes Scholarship before graduating from the College's B.A.-M.D. program in June 2005. The Brooklyn College campus serves as home to the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts complex and its four theaters, including the
George Gershwin.
Brooklyn Law School was founded in 1901 and is notable for its diverse student body. Women and African Americans were enrolled in 1909. According to the Leiter Report, a compendium of law school rankings published by
Brian Leiter, Brooklyn Law School places 31st nationally for quality of students.
[17]
Kingsborough Community College is a junior college in the
City University of New York system, located in
Manhattan Beach.
SUNY Downstate Medical Center, originally founded as the Long Island College Hospital in 1860, is the oldest hospital-based medical school in the United States. The Medical Center comprises the College of Medicine, College of Health Related Professions, College of Nursing, University Hospital of Brooklyn, and the School of Graduate Studies, where Nobel Prize-winner
Dr. Robert F. Furchgott is a member of the faculty. Half of the Medical Center's students are minorities or immigrants. The College of Medicine has the highest percentage of minority students of any medical school in New York State.
Long Island University is a private university in Downtown Brooklyn with 6,417 undergraduate students. In Clinton Hill, the
Pratt Institute is one of the leading art schools in the United States and offers programs in art, architecture, fashion design, design, creative writing, library science, and other area disciplines.
As an independent system, separate from the New York City and Queens libraries, the
Brooklyn Public Library offers thousands of public programs, millions of books, and use of more than 850 free Internet-accessible computers. It also has books and periodicals in all the major languages spoken in Brooklyn, including Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Hebrew, and Haitian Kreyol, as well as French, Yiddish, Hindi, Bengali, Polish, Italian, and Arabic. The Central Library is a landmarked building facing
Grand Army Plaza and is undergoing extensive renovations and an underground expansion. There are 58 library branches, placing one within a half mile of each Brooklyn resident. There's a significant business library in Brooklyn Heights. The Library is preparing to construct the new Visual and Performing Arts Library, which will focus on the link between new and emerging arts and technology and house traditional and digital collections. It will provide access and training to arts applications and technologies not widely available to the public. The collections will include the subjects of art, theater, dance, music, film, photography and architecture. A special archive will house the records and history of Brooklyn's arts communities.
See also
★
List of people from Brooklyn
References
1. Kings County, New York, United States Census Bureau, December 30 2006
2. "Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2000", United States Census Bureau, accessed May 11, 2007.
3. The Epic of New York City, Ellis, Edward Robb, , , Old Town Books, 1966,
4. Cornell Law School Supreme Court Collection: Board of Estimate of City of New York v. Morris, accessed June 12, 2006
5. "'Black seat' threatened by Yassky’s congressional run, big money support." 1 June 2006.[1]
6. Anthony Weiner neighborhoods, accessed April 15, 2007.
7. http://fotw.vexillum.com/flags/us-ny-bk.html
8. Borough of Brooklyn.[ blue and gold.
9. New York State Department of Labor Brooklyn Report, April 2006. [2]
10. New York City Economic Development Corporation, Brooklyn Borough Update March 2004.[3]
11. New York State Dept of Labor [4]
12. U.S. Census Bureau, 2001 County Business Patterns. [5]
13. U.S. Census Bureau, "Residential Population and Components of Change New York State and Counties, April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2005." Retrieved on 2006-08-04.[6]
14. &ea=&order=r MLA Data Center - Kings County, New York Retrieved 4 November 2006.
15. Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation. Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Report, 2002.[http://www.bedc.org/statistics/domestic_migration.htm
16. Convissor, DanielDOT Sees More Highways As Brooklyn's Road to Clean Air, Auto-Free Press, January/February 1992. Retrieved 4 November 2006.
17. Leiter's Law School Rankings
External links
★
Official site of the Brooklyn Borough President
★
Brooklyn Tourism
★
★
★ Hybrid satellite image/street map from
WikiMapia
★
Brooklyn Neighborhood Names Google Maps mashup
★
Brooklyn Heights Blog
★
Downtown Brooklyn Partnership
★
MOCADA
★
Mark Morris Dance Group
★
Cheryl Byron and Something Positive
★
Big Sky Brooklyn Blog
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