Brownsville, Brooklyn

Early development

The area that would become Brownsville was first used by the Dutch for farming, as well as manufacturing stone slabs and other things used to construct buildings.^[7] In 1823–1824, the Dutch founded the New Lots Reformed Church in nearby New Lots because the corresponding church in Flatbush was too far away.^[8][9] The church, which has its own cemetery that was built in 1841,^[10] was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.^[11]

In 1858, William Suydam parceled the land into 262 lots, providing simple two- to four-room accommodations for workers who were living there. However, Suydam vastly underestimated how undesirable the area was, and ran out of funding in 1861.^[12]: 11 After failing to pay his mortgages, the land was auctioned off in 1866 to Charles S. Brown of Esopus, New York.^[13] Believing the area to be useful for development,^[13] Brown subdivided the area and began calling it "Brownsville", advertising the area's wide open spaces to Jews who lived in Lower Manhattan.^{[7][12]: 11} There were 250 houses in "Brown's Village" by 1883,^[12]: 11 most of them occupied by factory workers who commuted to Manhattan.^[12]: 11 The first houses in the area were built by Charles R. Miller.^[13]

Through the 1880s, the area was a marshy floodplain that was used as a dumping ground. Fumes from the glue factories along Jamaica Bay would usually blow upwind into Brownsville.^[12]: 11 This place was inconveniently far enough from Manhattan that the affluent refused to move to Brownsville, but the land was cheap enough that tenements could be built for the poor there.^[7]

Jewish neighborhood

A street market on Belmont Avenue in 1962, when the neighborhood still had a large Jewish presence

Brownsville was predominantly Jewish from the 1880s until the 1950s.^[7] In 1887, businessman Elias Kaplan showed the first Jewish residents around Brownsville, painting the area as favorable compared to the Lower East Side, which he described as a place where one could not get away from the holds of labor unions.^[12]: 12 Kaplan built a factory and accommodations for his workers, then placed a synagogue, named Ohev Sholom, in his own factory.^[12]: 12 Other manufacturers that created low-tech products like food, furniture, and metals followed suit throughout the next decade, settling their factories in Brownsville. This led to much more housing being built there. The area bounded by present-day Dumont, Rockaway, and Liberty Avenues, and Junius Street, quickly became densely populated, with "factories, workshops, and stores" located next to housing.^[12] The farm of a local farmer, John J. Vanderveer, was cut up into lots and given to Jewish settlers^[13] after he sold it in 1892.^[14] Within three years of the first lot being distributed, there were 10,000 Jews living in Brownsville.^[13] By 1904, the lots comprising the former Vanderveer farm was entirely owned by Jews, who were spread out across 4 square miles (10 km²).^[13]

An estimated 25,000 people lived in Brownsville by 1900, most of whom lived in two-story wooden frame accommodations built for two families each. Many of these buildings were grossly overcrowded, with up to eight families living in some of these two-family houses.^[12]: 13 They were utilitarian, and according to one New York Herald article, "grossly unattractive".^[13] Many of these houses lacked amenities like running water, and their wood construction made these houses susceptible to fires. New brick-and-stone houses erected in the early 1900s were built with indoor plumbing and less prone to fire.^{[12]: 13, 15} The quality of life was further decreased by the fact that there was scant infrastructure to be found in the area,^[13] and as a result, the unpaved roads were used as open sewers.^[12]: 13 Compounding the problem, land prices were high in Brownsville (with lots available for $50 in 1907, then sold for $3,000 two years later), so in order to make their land purchases worthwhile, developers were frequently inspired to build as many apartments on a single lot as they possibly could.^{[12]: 13–15} Within twenty years of the factories' development, the area acquired a reputation as a vicious slum and breeding ground for crime. By 1904, 22 of the 25 housing units in Brownsville were tenement housing; three years later, only one of these 25 housing units was not a tenement.^[12]: 15 It became as dense as the very densely packed Lower East Side, according to one account.^[7] This also led to dangerous conditions; a 1935 collapse of a tenement stairway killed two people and injured 43 others.^[15] This overcrowding was despite the availability of empty space in the fringes of Brownsville. There were also no playgrounds in the area, and the only park in the vicinity was Betsy Head Park.^{[12]: 16–17}

In the early 20th century, the vast majority of Brownsville residents were born outside the United States; in 1910, 66% of the population were first-generation immigrants, and 80% of these immigrants were from Russia.^[12] By 1920, over 80,000 of the area's 100,000 inhabitants were Russian Jews, and Brownsville had been nicknamed "Little Jerusalem".^[16]: 108 In the 1930s it was considered the most densely populated district in all of Brooklyn.^[17]: 435 Brownsville was also considered to have the highest density of Jews of any place in the United States through the 1950s.^[16]: 108 The population remained heavily Jewish until the middle of the century, and the neighborhood boasted some seventy Orthodox synagogues.^[17]: 500 Many of these synagogues still exist in Brownsville, albeit as churches.^[18]

Brownsville was also a place for radical political causes during this time. In 1916, Margaret Sanger set up the first birth control clinic in America on Amboy Street.^{[7][17]: 500} Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the neighborhood elected Socialist and American Labor Party candidates to the state assembly. Two Socialist candidates for mayor in 1929 and 1932 both received roughly a quarter of Brownsville residents' mayoral votes. Socialist attitudes prevailed among Brownsville residents until World War II.^[12]: 38 The area's Jewish population participated heavily in civil rights movements, rallying against such things as poll taxes, Jim Crow laws, and segregation in schools.^[16]: 110

The area was fairly economically successful in its heyday. In 1942, there were 372 stores, including 8 banks and 43 stores selling menswear, along a 3-mile (4.8 km) stretch of Pitkin Avenue, which employed a combined 1,000 people and generated an estimated $90 million annually (equal to about $1,493,000,000 today if adjusted for inflation).^{[12]: 31 [19]} The median income of $2,493 in 1933 (about $52,186 today) was twice that of a family living in the Lower East Side, who earned a median of $1,390 (about $29,097 today) but lower than that of a middle-class family in outer Brooklyn ($4,320, inflation-adjusted to $90,431) or the Bronx ($3,750, inflation-adjusted to $78,499).^{[12]: 32 [19]} The Fortunoff's furniture chain had its roots on Livonia Avenue, its flagship store overshadowed by the tracks of New York City Subway's New Lots Line from 1922 to 1964, eventually expanding elsewhere in the New York metropolitan area.^[8][20] At one point in the 1943 published book, New York City Market Analysis, it had described Brownsville as having a variety of small industry unlike Lower East Side. The book also mentioned the Jewish populations were a mix of Russian, Austrian, and Polish immigrants and were 80% of the foreign born population in the neighborhood.^[21]

In the 1930s, Brownsville achieved notoriety as the birthplace of Murder, Inc.,^[7] who contracted to kill between 400 and 1,000 people through the 1940s.^[22] The organizations' criminal businesses also extended to nearby neighborhoods of Ocean Hill and East New York. The members mainly consisted of Jewish and Italian Americans as these neighborhoods during that time were mainly populated by Jewish and Italian enclaves. A film about the organization, Murder Inc., was produced and released in 1960.^[23]

Late 20th century decline and demographic change

Local retail; the Riverdale Towers sit in the background

African Americans had begun moving into Brooklyn in large numbers in the early 20th century. The adjacent Bedford-Stuyvesant was the first large African American community of Brooklyn. In the 1930s, Brownsville began to receive growing numbers of African Americans. Most of the new residents were poor and socially disadvantaged, especially the new African-American residents, who were mostly migrants from the Jim Crow-era South where they were racially discriminated against.^[16]: 110 In 1940, black residents made up 6% of Brownsville's population. The 1943 book New York City Market Analysis indicated the small but growing African American population was concentrated in the central portion of the neighborhood while most of the neighborhood was still populated by Eastern European Jewish immigrants. Although integration did take place in the neighborhood, there were racial tensions as well.^[21][24] By 1950, there were double the number of blacks, most of whom occupied the neighborhood's most undesirable housing.^[12]: 84 At the same time, new immigration quotas had reduced the number of Russian Jews who were able to immigrate to the United States.^[16]: 110

Spurred on by urban planner Robert Moses, the city replaced some of Brownsville's old tenements with public housing blocks.^[19] Although the neighborhood was racially segregated, there were more attempts at improved quality of life, public mixing, and solidarity between black and Jewish neighbors than could be found in most other neighborhoods. However, due to socioeconomic barriers imposed by the disparities between the two populations, most of these improvements never came.^{[12]: 6, 95–98} Compounding the matter, the newly arrived African-American residents were mainly industrial workers who had moved to Brownsville just as the area's factories were going out of business, so the black residents were more economically disadvantaged than the Jews who had historically lived in Brownsville. Finally, although both blacks and Jews living in Brownsville had been subject to ethnic discrimination, the situation for blacks was worse, as they were banned from some public places where Jews were allowed, and the New York City Police Department (NYPD) generally behaved more harshly toward blacks than toward Jews.^[16]: 110

The breaking point for the area's Jewish population came about in the 1950s, when the New York City Housing Authority decided to build more new public housing developments in blighted portions of Brownsville. The Jewish population quickly moved out, even though the new NYCHA developments were actually in better condition than the old wooden tenements.^[12]: 5 Citing increased crime and their desire for social mobility, Jews left Brownsville en masse, with many black and Latino residents moving in, especially into the area's housing developments.^{[12]: 5 [25]: 19} For instance, in the Van Dyke Houses, the black population in 1956 was 57% and the white population that year was 43%, with a little over one percent of residents receiving welfare benefits. Seven years later, 72% of the residents were black, 15% Puerto Rican, and the development had the highest rate of per-capita arrests of any housing development citywide.^[16]: 110

Through the 1960s, its population became largely African American, and Brownsville's unemployment rate was 17 percent, twice the city's as a whole.^[19] The newly majority-black Brownsville neighborhood had few community institutions or economic opportunities. It lacked a middle class, and its residents did not own the businesses they relied upon.^[25]: 19 In his book Brownsville, Brooklyn: Blacks, Jews, and the Changing Face of the Ghetto, W.E. Pritchett described the neighborhood as a "ghetto" whose quality of life was declining by the year. The NYCHA housing encouraged the creation of an African-American and Latino population that was poorer than the Jewish population it replaced.^{[12]: 5–6} In 1965, sociologist and then-future U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan wrote a report about black poverty entitled The Negro Family: The Case For National Action, in which he cited the fact that the 24% of the nation's black communities were single-mother families, an attribute closely tied to poverty in these communities.^[26] At that time, Brownsville and East New York's single-mother rate was almost twice the national rate, at 45%. Backlash against the report, mainly on accusations of victim blaming, caused leaders to overlook Moynihan's proposals to improve poor black communities' quality of life, and the single-mother rate in Brownsville grew.^[16]: 116

In 1966, black and Latino residents created the Brownsville Community Council in an effort to reverse the poverty and crime increases. The BCC secured welfare funding for 3,000 people, secure housing tenancies for 4,000 people, and voting rights for hundreds of new registrants. It closed down a block of Herzl Street for use as a play area, and it created the biweekly Brownsville Counselor newspaper to inform residents about government programs and job opportunities.^{[12]: 200–204} However, in spite of the BCC's efforts, crime went up, with a threefold increase in reported homicides from ten in 1960 to over thirty in 1966; a doubling of arrests from 1,883 in 1956 to over 3,901 in 1966; and claims that there could actually have been more than six times as much crime than was reported. Multiple robberies of businesses were reported every day, with robbers simply lifting or bending the roll-down metal gates that protected many storefronts. City officials urged people to not use public transportation to travel to Brownsville.^[12]: 205

Brownsville began experiencing large-scale rioting and social disorder around this time. These problems manifested themselves in September 1967. A riot occurred following the death of an 11-year-old African American boy named Richard Ross, who was killed by an African-American NYPD detective, John Rattley, at the corner of St. Johns Place and Ralph Avenue. Rattley believed Ross had mugged a 73-year-old Jewish man.^[27][28][29] The riot was led in part by Brooklyn militant Sonny Carson, who allegedly spread rumors that Rattley was white;^[12]: 234 it was quelled after Brooklyn North Borough Commander Lloyd Sealy deployed a squad of 150 police officers.^[30] Officer Rattley was not indicted by the grand jury.^[27][28][29] Then, in 1968, Brownsville was the setting of a protracted and highly contentious teachers' strike.^[31] The Board of Education had experimented with giving the people of the neighborhood control over the school. The new school administration fired several teachers in violation of union contract rules.^[32] The teachers were all white and mostly Jewish, and the resulting strike badly divided the whole city. The resulting strike dragged on for half a year, becoming known as one of John Lindsay's "Ten Plagues".^[33] It also served to segregate the remaining Jewish community from the larger black and Latino community.^[34]

By 1970, the 130,000-resident population of Brownsville^[35] was 77% black and 19% Puerto Rican.^{[12]: 148–149} Despite the activities of black civil rights organizations such as the NAACP and Urban League^[12]: 88 whose Brooklyn chapters were based in nearby Bedford-Stuyvesant, they were, overall, less concerned with the issues of the lower-income blacks who had moved into Brownsville, thus further isolating Brownsville's population. These changes corresponded to overall increases in segregation and inequality in New York City, as well as to the replacement of blue-collar with white-collar jobs.^{[25]: 10–11} The area gained a reputation for violence and poverty that was similar to the South Bronx's, a reputation that persisted through the 21st century.^[8][19][36]

Meanwhile, rioting and disorder continued. In June 1970, two men set fire to garbage bags to protest the New York City Department of Sanitation's reduction of trash collection pickups in Brownsville from six times to twice per week. In the riots that followed this arson, one man was killed and multiple others were injured.^{[12]: 239 [37]} In May 1971, the mostly black residents of Brownsville objected to reductions in Medicaid, welfare funds, and drug prevention programs in a peaceful protest that soon turned violent.^[38] In the ensuing riot, protesters conflicted with police, with windows being broken, children stealing rides aboard buses, housewives tipping over banana stands, and the New York City Fire Department fighting over 100 fires in a single night.^[19][35] By then, people were afraid to go out at night, yet the 400 or so white families in south Brownsville were primarily concerned about housing remaining affordable.^[35] The streets had empty storefronts, with one block of Pitkin Avenue having over two-thirds of its 16 storefronts lying vacant.^[12]: 240 In 1970, Mayor John Lindsay referred to the area, which had been the city's poorest for several years, as "Bombsville" because of its high concentration of empty lots and burned-out buildings.^[37]

Improvement and current status

A Goodwill thrift shop in northwestern Brownsville

After a wave of arson throughout the 1970s ravaged the low-income communities of New York City, many of the residential structures in Brownsville were left seriously damaged or destroyed, and Brownsville became synonymous for urban decay in many aspects.^{[12]: 6–7} Even at the beginning of this arson wave, 29% of residents were impoverished, a number that would increase in later years.^[39] The city began to rehabilitate many formerly abandoned tenement-style apartment buildings and designate them low-income housing beginning in the late 1970s. Marcus Garvey Village, whose townhouse-style three-story apartment buildings had front doors and gardens, was an example of such low-income development that did not lower crime and poverty, as was intended; instead, the houses became the home base of a local gang, and poverty went up to 40%.^[39] However, the East Brooklyn Congregations' Nehemiah Housing, which also constructed buildings in East New York and Spring Creek, served to help residents find affordable housing with a good quality of life.^{[12]: 258–259 [40]}

The neighborhood's crime rate decreased somewhat by the 1980s. Many subsidized multi-unit townhouses and newly constructed apartment buildings were built on vacant lots across the 1,200-acre (490 ha) expanse of the neighborhood, and from 2000 to 2003, applications for construction of residential buildings in Brownsville increased sevenfold.^[36] By 2015, many community organizations had been formed to improve the quality of life in parts of Brownsville. Changes included temporary markets being erected there as well as commercial developments in residential areas.^{[41]: 8 (PDF p. 5)}

However, these improvements are limited to certain sections of Brownsville. In 2013, 39% of residents fell below the poverty line, compared to 43% in 2000,^[19] but the poverty rate of Brownsville is still relatively high,^[36][42] being twice the city's overall rate as well as 13% higher than that of nearby Newark, New Jersey.^[19] Brownsville families reported a median income of $15,978 as of 2008, below the United States Census poverty threshold.^[43] There is a high rate of poverty in the neighborhood's northeastern section, which is inhabited disproportionately by African-Americans and Latinos. The overall average income in Brownsville is lower than that of the rest of Brooklyn and the rest of New York City.^{[41]: 8 (PDF p. 5)}

The reasons for Brownsville's lack of wholesale gentrification are numerous. One reporter for the magazine The Nation observed that the Los Angeles neighborhood of Pico-Union, which had a poverty rate similar to Brownsville's in 2000, had become a Businessweek "next hot neighborhood" by 2007. Brownsville had not seen a similar revitalization because, unlike Pico-Union, it had not been surrounded by gentrified neighborhoods; did not have desirable housing; and was not a historic district or an area of other significance.^[19] In addition, Brownsville is unlike similar neighborhoods in New York City that had since gentrified. The South Bronx's coastline gave way to attractions like Barretto Point Park; Bedford-Stuyvesant offered brownstone townhouses comparable to those in affluent Park Slope, Fort Greene, and Prospect Heights; and Bushwick and Greenpoint became popular places for young professional workers once Williamsburg had become highly sought due to its waterfront location and proximity to Manhattan.^[19] By contrast, Brownsville is surrounded by other high-poverty, high-crime neighborhoods like East New York, Ocean Hill, and East Flatbush.^[19] Its high concentration of public housing developments has traditionally prevented gentrification in this area.^[19] Brownsville is still majority African-American and Latino, with exactly two Jewish-owned businesses in Brownsville in 2012.^[44]

A columnist for The New York Times, writing for the paper's "Big City" section on 2012, stated that the many improvements to the city's overall quality of life, enacted by then-mayor Michael Bloomberg since 2002, "might have happened in Lithuania for all the effect they have had (or could have) on the lives of people in Brownsville."^[45] On the other hand, the area's lack of gentrification might have kept most of residents' money within the local Brownsville economy. The area's largest employer is supposedly the United States Postal Service, and the lack of mobility for many residents encourages them to buy from local stores instead.^[45] Kay Hymowitz wrote in her 2017 book, The New Brooklyn: What It Takes to Bring a City Back, that Brownsville was "the permanent ghetto" and that despite the gentrification in other Brooklyn neighborhoods, Brownsville contained a "concentrated, multigenerational black poverty" that caused its development to "remain static".^{[16]: 107–108}

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The total land area is 1.163 square miles (3.01 km²), and the ZIP Code for the neighborhood is 11212.^[2] Although there are no official borders, Brownsville is generally bounded by East New York Avenue to the north on the Ocean Hill border; East 98th Street/Ralph Avenue to the west, bordering East Flatbush and Crown Heights; the freight rail Bay Ridge Branch of the Long Island Rail Road and Linden Boulevard to the south, adjacent to the neighborhood of Canarsie; and Van Sinderen Avenue to the east, next to East New York.^[36][46] It is part of Brooklyn Community Board 16, which also includes Ocean Hill.^[47]

Residential development

Van Dyke I Houses

As of 2008, there were a total of 28,298 housing units in Brownsville.^[43] Brownsville is dominated by public housing developments of various types, mostly in a small area bounded by Powell Street and Rockaway, Livonia, and Sutter Avenues that is composed of multiple inward-facing developments located on six superblocks.^[34] The neighborhood contains the most densely concentrated area of public housing in the United States.^[44][48] NYCHA owns more housing units in Brownsville than in any other neighborhood, with about one-third of the housing stock (around 10,000 units) in its 18 Brownsville developments, comprising over 100 buildings within 1 square mile (2.6 km²).^{[49][16]: 108} In 2013, it was estimated that the housing developments alone contained nearly 21,000 people.^[19] Many of these buildings were built in the mid-20th-century and are deteriorating as of 2015^[update].^{[41]: 8 (PDF p. 5)} Some of these NYCHA developments are in the process of being converted into RAD PACT Section 8 Developments, where, as part of a public-private partnership with NYCHA, private developers would take over the developments and provide funding for capital improvements.^[50] These conversions include Howard Avenue Houses, Seth Low Houses, Sutter Avenue-Union Houses, Tapscott Street Rehab Houses, Ralph Avenue Houses, 104-14 Tapscott Street Houses, and Lenox Road-Rockaway Parkway Houses.^[51]

Public housing developments include:^[52]

1. 104–114 Tapscott Street; one 4-story building.^[49]
2. Brownsville Houses; 27 buildings, 6- and 7 stories tall.^[49]
3. Glenmore Plaza; four buildings, 10, 18 and 24 stories tall.^[49]
4. Howard Avenue; five buildings, 3 stories tall.^[49]
5. Howard Avenue-Park Place; eight buildings, 3 stories tall.^[49]
6. Howard Houses; ten buildings, 7- and 13 stories tall.^[49]
7. Hughes Apartments; three 22-story buildings.^[49]
8. Lenox Road-Rockaway; three buildings, total 74 units.^[49]
9. Marcus Garvey (Group A); three buildings, 6 and 14 stories tall.^[49]
10. Ralph Avenue Rehab; five 4-story buildings.^[49]
11. Reverend Randolph Brown; two 6-story buildings.^[49]
12. Seth Low Houses; four buildings, 17 and 18 stories tall.^[49]
13. Sutter Avenue-Union Street; three rehabilitated tenement buildings, 4 and 6 stories tall.^[49]
14. Tapscott Street Rehab; eight 4-story rehabilitated tenement buildings.^[49]
15. Tilden Houses; eight 16-story buildings.^[49]
16. Van Dyke I; 22 buildings, 3 and 14 stories tall.^[49]
17. Van Dyke II; one 14-story building.^[49]
18. Woodson Houses; two buildings, 10 and 25 stories tall.^[49]

Marcus Garvey Houses

In addition, below Pitkin Avenue, there is also a significant concentration of semi-detached multi-unit row houses similar to those found in East New York and Soundview surrounding the public housing developments. Many have been torn down and replaced by vacant lots or newly constructed subsidized attached multi-unit rowhouses with gardens, driveways, and finished basements.^[36] Most of these houses were built in East New York, Ocean Hill, and Brownsville under the Nehemiah development program.^[36] Of the Nehemiah developments, most of them were built on the western half of the neighborhood.^[36] Other newly built or restored housing includes 3,871 housing units for low-income residents, as well as Noble Drew Ali Plaza, a 385-unit apartment building that was notorious for drug dealing before the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) helped New York Mets first baseman Mo Vaughn buy and redevelop the building.^[53]

The Livonia Avenue Initiative, a multi-phase project situated along Livonia Avenue, is intended to create 791 apartments or houses for low-income residents.^[54] The initiative includes Livonia Commons, a proposed mixed-use project on the north side of Livonia Avenue. Livonia Commons' postmodern buildings will contain 270 apartments for lower-income citizens and 11,000 square feet (1,000 m²) of commercial space at ground level.^[55] The initiative's 21,000 square feet (2,000 m²) of community space will host a senior center and two concentrations of school classrooms, operated by two different groups. There would also be a gym, a swimming pool, a darkroom, and some studios.^[55] The entire Livonia Commons project would add 71,700 square feet (6,660 m²) of mixed-use space in multiple buildings.^[54] As of 2016^[update], there were 242 apartments being built, in addition to 468 affordable-housing units that had already been built in the East New York/Brownsville area.^[56]

Closer to the border with Ocean Hill, there are many limestone and brownstone townhouses in addition to tenements.^[36] In Brownsville, about 71% of rental housing is poorly maintained, more than the citywide rate of 56% and the boroughwide rate of 59%.^[57]: 9

Empty lots

Many of Brownsville's empty lots are now community gardens, which are also widespread in nearby East New York^[58] and are maintained by multiple community groups; the gardens are often planted with vegetables that could provide food for residents.^[59] The gardens were originally supposed to be temporary, filling lots that would have otherwise gone unused.^[60][61] After a failed sale of several abandoned lots in the 1990s that would have involved destroying some of these gardens around the city, some city residents founded the New York City Community Garden Coalition to protect these gardens.^[60]

From 2013 to 2015, NYCHA sold developers 54 lots in Brownsville, totaling 441,000 square feet (41,000 m²). Some of these lots contained parks or parking lots.^{[41]: 12 (PDF p. 7) [62]} In December 2014 the HPD issued requests for qualifications to determine which developers could build new affordable housing on one of 91 empty HPD-owned lots in Brownsville.^{[41]: 10–11 (PDF p. 6) [63]} After controversy arose over the fact that some of these lots were actually garden sites, the HPD rescinded approval to build on 34 garden sites in Brownsville, while nine other garden sites in the area were approved for redevelopment.^[61]

Points of interest

The Loews Pitkin Theatre (pictured) was abandoned for many years before being redeveloped in 2010.^[53]

The Loews Pitkin, an opulent 85-foot-high (26 m), 2,827-seat movie theater built in 1929, was among 22 theaters in the area; the rest of the theaters had either been demolished or converted into stores.^[7] The Loews Pitkin, named after theater entrepreneur Marcus Loew, had fallen in disuse by the 1970s before being revitalized in the late 2000s.^[7][53] The theater's decaying interior was used as a church and a furniture store before Poko Partners bought the space in 2008 and redeveloped the theater into a charter school and retail space for $43 million.^[53] The theater was renovated in response to residents' requests for more retail space, and as part of the theater's refurbishment, the charter school would open in 2012 along with 60,000 square feet (5,600 m²) of retail space.^[53]

The NYPD's 65th Precinct (originally the 73rd Precinct), built in 1901, covered most of the area until its closure in the mid-1980s. The old 65th Precinct building at 1546 East New York Avenue was then sold to a family with the last name of Chen.^[64] In 2004, the Chens sold the building to Family Services Network of New York, a nonprofit organization funded by the state government. Family Services borrowed $1.1 million, but failed to pay the mortgage. Despite Family Services' grandiose $3.8 million plan to rehabilitate the 65th Precinct building into a community center, it sits derelict as of 2012^[update], with graffiti on the walls, garbage in the interior, and jail cells still intact.^[64]

One block of Livonia Avenue from Barbey Street to Schenck Avenue is designated as "African Burial Ground Square", commemorating an African burial ground at the site that was discovered in 2010.^[65] The site contains remains similar to those found in the African Burial Ground National Monument in lower Manhattan, as well as those discovered under the former 126th Street Depot in East Harlem.^[66] As part of the designation, the Schenck Playground, behind the New Lots branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, would be rethemed with African cultural motifs and designs.^[8]

Hyman Spitz Florists, one of the businesses that dates back to Brownsville's initial settlement, was founded in 1898.^[7] It persisted at the same address, 1685 Pitkin Avenue, until 2004. Hyman Spitz Florists had helped provide flowers for such occasions as Donald and Ivana Trump's wedding.^[7][67]

Discover more about Geography and land use related topics

Crown Heights, Brooklyn

Crown Heights, Brooklyn

Crown Heights is a neighborhood in the central portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Crown Heights is bounded by Washington Avenue to the west, Atlantic Avenue to the north, Ralph Avenue to the east, and Empire Boulevard/East New York Avenue to the south. It is about one mile (1.6 km) wide and two miles (3.2 km) long. Neighborhoods bordering Crown Heights include Prospect Heights to the west, Flatbush and Prospect Lefferts Gardens to the south, Brownsville to the east, and Bedford–Stuyvesant to the north.

Bay Ridge Branch

Bay Ridge Branch

The Bay Ridge Branch is a rail line owned by the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and operated by the New York and Atlantic Railway in New York City. It is the longest freight-only line of the LIRR, connecting the Montauk Branch and CSX Transportation's Fremont Secondary at Glendale, Queens with the Upper New York Bay at Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

Long Island Rail Road

Long Island Rail Road

The Long Island Rail Road, often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County on Long Island. With an average weekday ridership of 354,800 passengers in 2016, it is the busiest commuter railroad in North America. It is also one of the world's few commuter systems that runs 24/7 year-round. It is publicly owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which refers to it as MTA Long Island Rail Road. In 2021, the system had a ridership of 49,167,600, or about 226,100 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2022.

Linden Boulevard

Linden Boulevard

Linden Boulevard is a boulevard in New York City. It starts off at Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn as a one-way street to Caton Avenue, where it becomes a two-way boulevard, and stretches through both Brooklyn and Queens. This boulevard, especially the area of Cambria Heights between Springfield Boulevard and the Nassau County line represents a smaller version of shopping centers located on Jamaica Avenue and Queens Boulevard. Linden Boulevard also continues into Nassau County to Valley Stream where it turns into Central Avenue; this was one of several former names of the street in Queens.

Canarsie, Brooklyn

Canarsie, Brooklyn

Canarsie is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin and East 108th Street; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on the west by Ralph Avenue; on the southwest by Paerdegat Basin; and on the south by Jamaica Bay. It is adjacent to the neighborhoods of East Flatbush to the west, Flatlands and Bergen Beach to the southwest, Starrett City to the east, East New York to the northeast, and Brownsville to the north.

East New York, Brooklyn

East New York, Brooklyn

East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough line to the north; the Queens borough line to the east; Jamaica Bay to the south, and the Bay Ridge Branch railroad tracks and Van Sinderen Avenue to the west. Linden Boulevard, Pennsylvania Avenue, and Atlantic Avenue are the primary thoroughfares through East New York.

Brooklyn Community Board 16

Brooklyn Community Board 16

Brooklyn Community Board 16 is a New York City community board that encompasses the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Brownsville and Ocean Hill. It is delimited by East 98th street, East New York Avenue, Ralph Avenue, Atlantic Avenue and Saratoga Avenue on the west, Broadway on the north, Van Sinderen Avenue on the east, as well as by the Long Island Rail Road on the south.

City block

City block

A city block, residential block, urban block, or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design.

Rental Assistance Demonstration

Rental Assistance Demonstration

The Rental Assistance Demonstration is a federal housing program that was enacted as part of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012, and is administered by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD). Broadly, the purpose of the Rental Assistance Demonstration is to provide a set of tools to address the unmet capital needs of deeply affordable, federally assisted rental housing properties in order to maintain both the viability of the properties and their long-term affordability. It also simplifies the administrative oversight of the properties by the federal government. Specifically, RAD authorizes the conversion of a property's federal funding from one form to another, where the initial form presents structural impediments to private capital investment and the new form is not only familiar to lenders and investors but, since its enactment in 1974, has leveraged billions in private investment for the development and rehabilitation of deeply affordable rental housing.

Seth Low Houses

Seth Low Houses

Low Houses, or Seth Low Projects, is a public housing complex built and operated by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and located in Brownsville, Brooklyn. The development is named after Seth Low (1850–1916). As NYC Mayor, he attacked the existence of unsanitary tenements. Low Houses has four buildings between 17 and 18 stories tall, each with 535 apartments. Completed December 31, 1967, 5.89-acres. The Low Houses is considered one of Brooklyn's toughest projects and have been known for shootings and gang violence throughout the years.

Ocean Hill, Brooklyn

Ocean Hill, Brooklyn

Ocean Hill is a subsection of Bedford–Stuyvesant in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 16 and was founded in 1890. The ZIP code for the neighborhood is 11233. Ocean Hill's boundaries start from Broadway and the neighborhood of Bushwick in the north, Ralph Avenue and the neighborhoods of Bedford-Stuyvesant proper and Crown Heights to the west, East New York Avenue and the neighborhood of Brownsville to the south, and Van Sinderen Avenue and the neighborhood of East New York to the east.

New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development

New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development

The Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for developing and maintaining the city's stock of affordable housing. Its regulations are compiled in title 28 of the New York City Rules. The Department is headed by a Commissioner, who is appointed by and reports directly to the Mayor. The current Commissioner of HPD is Adolfo Carrión Jr. appointed in January, 2022 by Mayor Eric Adams replacing Louise Carroll, who was appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio in May 2019. Other former Commissioners have included Maria Torres-Springer, Vicki Been, Jerilyn Perine, Richard Roberts and Shaun Donovan, among others. HPD is headquartered in Lower Manhattan, and includes smaller branch offices in each of the city's five boroughs.

Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of Brownsville was 58,300, a decrease of 799 (1.4%) from the 59,099 counted in 2000. Covering an area of 750.44 acres (303.69 ha), the neighborhood had a population density of 77.7 inhabitants per acre (49,700/sq mi; 19,200/km²).^[3]

The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 76.1% (44,364) African American, 0.8% (471) White, 0.3% (165) Native American, 0.7% (416) Asian, 0.0% (18) Pacific Islander, 0.3% (180) from other races, and 1.2% (703) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 20.6% (11,983) of the population.^[68] 29.9% of the population were high school graduates and 8.4% had a bachelor's degree or higher.^[68]

The entirety of Community Board 16, which comprises Brownsville, had 84,525 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 75.1 years.^{[57]: 2, 20} This is lower than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods.^{[69]: 53 (PDF p. 84) [70]} Most inhabitants are middle-aged adults and youth: 28% are between the ages of 0–17, 27% between 25 and 44, and 23% between 45 and 64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 11% and 12% respectively.^[57]: 2

As of 2016, the median household income in Community Board 16 was $30,207.^[71] In 2018, an estimated 28% of Brownsville residents lived in poverty, compared to 21% in all of Brooklyn and 20% in all of New York City. One in seven residents (14%) were unemployed, compared to 9% in the rest of both Brooklyn and New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 57% in Brownsville, higher than the citywide and boroughwide rates of 52% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, as of 2018^[update], Brownsville is considered to be low-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying.^[57]: 7

New York City Department of City Planning showed that in the 2020 census data, there were 40,000+ Black residents and 10,000 to 19,999 Hispanic residents. Each the White and Asian populations were less than 5000 residents.^[72][73]

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Bachelor's degree

Bachelor's degree

A bachelor's degree or baccalaureate is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years. The two most common bachelor's degrees are the Bachelor of Arts (BA) and the Bachelor of Science. In some institutions and educational systems, certain bachelor's degrees can only be taken as graduate or postgraduate educations after a first degree has been completed, although more commonly the successful completion of a bachelor's degree is a prerequisite for further courses such as a master's or a doctorate.

New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is the department of the government of New York City responsible for public health along with issuing birth certificates, dog licenses, and conducting restaurant inspection and enforcement. The New York City Board of Health is part of the department. Its regulations are compiled in title 24 of the New York City Rules. Since March 2022, the commissioner has been Ashwin Vasan.

Gentrification

Gentrification

Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the economic value of a neighborhood, but the resulting demographic displacement may itself become a major social issue. Gentrification often sees a shift in a neighborhood's racial or ethnic composition and average household income as housing and businesses become more expensive and resources that had not been previously accessible are extended and improved.

New York City Department of City Planning

New York City Department of City Planning

The Department of City Planning (DCP) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for setting the framework of city's physical and socioeconomic planning. The department is responsible for land use and environmental review, preparing plans and policies, and providing information to and advising the Mayor of New York City, Borough presidents, the New York City Council, Community Boards and other local government bodies on issues relating to the macro-scale development of the city. The department is responsible for changes in New York City's city map, purchase and sale of city-owned real estate and office space and of the designation of landmark and historic district status. Its regulations are compiled in title 62 of the New York City Rules. The most recent Director of City Planning Marisa Lago resigned in December, 2021 following her confirmation as Under Secretary for International Trade at the United States Department of Commerce.

The NYPD's 73rd Precinct is located at 1470 East New York Avenue.^[5] NYCHA property in the area is patrolled separately by Police Service Area #2 (P.S.A. 2).^[74]

Brownsville has consistently been considered the murder capital of New York City,^[75] with the 73rd Precinct ranking 69th safest out of 69 city precincts for per-capita crime in 2009.^[76] That year, there were 3 murders per 10,000 residents (higher than in any other neighborhood in the city), making for 28 overall murders in Brownsville; in overall crime, the 73rd Precinct was the 66th safest out of 69 neighborhoods.^[76] In the fifteen years between 1990 and 2005, reports of murder in Brownsville–Ocean Hill dropped 63 percent (to 22 murders in 2005); robberies 79 percent (to 597 in 2005); and felony assaults decreased 51 percent (to 562 in 2005).^[36] Crime rates in Brownsville had declined in the same manner that they had elsewhere in the city, but the declines were not as dramatic as in other areas of the city, with 72 people shot and 15 killed in Brownsville in 2013.^[77][78] With an incarceration rate of 1,698 per 100,000 residents, Brownsville's incarceration rate is three times the city's as a whole and higher than every other neighborhood's incarceration rate.^{[57]: 8 [69]: 25 (PDF p. 56)} At a non-fatal assault rate of 175 per 100,000 people, Brownsville also sees the most violent crimes per capita out of any neighborhood in the city.^[57]: 8 By contrast, Morrisania, a Bronx neighborhood that once had a crime rate as high as Brownsville's, saw its crime rate decline by 25 percent between 1998 and 2011, while Brownsville's crime rate stayed roughly even during the same time period.^[45]

The social problems associated with poverty, from crime to drug addiction, have plagued the area for decades. Despite the decline of crime compared to its peak during the crack and heroin epidemics, violent crime continues to be a serious problem in the community, especially gang-related gun violence.^[19][79] Empty lots and unused storefronts are common in Brownsville due to high rates of crime, mostly in the area's public housing developments. A reporter for The New York Times observed that some of the area's playgrounds were inadequately maintained with broken lights and unlocked gates, and that shootings were common in these public housing developments.^[80] Brownsville was so dangerous that one UPS driver, robbed at gunpoint, needed an armed security guard to accompany him while delivering packages to houses in the neighborhood.^[44] In an effort to reduce crime, the NYPD started a stop-and-frisk program in the early 2000s; this was controversial especially in Brownsville, with 93% of residents in one eight-block area reportedly being stopped and frisked (compared to a 7% rate citywide).^[81][82] However, serious crime per resident is decreasing, and from 2000 to 2011, the rate dropped from 45.0 to 35.3 serious crimes per 1,000 residents.^[83]

Discover more about Police and crime related topics

New York City Police Department

New York City Police Department

The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, municipal police departments in the United States.

Violent crime

Violent crime

A violent crime, violent felony, crime of violence or crime of a violent nature is a crime in which an offender or perpetrator uses or threatens to use harmful force upon a victim. This entails both crimes in which the violent act is the objective, such as murder, assault, rape and assassination, as well as crimes in which violence is used as a method of coercion or show of force, such as robbery, extortion and terrorism. Violent crimes may, or may not, be committed with weapons. Depending on the jurisdiction, violent crimes may be regarded with varying severities from homicide to harassment. There have been many theories regarding heat being the cause of an increase in violent crime. Theorists claim that violent crime is persistent during the summer due to the heat, further causing people to become aggressive and commit more violent crime.

Morrisania, Bronx

Morrisania, Bronx

Morrisania is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern Bronx, New York City, New York. Its boundaries are the Cross-Bronx Expressway to the north, Crotona-Prospect Avenue to the east, East 161st Street to the south, and Webster Avenue to the west. Third Avenue is the primary thoroughfare through Morrisania. Its name derives from the Manor of Morrisania, once the entire South Bronx.

The Bronx

The Bronx

The Bronx is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New York City borough of Queens, across the East River. The Bronx has a land area of 42 square miles (109 km2) and a population of 1,472,654 in the 2020 census. If each borough were ranked as a city, the Bronx would rank as the ninth-most-populous in the U.S. Of the five boroughs, it has the fourth-largest area, fourth-highest population, and third-highest population density. It is the only borough of New York City not primarily on an island. With a population that is 54.8% Hispanic as of 2020, it is the only majority-Hispanic county in the Northeastern United States and the fourth-most-populous nationwide.

Poverty in the United States

Poverty in the United States

In the United States, poverty has both social and political implications. In 2020, there were 37.2 million people in poverty. Some of the many causes include income inequality, inflation, unemployment, debt traps and poor education. The vast majority of people living in poverty are less educated and end up in a state of unemployment; higher incarceration rates have also been observed. Although the US is a relatively wealthy country by international standards, poverty has consistently been present throughout the United States, along with efforts to alleviate it, from New Deal-era legislation during the Great Depression, to the national war on poverty in the 1960s and poverty alleviation efforts during the 2008 Great Recession.

Heroin

Heroin

Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brown powders sold illegally around the world as heroin are routinely diluted with cutting agents. Black tar heroin is a variable admixture of morphine derivatives—predominantly 6-MAM (6-monoacetylmorphine), which is the result of crude acetylation during clandestine production of street heroin. Heroin is used medically in several countries to relieve pain, such as during childbirth or a heart attack, as well as in opioid replacement therapy.

Gun violence in the United States

Gun violence in the United States

Gun violence in the United States results in tens of thousands of deaths and injuries annually, and was the leading cause of death for children 19 and younger in 2020. In 2018, the most recent year for which data are available as of 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics reports 38,390 deaths by firearm, of which 24,432 were by suicide. The rate of firearm deaths per 100,000 people rose from 10.3 per 100,000 in 1999 to 12 per 100,000 in 2017, with 109 people dying per day or about 14,542 homicides in total, being 11.9 per 100,000 in 2018. In 2010, there were 19,392 firearm-related suicides, and 11,078 firearm-related homicides in the U.S. In 2010, 358 murders were reported involving a rifle while 6,009 were reported involving a handgun; another 1,939 were reported with an unspecified type of firearm. In 2011, a total of 478,400 fatal and nonfatal violent crimes were committed with a firearm. Gun crimes are covered by 18 USC 922 and 18 USC 924, which are the principal federal firearm statutes.

United Parcel Service

United Parcel Service

United Parcel Service is an American multinational shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company specializing in telegraphs, UPS has grown to become a Fortune 500 company and one of the world's largest shipping couriers. UPS today is primarily known for its ground shipping services as well as the UPS Store, a retail chain which assists UPS shipments and provides tools for small businesses. In addition, UPS offers air shipping on an overnight or two-day basis and delivers to post office boxes through UPS Mail Innovations and UPS SurePost, two services that pass on packages to the United States Postal Service for last-mile delivery.

Stop-and-frisk in New York City

Stop-and-frisk in New York City

The stop-question-and-frisk program, or stop-and-frisk, in New York City, is a New York City Police Department (NYPD) practice of temporarily detaining, questioning, and at times searching civilians and suspects on the street for weapons and other contraband. This is what is known in other places in the United States as the Terry stop. The rules for the policy are contained in the state's criminal procedure law section 140.50 and based on the decision of the US Supreme Court in the case of Terry v. Ohio.

Parkway Theatre, now a church

The firehouse for the New York City Fire Department (FDNY)'s Engine Company 231/Ladder Company 120/Battalion 44 is located in Brownsville.^[84] Engine Company 283/Division 15's quarters are also located in Brownsville.^[85]

A 21,000-square-foot (2,000 m²), $32 million FDNY facility was completed at 1815 Sterling Place in 2019.^[86] Designed by Chicago-based architectural firm Studio Gang, the new facility is both an FDNY training center and the firehouse for Rescue Company 2. Ground broke on the project in July 2016.^[87][88] The new firehouse, announced in December 2015,^[89] replaced Rescue 2's old location, a small building at 1472 Bergen Street in Crown Heights, which was built in the 1920s and had been occupied by Rescue 2 since 1985.^[90]

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Parkway Theatre

Parkway Theatre

The Parkway Theatre, also known as the Rolland Theatre and since 1952 as the Holy House of Prayer for All People, is a historic former theater at 1768 St. Johns Place, at the intersection with Eastern Parkway in Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York, New York. It was built in 1928 and is a steel-frame-and-concrete building faced in buff-colored brick with terra cotta trim. It consists of a long and low three-story block along St. Johns Place, with a triangular lobby block fronting a tall, rectangular-plan auditorium block and stage fly loft block.

New York City Fire Department

New York City Fire Department

The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY), is an American department of the government of New York City that provides fire protection services, technical rescue/special operations services, chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosive/hazardous materials response services and emergency medical response services within the five boroughs of New York City.

Architectural firm

Architectural firm

In the United States, an architectural firm or architecture firm is a business that employs one or more licensed architects and practices the profession of architecture; while in South Africa, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark and other countries, an architectural firm is a company that offers architectural services.

Studio Gang Architects

Studio Gang Architects

Studio Gang is an American architecture and urban design practice with offices in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and Paris. Founded and led by architect Jeanne Gang, the Studio is known for its material research and experimentation, collaboration across a wide range of disciplines, and focus on sustainability. The firm's works range in scale and typology from the 82-story mixed-use Aqua Tower to the 10,000-square-foot Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership at Kalamazoo College to the 14-acre Nature Boardwalk at Lincoln Park Zoo. Studio Gang has won numerous awards for design excellence, including the 2016 Architizer A+ Firm of the Year Award and the 2013 National Design Award for Architecture from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, as well as various awards from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and AIA Chicago.

Parks

Just east of the Crown Heights–Utica Avenue subway station, on the border with Crown Heights, there is a park called Lincoln Terrace (also known as Arthur S. Somers Park), which slopes gently down toward the southern Brooklyn coastline. The New Lots Line transitions from a tunnel to an elevated structure within this park.^[91] The 21 acres (8.5 ha) of land for Lincoln Terrace was purchased by the city in 1895–1897. In order to deter aircraft from flying through the area during World War I, parts of the park had turrets installed in "serviceable but inconspicuous locations" in 1918.^[91] Through 1935, additional land was added to the park (including land purchased from the Interborough Rapid Transit Company in 1928, which had built its New Lots Line in 1920). Streets were closed to make room for the extra parkland.^[91] The park was originally named after Abraham Lincoln, but in 1932, the western section of the park (west of Rockaway Parkway) was renamed after activist Arthur S. Somers, an area resident who had died that year. Around that time, the park and its playgrounds were refurbished.^[91]

Betsy Head Park is located in a lot on the north side of Livonia Avenue bounded by Strauss Street and Thomas S. Boyland Street.^[92] Opened in 1915, it is named after Betsy Head, a rich Briton, who died in 1907.^[92] In 1936, a new Olympic-size swimming pool, one of 11 across the city, was added as part of a Works Progress Administration project.^[93] In 2008, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Betsy Head Play Center as the first individual city landmark in Brownsville.^[93]

At Livonia Avenue and Powell Street, Livonia Park is named after Livonia, in the Baltic region in what is now Latvia and Estonia. Livonia Avenue itself is so named for the same reason.^[94] According to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, the park honors Livonia and its native people, the Livonians. The Livonians were never fully independent, instead being alternatively led by the Teutonic Order, Sweden, and the Russian Empire. The Kingdom of Livonia was a nominal state of Russia from 1570 to 1578 during the Livonian War, but did not actually gain independence.^[94] Eventually, the Livonians were assimilated into the larger Latvian population, keeping parts of their language and a few other cultural vestiges. The Russian Empire became communist as part of the October Revolution in 1917, and Latvia and Estonia gained independence soon after, only to become part of communist Russia again until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.^[94] The park itself was designated on August 15, 1969, as part of NYCHA's development of the Tilden Houses.^[8][94] There are trees, benches, gaming spaces, a drinking fountain, and many grassy plots within the park.^[94] The red-and-white bricks in Livonia Park feature the colors of the Latvian flag.^[8]

Recreation

Brownsville also has its own recreation facility with indoor swimming pools, outdoor athletic fields, and a playground. The Brownsville Recreation Center at the corner of Linden Boulevard, Mother Gaston Boulevard, and Christopher Avenue. Like all other indoor pools in the city, the Brownsville Recreation Center requires a NYC Parks pool membership.^[95] It was opened in 1953 as the Brownsville Boys' Club, a "one-room clubhouse" affiliated with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Over the next two years, the club raised $1.5 million in funds, and the city opened a brand-new recreation facility.^[96] Improvements were made to the center in the late 1990s and 2000s, including $265,000 of general repairs in 1996; $400,000 of heat and air conditioning refurbishments in 1998; and a $1.5 million renovation in 2008 that entailed installing a new playground, improving amenities such as benches and lighting, and replacing the athletic field with artificial turf.^[96]

The "Soul in the Hole" is a famous basketball court in Brownsville. The Hole is known for street basketball,^[97] and the New York Daily News characterizes it as having the "toughest" streetball competition in Brooklyn.^[98] It is located in the Brownsville Houses along Rockaway Avenue between Riverdale and Livonia Avenues.^[99] Famous players who played there included Fly Williams.^[100]

Other open spaces

Zion Triangle

The traffic triangle bounded by Pitkin and East New York Avenues and Legion Street was originally named Vanderveer Park after Peter L. Vandeveer, the former owner of the land constituting that triangle.^[101] Vanderveer donated the land in 1896, and in 1911, it was renamed Zion Park in recognition of the Jewish community.^[101][102] The Zion Park War Memorial, a monumental wall based on a design by sculptor Charles Cary Rumsey and architect Henry Beaumont Herts, was installed in the triangle and dedicated in 1925.^[101] During the 1970s, the monument was heavily vandalized, but it was restored and cleaned up by the 1990s.^[101] This monument features a star of David. The bas relief sculptures are mounted on a limestone stele and side pylons.^[101][103]

The Wyckoff Triangle, bounded by New Lots, Riverdale, and Van Siclen Avenues, is named after local property owner Hendrick Wyckoff, who ceded the land used for the traffic triangle.^[8] During the American Revolutionary War, Wyckoff was a spy for the colonists rebelling against the British. Through the 1920s, Wyckoff's family maintained the park, which is now privately maintained because it is too small to be a NYC Parks public space.^[8]

Discover more about Parks, open spaces, and recreation related topics

Crown Heights, Brooklyn

Crown Heights, Brooklyn

Crown Heights is a neighborhood in the central portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Crown Heights is bounded by Washington Avenue to the west, Atlantic Avenue to the north, Ralph Avenue to the east, and Empire Boulevard/East New York Avenue to the south. It is about one mile (1.6 km) wide and two miles (3.2 km) long. Neighborhoods bordering Crown Heights include Prospect Heights to the west, Flatbush and Prospect Lefferts Gardens to the south, Brownsville to the east, and Bedford–Stuyvesant to the north.

Interborough Rapid Transit Company

Interborough Rapid Transit Company

The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) was the private operator of New York City's original underground subway line that opened in 1904, as well as earlier elevated railways and additional rapid transit lines in New York City. The IRT was purchased by the city in June 1940, along with the younger BMT and IND systems, to form the modern New York City Subway. The former IRT lines are now the A Division or IRT Division of the Subway.

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the Union through the American Civil War to defend the nation as a constitutional union and succeeded in abolishing slavery, bolstering the federal government, and modernizing the U.S. economy.

Betsy Head Park

Betsy Head Park

Betsy Head Park is a 10.55-acre (4.27 ha) public park in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City. The park occupies two non-contiguous plots diagonally across from each other at the intersection of Dumont Avenue and Thomas S. Boyland Street, covering a collective 10.55 acres (4.27 ha). The modern-day park contains a playground, a swimming complex, and fields for baseball, football, tennis, and basketball. The park's swimming complex, the Betsy Head Play Center, was designed by Ely Jacques Kahn and consists of a bathhouse, a general swimming pool, and an infilled diving pool. The park is operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also known as NYC Parks.

Livonia

Livonia

Livonia or in earlier records Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia.

Baltic states

Baltic states

The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea are sometimes referred to as the "Baltic nations", less often and in historical circumstances also as the "Baltic republics", the "Baltic lands", or simply the Baltics.

Livonians

Livonians

The Livonians, or Livs, are a Balto-Finnic people indigenous to northern and northwestern Latvia. Livonians historically spoke Livonian, a Uralic language closely related to Estonian and related to Finnish. The last person to have learned and spoken Livonian as a mother tongue, Grizelda Kristiņa, died in 2013, making Livonian a dormant language. As of 2010, there were approximately 30 people who had learned it as a second language.

Kingdom of Livonia

Kingdom of Livonia

The Kingdom of Livonia was a nominal state in what is now the territory of Estonia and Latvia. The Russian Tsar Ivan IV declared the establishment of the kingdom during the Livonian War of 1558–1583, but it never functioned properly as a polity.

Livonian War

Livonian War

The Livonian War (1558–1583) was fought for control of Old Livonia. The Tsardom of Russia faced a varying coalition of the Dano-Norwegian Realm, the Kingdom of Sweden, and the Union of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland.

Latvians

Latvians

Latvians are a Baltic ethnic group and nation native to Latvia and the immediate geographical region, the Baltics. They are occasionally also referred to as Letts, especially in older bibliography. Latvians share a common Latvian language, culture and history.

Livonian language

Livonian language

The Livonian language is a Finnic language whose native land is the Livonian Coast of the Gulf of Livonia, located in the north of the Kurzeme peninsula in Latvia. Although its last native speaker died in 2013, there are about 40 reported L2 speakers and 210 having reported some knowledge of the language. Possibly uniquely among the Uralic languages, Livonian has been described as a pitch-accent language.

Communist state

Communist state

A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Comintern after Bolshevisation and the communist states within the Comecon, the Eastern Bloc, and the Warsaw Pact. Marxism–Leninism currently still remains the ideology of a few parties around the world. After its peak when many communist states were established, the Revolutions of 1989 brought down most of the communist states, however, it is still the official ideology of the ruling parties of China, Cuba, Laos, and Vietnam. During most of the 20th century, before the Revolutions of 1989, around one-third of the world's population lived under communist states.

Brownsville is a heavily Democratic area; in the 2012 presidential campaign, President Barack Obama "won what was very close to a unanimous vote" in the neighborhood.^[104]

The neighborhood is part of New York's 9th congressional district, represented by Democrat Yvette Clarke as of 2013^[update].^[105] It is also part of the 20th State Senate district, represented by Democrat Zellnor Myrie,^[106][107] and the 55th State Assembly district, represented by Democrat Latrice Walker.^[108][109] Brownsville is located in New York's 41st City Council district, represented by Democrat Darlene Mealy.^[110]

In the 2016 Democratic presidential primary, Hillary Rodham Clinton received 4,889 votes (73.9%) to Bernie Sanders's 1,729 votes (26.1%).^[111] Brownsville had very few Republican primary voters: just 40 Brownsville voters cast ballots in the 2016 Republican primary.^[112]

Discover more about Politics and government related topics

Democratic Party (United States)

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States. Founded in 1828, it was predominantly built by Martin Van Buren, who assembled politicians in every state behind war hero Andrew Jackson, making it the world's oldest active political party. Its main political rival has been the Republican Party since the 1850s, with both parties being big tents of competing and often opposing viewpoints. Modern American liberalism — a variant of social liberalism — is the party's majority ideology. The party also has notable centrist, social democratic, and left-libertarian factions.

2012 United States presidential election

2012 United States presidential election

The 2012 United States presidential election was the 57th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. Incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Joe Biden, were re-elected to a second term. They defeated the Republican ticket of businessman and former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.

Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is an American former politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African-American president of the United States. Obama previously served as a U.S. senator representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004, and worked as a civil rights lawyer before holding public office.

New York's 9th congressional district

New York's 9th congressional district

New York's 9th congressional district is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives in New York City, represented by Yvette Clarke.

Yvette Clarke

Yvette Clarke

Yvette Diane Clarke is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 9th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she first entered Congress in 2007, representing New York's 11th congressional district until redistricting. Clarke represented the 40th district in Brooklyn on the New York City Council from 2002 to 2006.

New York State Senate

New York State Senate

The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term limits. There are currently 63 seats in the Senate.

Zellnor Myrie

Zellnor Myrie

Zellnor Myrie is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he has served in the New York State Senate since 2019, representing the 20th state senate district, which includes parts of Brooklyn.

New York State Assembly

New York State Assembly

The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits.

Latrice Walker

Latrice Walker

Latrice Monique Walker is the Assembly member for the 55th District of the New York State Assembly. She is a Democrat. The district includes portions of Brownsville in Brooklyn.

New York City Council

New York City Council

The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs.

Darlene Mealy

Darlene Mealy

Darlene Mealy is an American politician who is a member of the New York City Council from the 41st district, which includes Brownsville, Bushwick, Crown Heights, East Flatbush and Prospect Lefferts Gardens in Brooklyn.

Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders

Bernard Sanders is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Vermont, a seat he has held since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007. Sanders is the longest-serving independent in U.S. congressional history. He has a close relationship with the Democratic Party, having caucused with House and Senate Democrats for most of his congressional career. A self-described democratic socialist, he is often seen as a leader of the progressive movement in the United States. Sanders unsuccessfully sought the Democratic Party nomination for president of the United States in 2016 and 2020, finishing in second place in both campaigns. Before his election to Congress, he was mayor of Burlington, Vermont.

Brownsville suffers from major health disparities in comparison to the rest of New York City. In 2006, Brownsville had the highest infant mortality rate in New York City (12.5 per 1,000 births), twice the overall city rate (5.9 per 1,000 births).^[113] As of 2018^[update], preterm births and births to teenage mothers were also more common in Brownsville than in other places citywide. In Brownsville, there were 127 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 31.2 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 20.2 per 1,000 citywide).^[57]: 11 In 2015, Brownsville had the lowest average life span (74.1 years) of any New York City neighborhood;^[114] the average life span in 2018 was 75.1 years, significantly lower than the city's median life span.^[57]: 20 A New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene community health profile the next year found that in Brownsville, the average life expectancy is more than ten years shorter than in Manhattan's Financial District.^{[69]: 53 (PDF p. 84) [115]} Brownsville has a high population of residents who are uninsured, or who receive healthcare through Medicaid.^[116] In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 12%, which is equal to the citywide rate.^[57]: 14

Air pollution in Brownsville is 0.008 milligrams per cubic metre (8.0×10⁻⁹ oz/cu ft), higher than the citywide and boroughwide averages.^[57]: 9 Seventeen percent of Brownsville residents are smokers, which is slightly higher than the city average of 14% of residents being smokers.^[57]: 13 In Brownsville, 41% of residents are obese, 13% are diabetic, and 33% have high blood pressure—compared to the citywide averages of 24%, 11%, and 28% respectively.^[57]: 16 In addition, 23% of children are obese, higher than the citywide average of 20%.^[57]: 12

Eighty percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is lower than the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 79% of residents described their health as "good", "very good", or "excellent", slightly more than the city's average of 78%.^[57]: 13 For every supermarket in Brownsville, there are 15 bodegas.^[57]: 10

Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center is located in the neighborhood. The hospital has suffered from violence; in 2014, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a citation to the hospital for "willful" failure to protect hospital employees after an extensive series of incidents of violence against hospital workers took place.^[117]

Brownsville has one of the highest rates of psychiatric hospitalization in the city,^[118] with 1,727 such hospitalizations per 100,000 adults.^{[69]: 46 (PDF p. 77)}

The area has also historically suffered from high levels of childhood lead exposure from environmental lead, particularly from lead-based paint in dilapidated housing stock.^{[119][120][41]: 8 (PDF p. 5)}

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New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is the department of the government of New York City responsible for public health along with issuing birth certificates, dog licenses, and conducting restaurant inspection and enforcement. The New York City Board of Health is part of the department. Its regulations are compiled in title 24 of the New York City Rules. Since March 2022, the commissioner has been Ashwin Vasan.

Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state of New York. Located near the southern tip of New York State, Manhattan is based in the Eastern Time Zone and constitutes both the geographical and demographic center of the Northeast megalopolis and the urban core of the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass. Over 58 million people live within 250 miles of Manhattan, which serves as New York City’s economic and administrative center, cultural identifier, and the city’s historical birthplace. Residents of the outer boroughs of New York City often refer to Manhattan as "the city". Manhattan has been described as the cultural, financial, media, and entertainment capital of the world, and hosts the United Nations headquarters. Manhattan also serves as the headquarters of the global art market, with numerous art galleries and auction houses collectively hosting half of the world’s art auctions.

Financial District, Manhattan

Financial District, Manhattan

The Financial District of Lower Manhattan, also known as FiDi, is a neighborhood located on the southern tip of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by the West Side Highway on the west, Chambers Street and City Hall Park on the north, Brooklyn Bridge on the northeast, the East River to the southeast, and South Ferry and the Battery on the south.

Health insurance coverage in the United States

Health insurance coverage in the United States

Health insurance coverage in the United States is provided by several public and private sources. During 2019, the U.S. population overall was approximately 330 million, with 59 million people 65 years of age and over covered by the federal Medicare program. The 273 million non-institutionalized persons under age 65 either obtained their coverage from employer-based or non-employer based sources, or were uninsured. During the year 2019, 89% of the non-institutionalized population had health insurance coverage. Separately, approximately 12 million military personnel received coverage through the Veteran's Administration and Military Health System.

Medicaid

Medicaid

In the United States, Medicaid is a program that provides health insurance for some people with limited income and resources. The program is partially funded and primarily managed by state governments, which also have wide latitude in determining eligibility and benefits, but the federal government sets baseline standards for state Medicaid programs and provides a significant portion of their funding.

Air pollution

Air pollution

Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. It is also the contamination of indoor or outdoor surrounding either by chemical activities, physical or biological agents that alters the natural features of the atmosphere. There are many different types of air pollutants, such as gases, particulates, and biological molecules. Air pollution can cause diseases, allergies, and even death to humans; it can also cause harm to other living organisms such as animals and food crops, and may damage the natural environment or built environment. Air pollution can be caused by both human activities and natural phenomena.

Obesity

Obesity

Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's weight divided by the square of the person's height—is over 30 kg/m2; the range 25–30 kg/m2 is defined as overweight. Some East Asian countries use lower values to calculate obesity. Obesity is a major cause of disability and is correlated with various diseases and conditions, particularly cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, certain types of cancer, and osteoarthritis.

Hypertension

Hypertension

Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Long-term high blood pressure, however, is a major risk factor for stroke, coronary artery disease, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, peripheral arterial disease, vision loss, chronic kidney disease, and dementia. Hypertension is a major cause of premature death worldwide.

Bodega (store)

Bodega (store)

A bodega is a small owner-operated convenience store serving hot and prepared food, often open late hours and typically with ethnic market influences. Most famously located on New York's street corners as an introduction by Puerto Ricans in New York City, they are renowned for their convivial culture and colorful character. There are an estimated 13,000 bodegas across the city.

Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center

Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center

The Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) medical services provider in the borough of Brooklyn, New York City. Brookdale's primary and secondary service areas together comprise 1 million residents. It serves most of Eastern Brooklyn: Brownsville, East New York, Canarsie and East Flatbush.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is a large regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor that originally had federal visitorial powers to inspect and examine workplaces. The United States Congress established the agency under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which President Richard M. Nixon signed into law on December 29, 1970. OSHA's mission is to "assure safe and healthy working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education, and assistance." The agency is also charged with enforcing a variety of whistleblower statutes and regulations. OSHA's workplace safety inspections have been shown to reduce injury rates and injury costs without adverse effects on employment, sales, credit ratings, or firm survival.

Lead poisoning

Lead poisoning

Lead poisoning, also known as plumbism and saturnism, is a type of metal poisoning caused by lead in the body. The brain is the most sensitive. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, constipation, headaches, irritability, memory problems, infertility, and tingling in the hands and feet. It causes almost 10% of intellectual disability of otherwise unknown cause and can result in behavioral problems. Some of the effects are permanent. In severe cases, anemia, seizures, coma, or death may occur.

Brownsville has significantly high dropout rates in its schools.^[121] Brownsville also has one of the highest concentrations of "persistently violent" schools of any area in New York State, with five such schools in Brownsville and East New York on the 2015–2016 list of most dangerous schools.^[122][a] Students must pass through metal detectors and swipe ID cards to enter the buildings.^[123] This arose from two school shootings in East New York in 1991–1992 that, combined, resulted in the deaths of three students and the injury of one teacher.^[124] Other problems in local schools include low test scores, with 95% of students scoring below grade level on state tests.^[125]

Brownsville generally has a lower ratio of college-educated residents than the rest of the city as of 2018^[update]. While 21% of residents have a college education or higher, 27% have less than a high school education and 52% are high school graduates or have some college education. By contrast, 40% of Brooklynites and 38% of city residents have a college education or higher.^[57]: 6 The percentage of Brownsville students excelling in reading and math has been increasing, with reading achievement rising from 26 percent in 2000 to 31 percent in 2011, and math achievement rising from 20 percent to 38 percent within the same time period.^[83]

Brownsville has the second-highest rate of student homelessness in Brooklyn.^[118] It also has the highest rate of elementary school student absenteeism in New York City, with 39 percent of Brownsville elementary school students missing twenty or more days per school year.^{[69]: 24 (PDF p. 55) [81][118][57]: 6} Additionally, 65% of high school students in Brownsville graduate on time, less than the citywide average of 75%.^[57]: 6 As a result, Brownsville's average educational attainment rates were low compared to the rest of the city, with few students continuing to college.^{[41]: 8 (PDF p. 5)}

Schools

Public schools are operated by the New York City Department of Education. Due to the area's high population density, there are 39 public and charter schools serving elementary and middle school students in Brownsville.^[126] Numbered public primary schools include P.S. 150 Christopher; P.S. 156 Waverly; P.S. 165 Ida Posner; P.S. 184 Newport; P.S. 189 Lincoln Terrace; P.S. 219 Kennedy-King; P.S. 284 Lew Wallace; P.S. 298; P.S. 327 Dr Rose B English; P.S. 332 Charles H Houston School; I.S. 392; P.S. 396 Special Education School; P.S. 398 Walter Weaver; P.S. 41 Francis White; P.S. 770 New American Academy; and P.S/I.S. 323 Elementary School.^[126]

There are three high schools in Brownsville; two are housed in the same building at 226 Bristol Street. Teachers Preparatory opened in September 2001, while Frederick Douglass Academy VII opened in September 2004. Teachers Preparatory School serves 6th through 12th graders with 99% minority enrollment,^[127] receiving a grade of "A" on both its middle school and high school report cards for 2008.^[128] FDA VII serves 9th through 12th grades with 99% minority enrollment.^[18] The third high school is Brownsville Academy, which is a Diploma Plus transfer school serving 10th through 12th grades with a 100% minority enrollment.^[129] It received a "Well Developed" score for 2008–2009.^[130] It also received a grade of B on its 2007–2008 report card.^[131] Brownsville Academy, a relatively small school with 205 students as of 2016–2017, is located at 1150 East New York Avenue, close to the Crown Heights border.^[132]

Libraries

The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) has two branches in Brownsville. The Brownsville branch is located on 61 Glenmore Avenue, near Watkins Street. It opened in 1905 and used a second-floor space of another building. The current 10,550-square-foot (980 m²) branch opened in 1908.^[133]

The Stone Avenue branch is located at 581 Mother Gaston Boulevard. When it opened in 1914 as the Brownsville Children's Library, it was among the world's first children's libraries, as well as one of the last Carnegie libraries in Brooklyn. The branch was renovated in 2014.^[134]

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School violence

School violence

School violence includes violence between school students as well as attacks by students on school staff. It encompasses physical violence, including student-on-student fighting, corporal punishment; psychological violence such as verbal abuse, and sexual violence, including rape and sexual harassment. It includes many forms of bullying and carrying weapons in school. It is widely believed by society to have become a serious problem in recent decades in many countries, especially where weapons such as guns or knives are involved.

School shooting

School shooting

A school shooting is an armed attack at an educational institution, such as a primary school, secondary school, high school or university, involving the use of a firearm. Many school shootings are also categorized as mass shootings due to multiple casualties. The phenomenon is most widespread in the United States, which has the highest number of school-related shootings, although school shootings have taken place elsewhere in the world.

Homelessness in the United States

Homelessness in the United States

In the United States, the number of homeless people varies from different federal government accounts. In 2014, approximately 1.5 million sheltered homeless people were counted. In 2018, the Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated roughly 553,000 homeless people in the United States on a given night, or 0.17 percent of the population. Approximately 65 percent of people were sheltered in provided housing while 35 percent were unsheltered. Annual federal HUD reports contradict private state and local reports where homelessness is shown to have increased each year since 2014 across several major American cities, with 40 percent increases noted in 2017 and in 2019.

New York City Department of Education

New York City Department of Education

The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) is the department of the government of New York City that manages the city's public school system. The City School District of the City of New York is the largest school system in the United States, with over 1.1 million students taught in more than 1,800 separate schools. The department covers all five boroughs of New York City, and has an annual budget of $38 billion. The department is run by the Panel for Educational Policy and New York City Schools Chancellor. The current chancellor is David C. Banks.

Brooklyn Public Library

Brooklyn Public Library

The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) is the public library system of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is the sixteenth largest public library system in the United States by holding and the seventh by number of visitors. Like the two other public library systems in New York City, it is an independent nonprofit organization that is funded by the city and state governments, the federal government, and private donors. The library currently promotes itself as Bklyn Public Library.

List of Carnegie libraries in New York City

List of Carnegie libraries in New York City

The following list of Carnegie libraries in New York City provides detailed information on United States Carnegie libraries in New York City, where 67 libraries were built with funds from one grant totaling $5,202,261, awarded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York on December 8, 1899. Although the original grant was negotiated in 1899, most of the grant money was awarded as the libraries were built between 1901 and 1923. Carnegie libraries were built in all 5 boroughs.

Public transportation

The crossing of the New York City Subway's New Lots Line and Canarsie Line

The area is well-served by public transport.^{[41]: 8 (PDF p. 5)} The New York City Subway serves Brownsville on the IRT New Lots Line (2, ​3, ​4, and ​5 trains) and BMT Canarsie Line (L train). The New Lots Line from Saratoga Avenue to Junius Street is definitively in Brownsville; additionally, the New Lots Line's Sutter Avenue–Rutland Road station and the Canarsie Line from Atlantic Avenue to New Lots Avenue are located along the neighborhood's borders with East Flatbush and East New York, respectively.^[135] Due to the lines being created by two different, competing subway companies (the Interborough Rapid Transit Company and the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, respectively), a free transit connection does not exist between the two lines, which provide the area's only subway service.^[136] A pedestrian bridge from the Livonia Avenue station on the Canarsie Line spans west across the Long Island Rail Road's Bay Ridge Branch to Junius Street, where an entrance to that street's station along the New Lots Line is less than a block away. There are proposals to convert the overpass into a free-transfer passage between the two stations, due to increasing ridership and plans for additional housing in the area.^[136] Money is allocated in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's 2015–2019 Capital Program to build this transfer. The stations would also need to be upgraded to become compliant with mobility accessibility guidelines under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.^[137]

MTA Regional Bus Operations operates bus lines in the area. The B15 bus crosses Brownsville horizontally, for the most part using New Lots Avenue; the B14 bus uses Pitkin and Sutter Avenues through its route in the area where Brownsville overlaps with East New York.^[138] North–south bus lines include the B7 on Saratoga Avenue and the B60 on Rockaway Avenue. The B8, B35, and B47 have segments along the outer borders of Brownsville, and the B8 and B35 both terminate along Hegeman Avenue in the neighborhood's southwestern portion.^[138]

In 2011, 72% of residents used public transportation, up from 66% in 2000. More than 85% of residents live within 0.5 miles (0.80 km) of the subway.^[34][83]

Streets

The street grid aligns with the general East New York street grid, which contains streets that generally run north–south, though ten streets from the slightly diagonal street grid of Canarsie extend into Brownsville. The easternmost of these streets, East 98th Street, serves as the ending point for many main thoroughfares in central Brooklyn, including Church Avenue, Kings Highway, and Sutter Avenues.^[8]

As a result of its Jewish heritage, there are several streets named after Jewish community figures in the western portion of Brownsville. In 1913, nine years after writer Theodor Herzl died, residents successfully petitioned to rename Ames Street to Herzl Street, marking one of the few streets outside Israel that are named Herzl Street.^[8] One block away, the incorrectly spelled Strauss Street was named after two former Macy's co-owners, brothers Nathan and Isidor Straus, the latter of whom died when his wife Ida gave up a seat on a lifeboat off the sinking RMS Titanic.^[8]

One of Brownsville's main thoroughfares, Pitkin Avenue,^[139] is named after businessman John R. Pitkin of Connecticut. Pitkin developed East New York starting in 1835.^[7]

Hopkinson Street, originally named after Declaration of Independence signer Francis Hopkinson,^[140] was renamed in honor of State Assemblyman Thomas S. Boyland, who served the neighborhood from 1977 until his death in 1982.^[8] Incidentally, many places in Brownsville, including two schools and a housing development, are named after Boyland and two of his family members (his brother William F. Boyland Sr. and his nephew William Boyland Jr.), who also went into politics and represented Brownsville in various levels of local government.^[141]

Stone Avenue was renamed after Rosetta Gaston (1895–1981), founder of the Brownsville Heritage House on the avenue, as Mother Gaston Boulevard.^[8] Mother Gaston, as she was called, operated the Heritage House inside the Stone Avenue Library, a Jacobean Revival-style library built in 1914 by William Tubby.^[142]

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IRT New Lots Line

IRT New Lots Line

The IRT New Lots Line or Livonia Avenue Line is a rapid transit line in the A Division of the New York City Subway. Located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, the line runs from the Crown Heights–Utica Avenue station in Crown Heights and continues to the New Lots Avenue station in East New York.

BMT Canarsie Line

BMT Canarsie Line

The BMT Canarsie Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway system, named after its terminus in the Canarsie neighborhood of Brooklyn. It is served by the L train at all times, which is shown in medium gray on the New York City Subway map and on station signs.

2 (New York City Subway service)

2 (New York City Subway service)

The 2 Seventh Avenue Express is a rapid transit service in the A Division of the New York City Subway. Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored red since it uses the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line through most of Manhattan.

3 (New York City Subway service)

3 (New York City Subway service)

The 3 Seventh Avenue Express is a rapid transit service in the A Division of the New York City Subway. Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored red since it uses the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line through most of Manhattan.

4 (New York City Subway service)

4 (New York City Subway service)

The 4 Lexington Avenue Express is a rapid transit service in the A Division of the New York City Subway. Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored forest green since it uses the IRT Lexington Avenue Line in Manhattan.

5 (New York City Subway service)

5 (New York City Subway service)

The 5 Lexington Avenue Express is a rapid transit service in the A Division of the New York City Subway. Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored forest green since it uses the IRT Lexington Avenue Line in Manhattan.

L (New York City Subway service)

L (New York City Subway service)

The L 14th Street–Canarsie Local is a rapid transit service in the B Division of the New York City Subway. Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored medium gray since it serves the BMT Canarsie Line.

East Flatbush, Brooklyn

East Flatbush, Brooklyn

East Flatbush is a residential neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. East Flatbush is bounded by Crown Heights and Empire Boulevard to the north; Brownsville and East 98th Street to the east; Flatlands, Canarsie and the Long Island Rail Road's Bay Ridge Branch to the south; and the neighborhood of Flatbush and New York Avenue to the west. East Flatbush is a predominantly African American neighborhood and has a population of 135,619 as of the 2010 United States Census.

East New York, Brooklyn

East New York, Brooklyn

East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough line to the north; the Queens borough line to the east; Jamaica Bay to the south, and the Bay Ridge Branch railroad tracks and Van Sinderen Avenue to the west. Linden Boulevard, Pennsylvania Avenue, and Atlantic Avenue are the primary thoroughfares through East New York.

Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company

Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company

The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) was a public transit holding company formed in 1896 to acquire and consolidate railway lines in Brooklyn and Queens, New York City, United States. It was a prominent corporation and industry leader using the single-letter symbol B on the New York Stock Exchange.

Long Island Rail Road

Long Island Rail Road

The Long Island Rail Road, often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County on Long Island. With an average weekday ridership of 354,800 passengers in 2016, it is the busiest commuter railroad in North America. It is also one of the world's few commuter systems that runs 24/7 year-round. It is publicly owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which refers to it as MTA Long Island Rail Road. In 2021, the system had a ridership of 49,167,600, or about 226,100 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2022.

Bay Ridge Branch

Bay Ridge Branch

The Bay Ridge Branch is a rail line owned by the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and operated by the New York and Atlantic Railway in New York City. It is the longest freight-only line of the LIRR, connecting the Montauk Branch and CSX Transportation's Fremont Secondary at Glendale, Queens with the Upper New York Bay at Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

The 1934 novel Call It Sleep, by Henry Roth, is about the Schearl family, who moves from Brownsville back to the Lower East Side. The main character, young David Schearl, must endure the "terror of poverty" on the Lower East Side. Brownsville, by contrast, is described in the book as a vast improvement over the Lower East Side.^{[12]: 15 [143]} In addition, Alfred Kazin wrote about 1920s-era Brownsville in his memoir A Walker in the City.^{[12]: 16 [45]}

Sid Gordon

Red Holzman

Zab Judah

Danny Kaye

Larry King

Willie Randolph

Mike Tyson

• Masta Ace (born 1966), rapper^[144]
• Lyle Alzado (1949–1992), NFL All Pro defensive tackle
• Albert Anastasia (1902–1957), mobster^[145]
• Maurice Ashley (born 1966), chess grandmaster^[146]
• Eric Adams (born 1960), 110th mayor of New York City since 2022^[147]
• Ralph Bakshi (born 1938), film director^[148]
• Daniel Benzali (born 1950), Golden-Globe nominated actor^[149]
• Riddick Bowe (born 1967), boxer^[150]
• Harry Boykoff (1922–2001), NBA basketball player^[151]
• Shannon Briggs (born 1971), boxer^[152]
• Egbert B. Brown (1816–1902), Union general
• Andrew Dice Clay (born 1957), comedian^[153]
• Mickey Cohen (1913–1976), gangster^[154]
• Aaron Copland (1900–1990), composer^[34]
• Bummy Davis (1920–1945), boxer^[155]
• Vince Edwards (1928–1996), actor^[156]
• Melech Epstein (1889–1979), journalist and historian^[157]
• Meade Esposito (1907–1993), Brooklyn Democratic leader^[158]
• Fyvush Finkel (1922–2016), actor^[159]
• Max Fleischer (1883–1972), animator^[160]
• Brian Flores (born 1982), NFL coach^[161]
• John Forté (born 1975), rapper^[162]
• World B. Free (born 1953), former NBA player^[163]
• Nelson George (born 1957), author^[164]
• Marty Glickman (1917–2001), sportscaster^[165][166]
• Don Goldstein (born 1937 or 1938), All American and Pan American champion basketball player^[167]
• Sid Gordon (1917–1975), 2x All Star baseball player^[168]
• Solomon Grayzel (1896–1980), historian^[169]
• Arnold Greenberg (1932–2012), co-founder of Snapple^[170]
• Yoel Halpern (1904-1986), rabbi^[171]
• Larry Harlow (1939–2021), salsa music performer, composer, and producer^[172]
• Henry Hill (1943–2012), mobster associated with the Vario Crew and Lucchese crime family^[173]
• Red Holzman (1920–1998), NBA Hall of Fame player and coach^[174]
• Moe (1897–1975), Curly (1903–1952), and Shemp Howard (1895–1955), who were brothers and members of The Three Stooges^[16]: 110
• Thirstin Howl the 3rd, rapper^[175]
• Gregory "Jocko" Jackson (1952–2012), community leader and NBA player^[176]
• Daniel Jacobs (born 1987), boxer^[177]
• Charles Jenkins (born 1989), NBA player^[178]
• Zab Judah (born 1977), boxer^[179]
• KA (born 1972), rapper^[180]
• Donald Kagan (1932–2021), historian^[181]
• Danny Kaye (1911–1987), entertainer^{[7][34][16]: 110 [166]}
• Alfred Kazin (1915–1998), writer and literary critic^{[182][16]: 110 [166]}
• Larry King (1933–2021), television and radio host^{[34][16]: 110}
• Alvin Klein (c. 1938 – 2009), theater critic for The New York Times^[183]
• Meyer Lansky (1902–1983), noted underworld figure^[16]: 30
• Steve Lawrence (born 1935), singer^[166]
• Thomas A. LaVeist (born 1961), Dean of Tulane University School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine ^[184]
• Leonard Marsh (1933–2013), co-founder of Snapple^[185]
• Zero Mostel (1915–1977), actor^{[16]: 110 [166]}
• M.O.P., hip hop duo^[186]
• Eddie Mustafa Muhammad (born 1952), former boxer^[187]
• Alex B. Novikoff (1913–1987), cell biologist^[188]
• O.G.C., hip hop group
• Abraham Osheroff (1915–2008), political activist^[189]
• Joseph Papp (1921–1991), theatrical producer/director^[7]
• Bruce Pasternack (1947–2021), business author
• Norman Podhoretz, writer^{[34][190][16]: 110}
• Sean Price (1972–2015), rapper^[191]
• Killah Priest (born 1970), rapper
• Isidor Isaac Rabi (1898–1988), physicist and 1944 Nobel Prize Laureate for his discovery of nuclear magnetic resonance^[192]
• Paul Rand (1914–1996), graphic designer^[193]
• Willie Randolph, former baseball player, manager, and coach
• Abe Reles, mobster
• Representativz, hip hop duo
• Robert Rosen (1934–1998), American theoretical biologist
• RZA, rapper, member of the Wu-Tang Clan
• Meyer Schapiro, art historian, member of the faculty of Columbia University for 45 years^{[194][16]: 110}
• Phil Sellers, former NBA player
• Al Sharpton, minister
• Allie Sherman (1923–2015), National Football League player and head coach
• Amote Sias, educator and activist
• Phil Silvers, comic^[166]
• Heltah Skeltah, hip hop group
• Jimmy Smits, actor
• Bern Nadette Stanis, actress^[195]
• Smif-N-Wessun, hip hop duo
• Sparky D (1965), MC & rapper
• Joe Tacopina (born 1966), criminal defense attorney
• Sid Tanenbaum (1925–1986), professional basketball player^[196]
• Mel Taylor (1933-1996), longtime drummer, percussionist and member of the instrumental and surf-rock band The Ventures
• Herb Turetzky (1945–2022), official scorer for the Brooklyn Nets for 54 years, including all of its incarnations, starting with the franchise's inaugural game in 1967.^[197]
• Mike Tyson (born 1966), boxer^[198][199]
• Dwayne "Pearl" Washington (1964–2016), late professional basketball player^[200]
• Allen Weisselberg (born 1947), businessman and chief financial officer of The Trump Organization^[201]
• Fly Williams (born 1953), former NBA player.^[202]
• Nicole Willis (born 1963), singer-songwriter
• Otis Wilson (born 1957), former NFL linebacker^[203]
• Terry Winters (born 1949), artist^[204]
• Max Zaslofsky (1925–1985), professional basketball player and coach^[205]
• Howard Zinn (1922–2010), historian^{[34][16]: 110}

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