Discover

'Downtown Brooklyn' is the third largest central business district in New York City (following Midtown Manhattan and Lower Manhattan), and is located in the northwestern section of the borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood's numerous office buildings including the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower and 4 MetroTech Center give the area its own skyline distinct from Manhattan's.

Contents

History

Neighborhood Amenities

Transportation

Residential Development

Photos of Downtown Brooklyn

References

External Links

History

This area was originally inhabited by Lenape Native Americans, until the 1600s. At that time the Dutch arrived, gained control of the land, and called it Breuckelen. Until 1814, Downtown Brooklyn and Brooklyn Heights remained sparsely populated. Robert Fulton’s new steam ferry then began to offer an easy commuting option to and from downtown Manhattan. It made Brooklyn Heights Manhattan’s first suburb, and put Downtown Brooklyn on its way to becoming a commercial center, and the heart of the City of Brooklyn.
Downtown Brooklyn is now the civic and commercial downtown center of the former City of Brooklyn, declined commercially during the middle 20th century when the economy of the whole city shifted. Workers went to live farther out on Long Island, shoppers went to Manhattan, and major local department stores closed. Late in the century the area was rezoned, and commerce revitalized. The area includes MetroTech Center, Brooklyn Borough Hall, the Kings County New York State courthouse, and the central courthouse for the Federal Eastern District of New York. Prominent schools include St. Francis College, Brooklyn Law School, Polytechnic University, New York City College of Technology, and Long Island University. There are numerous attractions within the area, including the Fulton Mall, Brooklyn Academy of Music and the New York Transit Museum.

Neighborhood Amenities

Three days a week the Borough Hall Greenmarket, featuring fresh produce from local farmers, operates on the plaza fronting Borough Hall. Formerly called Supreme Court Plaza, the location was renamed as Columbus Park in 1986, sycamore trees having mercifully grown large enough to shield the middle 20th century Supreme Court building from sensitive eyes. Cadman Plaza Park, named for an early televangelist, provides 10 acres of green space in the neighborhood, and was recently renovated by the New York City Parks Department. These and other parks form a long mall from Boro Hall to Brooklyn Bridge. A new park is also planned for the area, known as the Willoughby Square Park.^[1]

Transportation

Downtown Brooklyn is connected with Manhattan by the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. The neighborhood has extensive public transportation accessibility; it is served by the New York City Subway by the , , , , , , , , , , , , , and lines, many one stop from Manhattan. The Long Island Rail Road stops at the Atlantic Terminal, located at the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues.

Residential Development

Historically there has not been a great deal of housing in the commercial and civic center of Downtown Brooklyn. Housing which does exist includes a few apartment buildings on Livingston Street, and seven 15-story buildings that make up the over 1,000 unit Concord Village co-op development on Adams Street, at the borders of both Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO. Since 2003, the area has attracted significant new residential development. This includes a new Brooklyn Law School dorm at Boerum Place and State Street, the condo conversion of 110 Livingston Street, a new apartment building at Atlantic and Court Streets, newly constructed luxury residential condominiums at Court and State and on State between Court and Boerum Place. A New York Times article in April 2007 stated that new 7,000 units were in planning or construction in the area. ^[2]

The New York City Department of City Planning has approved a significant rezoning for portions of Downtown Brooklyn, including the Fulton Mall area, which may result in significant expansion of office space and ground-floor retail. The rezoning consists of "zoning map and zoning text changes, new public open spaces, pedestrian and transit improvements, urban renewal, [and] street mappings". The City Planning initiative also seeks to improve the connections between Downtown and the adjacent neighborhoods of Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, and Fort Greene. There are also plans to build an arena in the nearby Prospect Heights district and relocate the New Jersey Nets (an NBA professional basketball team) there.
In July 2007 plans were announced to open a branch of Trader Joe's at the southwest corner of Atlantic Avenue and Court Street.

Photos of Downtown Brooklyn

★ NYCfoto.com Photos of Downtown Brooklyn

★ The history of Downtown Brooklyn, and Cadman Plaza Park

References

1. New York Post, B'KLYN TO GET REC SPACE WITH CAR GARAGE
2. Now Open for Living, As Well as Business (NYTimes)

External Links

★ Downtown Brooklyn Rezoning, NYC Dept. City Planning

★ Downtown Brooklyn Partnership

★ Duffield Street Blog, which advocates for the development of Downtown Brooklyn through the promotion of the Abolitionist homes on Duffield Street