Flatbush - An Elegant Brooklyn Neighborhood

The neighborhood of Flatbush, framed by Prospect Park and Brooklyn College, is noted for its elegant one- and two-family Victorian homes and shady residential streets in between. In recent years, these homes have been attracting professionals who have ventured beyond the Brownstone neighborhoods to seek wider homes with larger rooms at relatively affordable prices.

One notable area is a community of neo-Tudor, French Revival, Queen Anne, Italian Villa, Colonial Revival, and Mission homes that would fit comfortably in the exclusive neighborhoods of any city in the country. By 1905 its residents included business executives from leading firms such as Gillette, Fruit of the Loom, Sperry-Rand, and the Brooklyn Eagle. The neighborhood of single family homes was landmarked in 1979.

Today Prospect Park is the destination for millions of people annually, including weekend athletes, who walk, jog, roller blade, or bicycle along Park Drive traveling the same route that soldiers in the Continental Army under George Washington took in August 1776 as they battled the British. Children play on the park's playgrounds and soccer, baseball, and softball fields; picnickers celebrate birthdays and holidays with family and friends; ice skaters take in the fresh air and exercise at the Wollman Rink; and families visit the Prospect Park Zoo, Carousel, Lefferts Historic House, Picnic House, and Prospect Park Audubon Center & Visitor Center at the Boathouse. The 40-acre Parade Ground within the boundaries of Flatbush features basketball courts, baseball, softball, and soccer fields, and tennis courts.

Brooklyn College, which the Princeton Review called the “most beautiful campus in the country,” opened in 1937 and enrolls 15,000 undergraduate and graduate students. In recent years Brooklyn College opened a new library and began construction on a new building to house a state-of-the-art physical education and athletics facility and consolidate student services in one location. Brooklyn College also is the location for the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts, which offers first-rate musical and dance performances throughout the year.