This is a post that you just have to accept for what it is. Don't ask questions like...what the hell did you do this for? Or...who cares? Just accept that it's a nice list with some interesting stuff. Or not.
Anyway, I had some free time on my hands so I decided to compile a comprehensive list of all the neighborhoods in Brooklyn. I told you, no questions! Stop reading if you think poorly of this project.
I started with Brooklyn.net Neighborhoods, which appears to be the most comprehensive source, and in any case is top in Google. Then I compared other sources including Brooklyn OnLine, About: Brooklyn and the Wikipedia.
What I found was a number of neighborhoods which appeared on only one of these four lists (I only counted a Wikipedia listing if it had an associated entry). After some cross-referencing I was able to come up with a list of all of these "orphan" neighborhoods, which I now declare do not exist. On the flipside are those 'hoods which were on three or four of these lists, which definitely exist. Anyway, here are the lists, use them as you see fit.
Brooklyn Neighborhoods Which Do Not Exist
Barren Island
Bath Beach
Brooklyn Navy Yard
City Line
Cypress Hills
Eastern District
Farragut
Fort Hamilton
Fulton Ferry
Gerritsen Beach
Gowanus
Highland Park
Homecrest
Mapleton
New Lots
New Utrecht
Ocean Hill
Remsen Village
Ridgewood
Rugby
Sea Gate
Spring Creek
Starrett City
Stuyvesant Heights
Weeksville
Wingate
Brooklyn Neighborhoods Which Definitely Exist
Bay Ridge
Bedford Stuyvesant
Bensonhurst
Borough Park
Brooklyn Heights
Brownsville
Bushwick
Canarsie
Carroll Gardens
Cobble Hill
Coney Island
Downtown Brooklyn
Flatbush
Flatlands
Fort Greene
Gravesend
Greenpoint
Park Slope
Red Hook
Sheepshead Bay
Sunset Park
Williamsburg
Windsor Terrace
Brooklyn Neighborhoods Which May or May Not Exist
Boerum Hill
Brighton Beach
Clinton Hill
Crown Heights
Dyker Heights
DUMBO
East Flatbush
East New York
Georgetown
Kensington
Manhattan Beach
Marine Park
Midwood
Mill Basin
Prospect Heights
Prospect Park South
Prospect-Lefferts Gardens
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn |
The Fortress of Solitude : A Novel |
The Outside World |
| More Books... | ||
Since my friend Dagny (Oolah z) is too shy to post her comments to the blog, I've included an IM conversation wherein she expresses her thoughts on the Brooklyn Neighborhoods. It reads like some free-form poetry at times.
Oolah z: gerritsen beach definitely exists
ENY: huh
Oolah z: it's an old old neighborhood all the way out in brooklyn
ENY: oh
Oolah z: the NY times even did a "if you're thinking of living in.." recently
ENY: well i imagine all of these places exist, its whether they have enough mojo to become a neighborhood
Oolah z: it's like a little beach town
starrett city is in queens, i think
it's in rockaway
and Cypress Hills too
ENY: post a comment
Oolah z: in queens
wrong borough!
you forgot BoCoCa
for the neighborhood that may or may not exist
that definitely doesn't exist
there's a midwood HS
new lots is a subway stop on the 2 train, but i'm not sure it's a neighborhood
haven't you heard of the rappers cypress hills
ENY: i'm going to post this entire IM transcript to the blog
Oolah z: DUMBO definitely exists, it's right next to the Brooklyn Navy Yard (aka Vinegar Hill). The 2 neighborhoods are differentiated only by economics
and crown heights is where that big race riot happened in the early 90s
Have you ever been to Brooklyn? I'm not saying your idea was completely bad, but your approach was misguided. Just cross-referencing different online lists and encyclopedia's to establish what neighborhoods do or do not exist is really... weak.
Let me clarify a few things real quick.
Brighton Beach definately exists. It's down some from Bay Ridge, and its a somewhat Russian neighborhood that borders the beach. There's a boardwalk, a lot of elevated trains, and alot of Russian pharmacies and such. THere used to be a lot of abandoned buildings up tehre by the boardwalk, but they recently got replaced with million-dollar condo complexes. THe area is really coming back... and yeah, it definatly exists.
Fort Hamilton and New Utrecht are HIGH SCHOOLS, not neighborhoods, that both stem from areas like Bay Ridge towards Downtown. They might be unwritten names for certain areas, I'm not sure, but they are real places... my dad went to high school at Fort Hamilton. Believe me.
Starrett City is in the vicinity of East New York and Canarsie, off of Pennsylvania Avenue. It definately exists. I have a friend who moved from that area. (It's in bad shape over there)
Broolyn Navy Yard exists as well. I believe it's mostly Italians over there.
Cypress Hill exists too. Neighborhood slash Housing Project Development... it defiantely exists. There's even a rap group named Cypress Hills, that came from over there.
Gowanus and Sea Gate, I'm pretty sure, are real places because I've heard much talk of them. I don't know exactly what streets they run along but I've heard of them before.
And chances are, those other places exist too. Encyclopedia's don't just invent neighborhoods to make their lists prettier. They might be called different names, or blended with other neighborhoods so the lists may vary... but there are real neighborhoods out there.
Crown Heights is a huge, history-rich neighborhood. Crown Heights is on the maps, listed as a neighborhood! It's huge! It's definately a real place, I have family that used to live there. Right along Utica Avenue. Check it out yourself, on a map.
Dyker Heights is a real place.
East Flatbush is a real place... it runs sort of off Foster Avenue. Check it out on the map.
Kensington is a real place, it's sometimes not called a real neighborhood since it's sort of Borderline Bensonhurst. But to locals it's a real defined area.
Manhattan Beach and Marine Park are real places, but I'm not sure what streets are over in there.
Midwood is a real place as well. Midwood is a general term for the Flatbush / East Flatbush / vicinty whole area. So sometimes that's not listed the same way either.
Prospect Heights is real.
Prospect Park South is real too. Prospect Park itself is a huge park in Brooklyn, and the neighborhood is respectively called Park Slope. Prospect Park South, Prospect Park West... they are all little subsidaries off of the park, within Park Slope Neighborhood.
Basically... I wanna help you out and provide you with some real information, and I'm sure even the places I can't vouch for myself are real. THere are just different variations in the encyclopedias.
Next time, just talk to someone who knows the area. Cross referencing lists isn't a solid way to do things. Just talk to a New Yorker.
Anyhow take care & Be Easy
Andy's got a point. I'd also add that the web is not a reliable source for finding accurate information on Brooklyn neighborhoods. Names and boundaries have fluctuated over time. The best sources for this type of information is from archives and historians. Check out Ken Jackson's The Neighborhoods of Brooklyn and Frances Morrone's Architectural Guidebook to Brooklyn for more detailed information. You'll find that many of the neighborhoods that you listed as non-existant do, indeed, exist.
This list is just terrible. You would think that you would've at least verified it with someone who is maybe from Brooklyn or something. It just makes you look clueless and ill-informed.
East New York exists, and I would know because I am from there. City Line, Starrett City, Cypress Hills, Spring Creek, New Lots and Highland Park are areas in that neighborhood. Ocean Hill is Brownsville, the official name being Ocean Hill-Brownsville which you would know if you looked on a map -- it even says it on the subway map. Ridgewood exists and it is also on the subway map. It is Queens. Gowanus is around the Red Hook area. Sea Gate is in Rockaway Park, Queens. Mill Basin is a part of Canarsie, as is Remsen Village if I'm not mistaken. Marine Park I think is a part of Flatbush.
But whatever, we shouldn't have to correct you. That was just a bad job.
Clearly people are getting worked up about this. The whole point was to look at how different people classify what a "neighborhood" is.
Ari
gowanus runs along the gowanus canal between carrol gardens and park slop, from bond st. to 3rd ave.
You're obviously not from brooklyn.
You're obviously not from brooklyn.
You're obviously not from brooklyn.
You're obviously not from brooklyn.
You're obviously not from brooklyn.
I live in Gowanus.
You know it's Gowanus because it ain't exactly Carroll Gardens and it ain't exactly Park Slope.
-mjr
bensonhurst, gravesend and bay ridge are easily the best of the brooklyn neighborhoods because they r all predominantly italian
Weeksville is a remnant of a very historic community of free African-Americans in the mid 19th century. It was home to poets, artists, and a very impressive population. The homes still stand and have been renovated, and Weeksville is a small historic district that definitely exists. Try: http://www.weeksvillesociety.org/visiting.html
I live in Clinton Hill, and lived for 2 years in Prospect Heights. I'm doing a project on Crown Heights. They all exist. If you really want to know what neighborhoods exist go to the NYC.gov website and visit the planning boards, community boards or congressional districts to see what neighborhoods they list. Or you Could just get the Encyclopedia of NYC.
An endless topic of discussion. I have always relied on the book The Neighborhoods of Brooklyn as my quasi-official source, but I can't find it since we moved to ... Prospect Heights? According to the info I have dug up, were already living in the Heights when we were also living in Fort Greene-Clinton Hill. Confusing. I just refer to our part of town by the closest subway: Eastern Parkway-Brooklyn Museum. I have to agree with Moria, though: Crown Heights has 10,000 times the credibility as a real neighborhood than, say, DUMBO does.
Well considering I grew up in Boreum Hill. Atlantic between Hoyt and Bond. I think I'm in a position to vouch for the fact that it is a neighborhood and it does exist.
So does Gowanus for that matter.
I think however the misconceptions arise out of the fact that realtors in New York like to expand the boundaries of more "desirable" neighborhoods so as to jack rents up. Thus the curious status that addresses have in this stupid, stupid city. So we find other neighborhoods gobbled up by the ever expanding boundaries of, say, Park Slope. Gowanus in fact is now, in an effort to make an industrial blight more attractive, been co-opted into the entirely fictional "lower slope".
Lastly, a century ago, all the neighborhoods in Brooklyn south of Brooklyn Heights; like Cobble Hill, Boreum Hill, Carrol Gardens, Bay Ridge, Gowanus, etc., were lumped in with the very undesirable Red Hook. So to take a purist view on the matter, all y'all in your fancy-ass 'hoods are really living in Red Hook. Enjoy your new status in the ghetto you transplanted dimwits.
Sea Gate is a private community on the western tip of Coney Island. I know because I grew up in Coney Island. I've never heard of a Sea Gate in Queens. Many neighborhoods have multiple names. For example, Park Slope can also be called Prospect Heights.
I'm a newbie here, on a quest to find the "best neighborhood" in Brooklyn, for possible relocation. First a brief background: I was born in Coney Island 63 years ago; moved out of the state in 1966; now considering moving back. Does anyone recommend a neighborhood where people can stroll the streets day or evening, without fear of crime, where there are great restaurants, stores and near a park, a river, or the ocean??????? Thanks for any responses! (Rosalee)
Rosalee I would consider moving to Gravesend, my neighborhood. Avenue U is lined with Italian pizzeria's, salumeria's, pasticeria's and bakeries and has a very unique old time feel to it. The area is predominantly (90-95%) Italian and it is safe to walk the streets at night, many people relax on their stoop all night during the spring/summer, johnny pumps are turned on for the kids and dean martin's voice can usually be heard from a neighboring yard.
Rosalee I would consider moving to Gravesend, my neighborhood. Avenue U is lined with Italian pizzeria's, salumeria's, pasticeria's and bakeries and has a very unique old time feel to it. The area is predominantly (90-95%) Italian and it is safe to walk the streets at night, many people relax on their stoop all night during the spring/summer, johnny pumps are turned on for the kids and dean martin's voice can usually be heard from a neighboring yard.
Rosalee I would consider moving to Gravesend, my neighborhood. Avenue U is lined with Italian pizzeria's, salumeria's, pasticeria's and bakeries and has a very unique old time feel to it. The area is predominantly (90-95%) Italian and it is safe to walk the streets at night, many people relax on their stoop all night during the spring/summer, johnny pumps are turned on for the kids and dean martin's voice can usually be heard from a neighboring yard.
Rosalee I would consider moving to Gravesend, my neighborhood. Avenue U is lined with Italian pizzeria's, salumeria's, pasticeria's and bakeries and has a very unique old time feel to it. The area is predominantly (90-95%) Italian and it is safe to walk the streets at night, many people relax on their stoop all night during the spring/summer, johnny pumps are turned on for the kids and dean martin's voice can usually be heard from a neighboring yard.
Joe, thanks for the tip on Gravesend!! Could you be more specific on how to get there by subway??? I am planning to visit NYC this summer and it's been many, many years since I've had some NYC pizza!!
Joe, thanks for the tip on Gravesend!! Could you be more specific on how to get there by subway??? I am planning to visit NYC this summer and it's been many, many years since I've had some good pizza!!
Joe, thanks for the tip on Gravesend!! Could you be more specific on how to get there by subway??? I am planning to visit NYC this summer and it's been many, many years since I've had some good pizza!!
Joe, thanks for the tip on Gravesend!! Could you be more specific on how to get there by subway??? I am planning to visit NYC this summer and it's been many, many years since I've had some good pizza!! (Rosalee in Oregon)
prospect-lefferts gardens also definetly exists, its on the east side of prospect park, right near the southern entrance to the Brooklyn botanic gardens, and is also a zoned historical distrect (well, part of it is zoned historical) and there is a house and garden tour every year.
I'm orginally from the upper westside of Manhattan, but I have lived in Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights and hung out in Fort Greene and Park Slope, I know those neighborhoods truely exist because I still know people who live there. Fort Greene runs along Myrtle Ave. and Park Slope runs along Flatbush crossing Atlantic Ave. going toward downtown Brooklyn. Only a New Yorker would know the neighborhoods of New York. I left New York City in 1996 and visit all the time. "I miss New York" I'm in Houston now via Maryland. Talk about a culture shock!
rosalee, gravesend is easily reached by taking the N train to avenue U
i hate to tell ya but sea gate, garittsen beach, do exsist my friends live there and i live in brooklyn. i mean no offense b/c would never post what does and doesnt exsist in BKLYN. but dont put things up if you are not positive that they are true b/c then ur gonna look stupid to every one who looks at your page
Very funny page! I just wanted to chime in and say that Kensington definitely does exist. I lived there every day of my life until 6 months ago (when I up and moved to Tel Aviv for no particular reason).
Growing up in brooklyn, going to elementary, high school and college in brooklyn, no one I talked to really knew about or heard of Kensington.
Eventually I started telling people that it's sort of between Prospect Park and Borough Park. It is not, as someone said, Bensonhurt.
To explain further, I lived on a small street called Tehama St., which is the continuation of Albemarle Road, past Dahill Road. Albemarle is sort of the Ave A that doesn't exist all the way at the beginning of Ocean Parkway. A few blocks down from Ocean Parkway is McDonald Ave. Right there is the Church Ave. stop on the F train. That's right where I lived, smack in a little neighborhood called Kensington.
Hope that wasn't too boring. Now I live near the northern train station in Tel Aviv, so it doesn't really matter anyway.
This site is beyond absurd: It is insulting. All of the information--and there is some decent info--is organized to incite riots instead of incite insight. The "conclusions" are so false that the site is, in fact, an affront to literally millions of Brooklynites who live in neighbourhoods that this ass asserts "do not exist". Repent, ye sinner, and vacate all judgements herein: Let your research stand alone--and allow long-time Brooklynites to guide you--else ye soon be struck by stray lightning bolts and your eyes smelt out.
missing neighborhood: Shore Road south of 4th Avenue in the 80-100 blocks, running along side the parkway. There was a park there whose name escapes me. The ferry to Staten Island was nearby and PS 102.
news
Shore Road isn't a missing neighborhood - it's part of Bay Ridge. Shore Road is just the name of the road that runs along the park. I've lived there for the last six years.
I do not live in Brooklyn but I have spent lots of time there growing up. Crown Heights definitely exists, it is the home of the old Ebbetts Field where the Brooklyn Dodgers played an also to the first parkway in the US, Eastern Parkway, it was designed by the same gentlemen that designed Central Park in Manhattan and Brooklyn's Prospect Park nearby.
It is also home to the greatest Carribean Carnival in the country now in it's 40th year on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights.
Not bad for a place that doesn't exist
I do not live in Brooklyn but I have spent lots of time there growing up. Crown Heights definitely exists, it is the home of the old Ebbetts Field where the Brooklyn Dodgers played an also to the first parkway in the US, Eastern Parkway, it was designed by the same gentlemen that designed Central Park in Manhattan and Brooklyn's Prospect Park nearby.
It is also home to the greatest Carribean Carnival in the country now in it's 40th year on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights.
Not bad for a place that doesn't exist
I do not live in Brooklyn but I have spent lots of time there growing up. Crown Heights definitely exists, it is the home of the old Ebbetts Field where the Brooklyn Dodgers played an also to the first parkway in the US, Eastern Parkway, it was designed by the same gentlemen that designed Central Park in Manhattan and Brooklyn's Prospect Park nearby.
It is also home to the greatest Carribean Carnival in the country now in it's 40th year on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights.
Not bad for a place that doesn't exist
I do not live in Brooklyn but I have spent lots of time there growing up. Crown Heights definitely exists, it is the home of the old Ebbetts Field where the Brooklyn Dodgers played an also to the first parkway in the US, Eastern Parkway, it was designed by the same gentlemen that designed Central Park in Manhattan and Brooklyn's Prospect Park nearby.
It is also home to the greatest Carribean Carnival in the country now in it's 40th year on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights.
Not bad for a place that doesn't exist
I do not live in Brooklyn but I have spent lots of time there growing up. Crown Heights definitely exists, it is the home of the old Ebbetts Field where the Brooklyn Dodgers played and also to the first parkway in the US, Eastern Parkway, it was designed by the same gentlemen that designed Central Park in Manhattan and Brooklyn's Prospect Park nearby.
It is also home to the greatest Carribean Carnival in the country now in it's 40th year on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights.
Not bad for a place that doesn't exist
I do not live in Brooklyn but I have spent lots of time there growing up. Crown Heights definitely exists, it is the home of the old Ebbetts Field where the Brooklyn Dodgers played and also to the first parkway in the US, Eastern Parkway, it was designed by the same gentlemen that designed Central Park in Manhattan and Brooklyn's Prospect Park nearby.
It is also home to the greatest Carribean Carnival in the country now in it's 40th year on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights.
Not bad for a place that doesn't exist
I do not live in Brooklyn but I have spent lots of time there growing up. Crown Heights definitely exists, it is the home of the old Ebbetts Field where the Brooklyn Dodgers played an also to the first parkway in the US, Eastern Parkway, it was designed by the same gentlemen that designed Central Park in Manhattan and Brooklyn's Prospect Park nearby.
It is also home to the greatest Carribean Carnival in the country now in it's 40th year on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights.
Not bad for a place that doesn't exist
I do not live in Brooklyn but I have spent lots of time there growing up. Crown Heights definitely exists, it is the home of the old Ebbetts Field where the Brooklyn Dodgers played an also to the first parkway in the US, Eastern Parkway, it was designed by the same gentlemen that designed Central Park in Manhattan and Brooklyn's Prospect Park nearby.
It is also home to the greatest Carribean Carnival in the country now in it's 40th year on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights.
Not bad for a place that doesn't exist
I do not live in Brooklyn but I have spent lots of time there growing up. Crown Heights definitely exists, it is the home of the old Ebbetts Field where the Brooklyn Dodgers played and also to the first parkway in the US, Eastern Parkway, it was designed by the same gentlemen that designed Central Park in Manhattan and Brooklyn's Prospect Park nearby.
It is also home to the greatest Carribean Carnival in the country now in it's 40th year on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights.
Not bad for a place that doesn't exist
I do not live in Brooklyn but I have spent lots of time there growing up. Crown Heights definitely exists, it is the home of the old Ebbetts Field where the Brooklyn Dodgers played and also to the first parkway in the US, Eastern Parkway, it was designed by the same gentlemen that designed Central Park in Manhattan and Brooklyn's Prospect Park nearby.
It is also home to the greatest Carribean Carnival in the country now in it's 40th year on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights.
Not bad for a place that doesn't exist
I do not live in Brooklyn but I have spent lots of time there growing up. Crown Heights definitely exists, it is the home of the old Ebbetts Field where the Brooklyn Dodgers played and also to the first parkway in the US, Eastern Parkway, it was designed by the same gentlemen that designed Central Park in Manhattan and Brooklyn's Prospect Park nearby.
It is also home to the greatest Carribean Carnival in the country now in it's 40th year on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights.
Not bad for a place that doesn't exist
I do not live in Brooklyn but I have spent lots of time there growing up. Crown Heights definitely exists, it is the home of the old Ebbetts Field where the Brooklyn Dodgers played and also to the first parkway in the US, Eastern Parkway, it was designed by the same gentlemen that designed Central Park in Manhattan and Brooklyn's Prospect Park nearby.
It is also home to the greatest Carribean Carnival in the country now in it's 40th year on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights.
Not bad for a place that doesn't exist
Just wanted to say that Fort Hamilton and New Uterect ARE neighborhoods, not just high schools.
And Starrett City is Brooklyn, not Queens.
None of your lists have Bergen Beach, the neighborhood I grew up in.
And for the person who calls Mill Basin a part of Canarsie, they may share a zip code in common, but that is it. They are closer to each other by boat than by car, and are about as different as two neighborhoods can get.
I freelance for a Brooklyn newspaper that happens to cover a lot of the neighborhoods that don't exist. I also run an online community, and a Brooklyn website. I think I know this place pretty well.
Can anyone tell me anything on Carroll Gardens, Ft. Greene and Park Slope (kinds of neighborhoods, rents, safety, etc.)? Thinking of moving and need some help getting started!
