The Brooklyn Neighborhood of East New York

East New York was primarily a rural community in the 19th Century but flirted with industrial development in 1835 when a prosperous merchant named John Pitkin bought land on which he built a shoe factory and named the community East New York. Decades later, newly constructed walk-up apartments and row houses and multi-family homes on the side streets attracted a large German, Italian, Russian, Polish and Lithuanian immigrant population. In later years large housing complexes were built.
New residents who moved into the community in the 1960s experienced high rates of unemployment and neighborhood life that was marked with remarkable strife. The decade of the1980s marked the beginning of a positive era for East New York as a series of economic and housing development projects were launch and the crime rate has plummeted.

In 1983, property owners, businesses, and other interest groups formed the East Brooklyn Business Improvement District. The Local Development Corporation of East New York administers the State-designated Empire Zone in East New York, which offers financial incentives and tax credits, including wage tax credits for companies hiring full-time employees in newly created jobs, and utility discounts to businesses located within the zone. The organization also offers entrepreneur programs, including those targeted at women entrepreneurs, to encourage the development of small businesses.

The City's Department of Housing Preservation and Development began disposing of City-owned housing in its portfolio beginning in 1987 and by partnering with local community groups, including East Brooklyn Congregations, helped create thousands of owner-occupied homes in East New York and renovate or build nearly 3,000 rental units. A new wave of immigrants began moving into East New York from the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Ecuador, Panama, and Trinidad and Tobago, while Haitian, Jamaican, Indian, Pakistani, Korean and Chinese immigrants settled in Cypress Hills.

In the neighborhood of Cypress Hills, the Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation was formed as a nonprofit in May 1983 by a group of activist residents and merchants. The organization has revitalized the Cypress Hills community through economic development with grants to improve retail storefronts; housing preservation by renovating buildings to create affordable housing; and support for youth and families, including the creation of a community school.