About Brooklyn, New YorkDecades ago, Brooklyn, New York was a city that looked with nostalgia to the glory days of Coney Island, the Victorian Gold Coast, and the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Some even gave up on their neighborhoods and moved away. But others―committed residents, nonprofit community development groups, artists, and a few hearty pioneers― refused to budge and stayed behind to rebuild. Their work was reinforced by innovative New York City policies, the Community Reinvestment Act, which encouraged bank lending, and housing tax credits, which encouraged new development.
Then the private sector came along, liked what it saw, and the result has been one of the hottest housing booms in the country.
Brooklyn's optimistic business community, elected officials, and local residents are a special breed. They believe in the potential of all people in the borough and continue to work to ensure that everyone benefits from its renaissance. They also recognize the strength of Brooklyn's diversity and appreciate hardworking newcomers who unpack their dreams here as millions have done before them.
As a result, Brooklyn today is a city that is looking forward, and there is much to look forward to.
- The waterfront, vibrant until the 1950s when the rise of the interstate highway system robbed the maritime industry of its monopoly on moving goods, is being restored to its 19th Century glory as a destination for tourists, parks, housing, and even cruise lines;
- Luxury condominiums in Brooklyn, New York are replacing vacant lots in formerly forlorn areas;
- Brooklyn is changing zoning laws to preserve the character of residential neighborhoods, but is encouraging higher rise development along commercial corridors and in downtown Brooklyn;
- A minor league baseball team, the Cyclones, draws thousands of fans to Coney Island each season;
- Brooklyn's beaches bring millions to the shore every year;
- Residents can see sublime performances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the finest art at the Brooklyn Museum;
- Prospect Park has been restored to its 19th Century grandeur, offering along with the Parade Grounds and other parks in Brooklyn, Little League ball fields, soccer fields, tennis courts, swimming pools, and a skating rink, proving that the city is a terrific place to raise kids;
- The Dyker Heights and Marine Park golf courses, easily reachable by public transportation, erase thoughts of suburban country clubs;
- Large retail chains such Target, Home Depot, and Lowes have realized the potential of the Brooklyn market and have established a presence;
- Brooklyn may have its first major league team since the 1950s, the Brooklyn Nets, when the soon to be Brooklyn basketball team gets its own arena on Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues.
The world has fallen in love with Brooklyn again, and as with any first love, one thinks the other 2.5 million residents couldn't possibly be more devoted suitors. But the beauty of Brooklyn is that old timers as well as greenhorns are always discovering nuggets of the borough's rich history as well as uncovering its great potential.
| More Local Area InformationSo, why Brooklyn? Fuhgeddaboudit! Ask any Brooklynite and you’ll have a hard time convincing them that Brooklyn isn’t the best place on earth t... Read moreThe pristine municipal Dyker Beach Golf Course, 242-acre Dyker Beach Park on Gravesend Bay, seasonal events at the 8.5 acre McKinley Park, and, o... Read moreFor more than 100 years, Coney Island has captured the imagination of people worldwide who are familiar with its history as a major resort tha... Read moreThe legacy of industrialist and philanthropist Charles Pratt defines Clinton Hill today. The Pratt Institute was founded in 1887 as an art an... Read moreSurrounded by the ocean on three sides and protected from outsiders by two secured entrances, Sea Gate is an exclusive community featuring privat... Read moreFor years a sleepy neighborhood sandwiched between Park Slope, Cobble Hill, and downtown Brooklyn, Boerum Hill now stands at the epicenter o... Read moreMidwood is noted for having one of the largest number of single-family, detached homes in Brooklyn as well as 18,000 shade trees. Its graciou... Read moreEast New York was primarily a rural community in the 19th Century but flirted with industrial development in 1835 when a prosperous merchant name... Read moreThe cool ocean breezes and location Sheepshead Bay an ideal destination for tourists. Hotels began arriving in the early 1800s, and tourists als... Read moreGrand Army Plaza, which Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux designed in the style of dramatic European plazas like the Parisian Etoile where th... Read moreThe rise of Greenpoint mirrors the rise of industrialization in the United States. Beginning in the mid-19th Century firms based in Greenpoin... Read moreOld timers in Windsor Terrace speak of the days when Irish Catholic families were so large that they filled entire pews at Holy Name Roman Catholi... Read moreFollowing the opening of the Brooklyn, Bath, and West End Railroad in 1885, real estate developer James Lynch bought land from the Benson family an... Read moreOnce a decaying warehouse and manufacturing district, the fortunes of DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) began to change when artist... Read moreAs Bob Dylan wrote, “the times they are a-changin', ” and no where is that phrase more evident in Brooklyn than in the neighborhood o... Read moreBergen Beach was originally developed in the 1890s as a summer resort community. An amusement park, boardwalk and Vaudeville shows provided visitor... Read moreAs in other sections of Brooklyn, Borough Park was farmland in the early 19th Century. A small development of cottages was built in 1887 and soo... Read moreWhile sitting on the sand at Brighton Beach in the summer, gazing out at the vast blue ocean interrupted only by the occasional sailboat o... Read moreConstruction on one-story, summer bungalows in Gerritsen Beach started in the 1920s when Irish-Americans began using the community as summer resort... Read moreThe neighborhood of Flatbush, framed by Prospect Park and Brooklyn College, is noted for its elegant one- and two-family Victorian homes and shad... Read moreCobble Hill was transformed from a rural area to a residential neighborhood beginning in 1836 after the South Ferry began operating to and fro... Read more |
