A Crash Course in Brooklyn Neighborhoods

Brooklyn Heights: Cranberry Street

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"Brooklyn is the new Manhattan and Manhattan is the new Queens and Queens is the new Brooklyn" declares Ted Danson in HBO's unconventional comedy "Bored to Death" starring Jason Schwartzman. Translated for those unfamiliar with New York: Brooklyn is now the coolest place in town. Young (and some not so young) people want to live in Brooklyn rather than Manhattan and "Made in Brooklyn" has become a hip brand.

A lot of books, websites and blogs explore this phenomenon. So its perhaps useful to step back and explore a bit Brooklyn's past as evidenced by the numerous historic neighborhoods with their row houses, mansions, public buildings and houses of worship. You will find that some parts of Brooklyn have come back full circle - desirable neighborhoods once again after decades of decay.

Brooklyn (named after Breukelen, a small town near Utrecht in Holland) is one of the five boroughs of New York City. Borough limits are identical with King County limits. It is located on the westernmost point of Long Island, sharing a land boundary only with Queens. Brooklyn was an independent city until 1898, when it was consolidated into New York City. It is its most populous borough, with nearly 2.5 million residents. Unlike the other boroughs of New York City, Brooklyn maintains a strongly distinct character of its own. Waves of immigrants have settled here and the fusion of cultures has resulted in this distinct Brooklyn flavor and some say a distinct Brooklyn dialect. Expressions such as "Fugheddaboudit", "Oy Vey!" and "Schmuck" are typical Brooklynese. They say that every seventh famous American was born in Brooklyn - a number which Brooklynites are proud of but one which is rather difficult to verify.

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Brooklyn Neighborhoods

The old image of Brooklyn is that of a middle & lower class dormitory suburb of Manhattan. Since the late 1990s that perception has gradually changed. Like Manhattan, its smaller cousin in terms of population (2.5million versus 1.5million), it has always been a borough of many neighborhoods, some rich, some poor and many solid middle class. Like Manhattan, gentrification is now progressing mercilessly, expanding from the already gentrified areas of Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope and BoCoCa (Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens) into areas like Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, Williamsburg, Prospect Heights, Sunset Park, Bay Ridge and Bensonhurst. The challenge for the coming years will be to manage Brooklyn's growth and maintain its cultural diversity.

Brooklyn has about 28 historic districts, some large like Park Slope and some containing just a block, like the BAM Historic District or a building, like the Eberhard Faber Pencil Factory. We don't cover all of them yet, but we strive to get there over time.

Brooklyn's Historic Districts

Montgomery Place
Park Slope

Brooklyn has a number of outstanding buildings such as the Williamsburgh Savings Bank building in Fort Greene, a tall Art Deco skyscraper, the former St. George Hotel in Brooklyn Heights or the Montauk Club in Park Slope. But what makes Brooklyn really remarkable are the many residential row houses in places like Park Slope, Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens and Brooklyn Heights interspersed with townhouses and mansions which are veritable architectural gems.

Architectural Styles

278 Clinton Avenue
Clinton Hill Historic District
Queen Ann Style

Brooklyn has a surprising array of houses from the Colonial period up to the early 20th century. Armed with a basic knowledge about the architectural styles makes walking the streets of Brooklyn's Historic Districts so much more interesting. Suddenly the public buildings, churches, monuments and the many townhouses can be put into the right historical context. Colonial, Federal, Georgian, English Regency, Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Italiante, Romanesque Revival, Queen Ann - they are all here.