Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of the five boroughs and counties of New York City, in New York. It covers the same area as Kings County. Brooklyn is at the western end of Long Island and was once its own independent city. It shares a land border with Queens. Several bridges and tunnels connect it to Manhattan across the East River, including the famous Brooklyn Bridge. It is also connected to Staten Island by the Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge. This article is about the borough in New York City. For other uses, see Brooklyn (disambiguation).

Brooklyn is very crowded. As Kings County, it has about 37,340 people per square mile (14,417 per km²). This makes it the second most densely populated county in the U.S., after Manhattan. It is also the most populous county in New York State, as of 2022. The 2020 United States census counted 2,736,074 people in the borough. If Brooklyn were still its own city, it would be the fourth most populous city in America, after the rest of New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Kings County was one of the twelve original counties set up in 1683, when the area was part of the province of New York. By land area, it is the state's fourth-smallest county. By total area, it is the third smallest.

Brooklyn was named after the Dutch town of Breukelen. It was founded by the Dutch in the 1600s. By the 1800s, it had grown into a busy port city on New York Harbor. On January 1, 1898, Brooklyn joined with other areas to form the five-borough structure of New York City that exists today, under the new charter of Greater New York. This happened after a long political campaign, even though many people in Brooklyn opposed it. The borough still keeps a distinct culture. Many of its Brooklyn neighborhoods are ethnic enclaves. About a fifth of the population is Jewish, so the borough is often described as one of the main centers of Jewish culture in the world. Brooklyn's motto, shown on its seal and flag, is Een Draght Mackt Maght. In early modern Dutch, it means "In unity there is strength."

Brooklyn is home to many schools and colleges. These include Brooklyn College, Medgar Evers College, and the College of Technology, all part of the City University of New York. Others include Pratt Institute, Long Island University, and the New York University Tandon School of Engineering. In sports, the basketball teams Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty play at the Barclays Center.

In the first decades of the 21st century, Brooklyn became a popular place for hipsters. This brought gentrification, sharp rises in house prices, and less affordable housing. Some new buildings are now required to include affordable housing units. Since the 2010s, parts of Brooklyn have grown into a center for new businesses, startup firms, postmodern art, and design.

Toponymy

The name Brooklyn comes from the town of Breukelen in the Dutch province of Utrecht. The name has two parts: broeck, which means bog or marshland, and lede, which means a small stream of water, especially in peat areas. Breuckelen was founded on the American continent in 1646, and the name first appeared in writing in 1663.

Over about two thousand years, the name of the old Dutch town was spelled in many different ways. The New Amsterdam settlement of Breuckelen also had many spellings. Because there were so many versions, people have wondered where the name came from. Some have said it means "broken land," but the current name is thought to best match its meaning. The county's name, Kings County, was given in honor of King Charles II of England, who ruled from 1660 to 1685.

History

For a chronological guide, see Timeline of Brooklyn.

Further information: Battle of Long Island and New York and New Jersey campaign

People from Europe have lived in Brooklyn for more than 350 years. The first settlers were from the Netherlands. They founded a small town called "Breuckelen" in the 1600s, on the shore of the East River on Long Island. The area was already home to the Lenape people. In 1664, the English took control of the area from the Dutch, and Brooklyn became part of the Province of New York.

In 1776, the Battle of Long Island took place during the American Revolutionary War. British troops won the battle and pushed the Continental Army, led by George Washington, away from the high ground. The American soldiers left their positions at Brooklyn Heights. The British stayed in control of the area for the rest of the war.

In the 1800s, the area grew quickly. A ferry service across the East River made Brooklyn Heights a commuter town for people who worked on Wall Street. The City of Brooklyn was formed in 1834. Brooklyn became known for its newspaper, the Brooklyn Eagle, and its baseball team, the Brooklyn Dodgers. In 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was finished, which made it easier to travel between Brooklyn and Manhattan. In 1894, residents voted by a small majority to join New York City. In 1898, Brooklyn officially became part of New York City, along with some nearby areas, including the western part of Queens County and Staten Island. Many newspapers of the time called the merger the "Great Mistake of 1898."

Geography

Brooklyn covers 97 square miles (250 km²). About 71 square miles (180 km²) is land, and 26 square miles (67 km²) is water. It is the second-largest borough in New York City by land area. Kings County, which has the same area as Brooklyn, is the fourth-smallest county in New York State by land area. Brooklyn is at the southwestern end of Long Island, and its western border forms the island's western tip. Water surrounds much of Brooklyn, including Jamaica Bay, the Atlantic Ocean, and The Narrows. The Narrows separates Brooklyn from Staten Island and is crossed by the Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge. Brooklyn also borders Upper New York Bay, which separates it from Jersey City and Bayonne in New Jersey. The East River separates Brooklyn from Manhattan. Several bridges and tunnels cross it, including the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, and the Williamsburg Bridge. Several New York City Subway routes also cross it. To the east, in the borough of Queens, is John F. Kennedy International Airport in its Jamaica neighborhood. It is about two miles from the edge of Brooklyn's East New York neighborhood.

Brooklyn has a humid subtropical climate under the Köppen climate classification. The Appalachian Mountains partly shelter it, and the Atlantic Ocean keeps its temperatures more even. Brooklyn gets plenty of rain all year, with nearly 50 inches (1,300 mm) each year. Snow is most common in February, with around 8.3 to 8.5 inches (20 to 21 cm). Temperatures range from 3.9 °C (39.0 °F) to 28.4 °C. The area has about 234 days with at least some sunshine each year. It gets about 57% of possible sunshine, or 2,535 hours. Brooklyn lies in USDA plant hardiness zone 7b. Photos show the Downtown Brooklyn skyline. They also show the Manhattan Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge seen across the East River from Lower Manhattan at sunset in 2013. Another photo shows the Brooklyn skyline from the Gowanus Canal, with the Brooklyn Tower under construction in 2021.

Neighborhoods

See also: List of Brooklyn neighborhoods and New York City ethnic enclaves

The people who live in Brooklyn's neighborhoods change over time. In the early to mid 1900s, most people in Brownsville were Jewish. Since the 1970s, most of its residents have been African American. Midwood was home to many Irish families in the early 1900s. Later, many Jewish families lived there for almost 50 years. Today, it is slowly becoming a Pakistani neighborhood. Between 1930 and 1990, the share of white residents in Brooklyn dropped a lot.

Many people move to Brooklyn from other United States cities. Most of them come from Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, Cincinnati, and Seattle.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Brooklyn

In the 2020 census, about 2,736,074 people lived in Brooklyn. The United States Census Bureau estimated that the population grew by 2.2% between 2010 and 2019. Brooklyn has about 30.7% of New York City's people. In 2019, there were 958,567 households, with an average of 2.66 people in each.

Brooklyn's people come from many backgrounds. In the 2020 American Community Survey, about 35.4% of residents were non-Hispanic white, 26.7% were Black or African American, 13.6% were Asian, and 18.9% were Hispanic or Latin American. Smaller groups included American Indian or Alaska Native people, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander people, and people of two or more races. Brooklyn also has a high degree of linguistic diversity. In 2010, 54.1% of residents aged 5 and older spoke only English at home. Many others spoke languages such as Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Yiddish, French Creole, Hebrew, Polish, Arabic, various Indic languages, Urdu, and African languages. In total, 45.9% of residents aged 5 and older spoke a home language other than English.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Brooklyn

See also: Culture of New York City, LGBT culture in New York City § Brooklyn, and Media of New York City

Brooklyn has played a big part in American books, movies, and theater. Brooklyn's accent has often been shown as the "typical New Yorker accent" in American media, though it is becoming less common. Brooklyn's official colors are blue and gold. The borough is home to the well-known Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, and the second-largest public art collection in the United States. That collection is kept in the Brooklyn Museum, which opened in 1897. The Brooklyn Children's Museum was the first museum in the world made for children. It opened in December 1899 and is the only museum of its kind in New York State accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The Brooklyn Academy of Music has a 2,109-seat opera house, an 874-seat theater, and the BAM Rose Cinemas. Bargemusic and St. Ann's Warehouse are on the other side of Downtown Brooklyn, in the DUMBO arts district. Brooklyn Technical High School has the second-largest auditorium in New York City, after Radio City Music Hall. It has a seating capacity of over 3,000.

Brooklyn has several local newspapers, including the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Bay Currents, Brooklyn View, The Brooklyn Paper, and Courier-Life Publications. Courier-Life, owned by News Corporation, is the borough's largest newspaper chain. Big New York daily papers such as The New York Times, the New York Daily News, and the New York Post also serve Brooklyn. The borough publishes the monthly Brooklyn Rail, the quarterly Cabinet, and Hello Mr.. Brooklyn also has many papers in other languages. These include El Diario La Prensa, the largest and oldest Spanish-language daily in the United States, which has its headquarters at 1 MetroTech Center in Downtown Brooklyn. Other ethnic papers include The Tablet, Hamodia, The Jewish Press, the bilingual magazine L'Idea, and Our Time Press. NYC Media runs the city's official television station, which shows programs based in Brooklyn. Brooklyn Community Access Television, the borough's public access channel, has its studios at the BRIC Arts Media venue on Fulton Street in Fort Greene. Events include the yearly Coney Island Mermaid Parade in June, a parade with costumes and floats. There is also the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4 and the Labor Day Carnival, which takes place along Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights.

Economy

See also: Economy of New York City

Brooklyn's jobs depend on three main things. These are how the country and the city are doing, how people move in and out of the borough, and the borough's role as a helpful back office for New York's businesses. About 44 percent of Brooklyn's workers have jobs in the borough. More than half work somewhere else, so conditions in Manhattan matter to people looking for work. Since the late 20th century, Brooklyn has gained back office work from Manhattan. It has also gained a high-tech and entertainment economy in DUMBO, along with support services such as accounting and computer firms. Since 1975, the borough has moved from making goods to providing services. The pharmaceutical company Pfizer was started in Brooklyn in 1869.

The Brooklyn Navy Yard is a shipbuilding facility that was set up in 1801. At its busiest, during World War II, it gave jobs to 70,000 people. The Missouri, the ship where Japan formally surrendered, was built there. Construction and services are now growing the fastest, and most employers in Brooklyn are small businesses. Brooklyn is also home to many banks and credit unions. Since 2004, the rebuilding of Downtown Brooklyn has brought over US$10 billion in private investment. New start-up companies are arriving as Silicon Alley grows from Lower Manhattan into Brooklyn.

Parks and other attractions

See also: Tourism in New York City

Further information: Wildlife of Brooklyn

Brooklyn has many parks and places to visit. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is next to Prospect Park. It has many special gardens, including a cherry tree walk, a rose garden, and gardens for children. Coney Island became one of America's first amusement areas. Its Cyclone rollercoaster is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Floyd Bennett Field was once New York City's first airport for public use. Today it is part of the National Park System. Green-Wood Cemetery is the resting place of many well-known New Yorkers. Prospect Park is a large public park. It was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, who also created Manhattan's Central Park. Fort Greene Park has the Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument. The monument honors American prisoners from the Revolutionary War.

Sports

Main article: Sports in Brooklyn

Brooklyn's biggest professional sports team is the Brooklyn Nets. The team moved to the borough in 2012 and plays at the Barclays Center. Professional baseball came back to Brooklyn in 2001 with the Brooklyn Cyclones. They play at MCU Park in Coney Island. Brooklyn's most famous team from the past was the Brooklyn Dodgers. They won the only World Series for Brooklyn in 1955. Two years later, they moved to Los Angeles.

Government and politics

See also: Government and politics in Brooklyn

Each of New York City's five boroughs has its own criminal court system. Each also has a District Attorney, the chief public prosecutor, who is chosen directly by voters. Brooklyn has 16 City Council members, more than any other borough. The Brooklyn Borough Government includes a borough president, a court, a library, and several government leaders. Brooklyn is split into 18 of the city's 59 community districts. Each has an unpaid community board that gives advice under the city's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure. Each board also has a paid district manager who works with city agencies. The Kings County Democratic County Committee, also called the Brooklyn Democratic Party, is the Democratic Party's county committee in Brooklyn. The United States Postal Service runs post offices here, including the Brooklyn Main Post Office at 271 Cadman Plaza East in Downtown Brooklyn.

Brooklyn has been a center of left-wing politics since before the turn of the 20th century. Many of its workers and immigrants helped several socialist and labor parties gain support. In the municipal and state elections of 1917, New York City elected ten assemblymen and seven aldermen from the Socialist Party. Three of the assemblymen and two of the aldermen were from Brooklyn. In 1941, shortly before American entry into World War II, Brooklyn elected communist Peter V. Cacchione to the City Council. He was the first open member of the Communist Party elected to public office in the state. After the 2025 New York City mayoral primary and general election, several neighborhoods were called the so-called "Commie corridor." This area strongly supported Zohran Mamdani and other Democratic Socialists.

Like Manhattan and the Bronx, Brooklyn has not voted for a Republican in a national presidential election since Calvin Coolidge. In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 79.4% of the vote in Brooklyn. Republican John McCain received 20.0%. In 2012, Obama won an even bigger share, with 82.0%, while Republican Mitt Romney received 16.9%. In 2024, Republican Donald Trump received 27% of the vote, and Kamala Harris received just over 70%. This was a big change from Joe Biden, who had over 76% in 2020. Brooklyn was still a strong Democratic win. However, this was the most Republican support there since 1988.

As of 2023, four Democrats and one Republican represented Brooklyn in the United States House of Representatives. One congressional district lies entirely within the borough. Nydia Velázquez, first elected in 1992, represents New York's 7th congressional district. It includes Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Bushwick, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Dumbo, East New York, East Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Gowanus, Red Hook, Sunset Park, and Williamsburg. It also includes a small part of Queens.

Hakeem Jeffries, first elected in 2012, represents New York's 8th congressional district. It includes Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bergen Beach, Brighton Beach, Brownsville, Canarsie, Clinton Hill, Coney Island, East Flatbush, Fort Greene, Gerritsen Beach, Marine Park, Mill Basin, Ocean Hill, Sheepshead Bay, and Spring Creek. It also includes a small part of Queens.

Yvette Clarke, first elected in 2006, represents New York's 9th congressional district. It includes Crown Heights, Midwood, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, and Windsor Terrace. It also includes East Flatbush and Flatbush.

Dan Goldman, first elected in 2022, represents New York's 10th congressional district. It includes Bensonhurst, Borough Park, Gravesend, Kensington, and Mapleton. It also includes the West Side of Manhattan.

Nicole Malliotakis, first elected in 2020, represents New York's 11th congressional district. It includes Bath Beach, Bay Ridge, and Dyker Heights. It also includes all of Staten Island.

Housing

Brooklyn has many kinds of private homes. It also has public housing, which is run by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). Some affordable rental homes and co-operative homes in the borough were created through the Mitchell–Lama Housing Program.

In 2022, Brooklyn had about 1.1 million homes. In 2023, NYCHA public housing was home to more than 100,000 people.

Education

See also: Education in New York City and List of high schools in New York City

Brooklyn has many public and private schools and colleges. The New York City Department of Education runs most public schools in the borough. It is the largest public school system in the United States. Brooklyn Technical High School, often called Brooklyn Tech, opened in 1922. It is the largest specialized high school for science, mathematics, and technology in the country. It sits across the street from Fort Greene Park. Its famous graduates include two Nobel Prize winners. Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). It was the first public coeducational liberal arts college in New York City. Medgar Evers College is another CUNY senior college. It was founded in 1970 and is a few blocks east of Prospect Park in Crown Heights. New York City College of Technology, also called City Tech, is the largest public college of technology in New York State. SUNY Downstate College of Medicine began in 1860 as the Long Island College Hospital. It is the oldest hospital-based medical school in the United States. Nobel Prize winner Robert F. Furchgott was a member of its faculty.

Several private colleges are also in Brooklyn. Adelphi University is based in Garden City. In 2023, it moved its Manhattan Campus to a new location on Livingston Street in Downtown Brooklyn. It shares that space with St. Francis College. Brooklyn Law School was founded in 1901. Long Island University is headquartered in Brookville and has a campus in Downtown Brooklyn. Pratt Institute is in Clinton Hill. It was founded in 1887 and offers programs in engineering, architecture, and the arts. The New York University Tandon School of Engineering is the second oldest private institute of technology in the United States. Its main campus is in MetroTech Center in Downtown Brooklyn. St. Francis College is a Catholic college founded in 1859 by Franciscan friars. Smaller colleges include Saint Joseph's College and Boricua College in Williamsburg. Kingsborough Community College, part of the City University of New York system, is in Manhattan Beach.

Brooklyn Public Library

The Brooklyn Public Library is separate from the New York and Queens public library systems. It has many programs, millions of books, and more than 850 free computers with Internet access. It has books and magazines in many languages spoken in Brooklyn, including English, Russian, Chinese, Spanish, Hebrew, and Haitian Creole. It also has books in French, Yiddish, Hindi, Bengali, Polish, Italian, and Arabic. The Central Library is a famous building that faces Grand Army Plaza.

There are 58 library branches, so almost every Brooklyn resident lives within half a mile of one. The library also plans to build a new Visual & Performing Arts Library in the BAM Cultural District. It will bring together arts and technology. Its collections will cover art, theater, dance, music, film, photography, and architecture. A special archive will keep the records and history of Brooklyn's arts communities.

Transportation

See also: Transportation in New York City

In 2015, about 57 percent of all households in Brooklyn did not have automobiles. The citywide rate in New York City is 55 percent.

Brooklyn has a large public transit system. Nineteen New York City Subway services run through the borough, including the Franklin Avenue Shuttle. Most Brooklyn residents who travel to Manhattan take the subway. Some neighborhoods, like Flatlands and Marine Park, have limited subway service. Major stations include Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center, Broadway Junction, DeKalb Avenue, Jay Street–MetroTech, and Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue. Some subway lines were proposed but never built. One would have run along Nostrand or Utica Avenues to Marine Park, and another would have gone to Spring Creek.

Brooklyn once had an extensive network of streetcars. Many were replaced by the public bus network, which covers the whole borough. Express buses also run into Manhattan every day.

Brooklyn has three commuter rail stations: East New York, Nostrand Avenue, and Atlantic Terminal. Atlantic Terminal is the end of the Atlantic Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. It is near the Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center subway station, which has ten connecting subway services.

In February 2015, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city would start NYC Ferry. This citywide ferry service was meant to reach communities that public transit has not served well. The ferry opened in May 2017. The East River Ferry serves northwestern Brooklyn, and a Bay Ridge ferry serves southwestern Brooklyn. A third route, the Rockaway ferry, stops in the borough at Brooklyn Army Terminal. In February 2016, a streetcar line called the Brooklyn–Queens Connector was proposed. Service is planned to begin around 2024.

Roadways

See also: Brooklyn streets and List of lettered Brooklyn avenues

Most of the limited-access expressways and parkways are in western and southern Brooklyn. The borough's two interstate highways are there too. Interstate 278 uses the Gowanus Expressway and the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway. It passes through Sunset Park and Brooklyn Heights. Interstate 478 is an unsigned route for the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel, which connects to Manhattan. Other main roads include the Prospect Expressway (New York State Route 27), the Belt Parkway, and the Jackie Robinson Parkway, which was formerly called the Interborough Parkway. Some expressways were planned but never built. These include an extension of I-78, the Bushwick Expressway, and the Cross-Brooklyn Expressway, I-878.

Major streets include Atlantic Avenue, Fourth Avenue, 86th Street, Kings Highway, Bay Parkway, Ocean Parkway, Eastern Parkway, Linden Boulevard, McGuinness Boulevard, Flatbush Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, and Nostrand Avenue. Much of Brooklyn's streets have only names. However, Park Slope, Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, Bensonhurst, Borough Park, and other western areas have numbered streets.

Brooklyn connects to Manhattan by three bridges: the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, and the Williamsburg Bridge. It also has a vehicle tunnel, the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel, and several subway tunnels. The Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge links Brooklyn with the more suburban borough of Staten Island. Brooklyn also shares several water crossings with Queens. These include the Pulaski Bridge, the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge, the Kosciuszko Bridge, and the Grand Street Bridge, which carry traffic over Newtown Creek. The Marine Parkway Bridge connects Brooklyn to the Rockaway Peninsula.

Brooklyn was once a major shipping port. This was especially true at the Brooklyn Army Terminal and Bush Terminal in Sunset Park. Most container ship cargo now moves to the New Jersey side of New York Harbor. The Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Red Hook is a focus for New York's growing cruise industry. The Queen Mary 2, one of the world's largest ocean liners, stops regularly at the Red Hook terminal on her trips from Southampton, England. NY Waterway offers tours and boat rentals. SeaStreak runs a weekday ferry between the Brooklyn Army Terminal and the Manhattan ferry slips at Pier 11/Wall Street and East 34th Street Ferry Landing. A Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel was first proposed in the 1920s for the Port Authority of New York. It is being studied again as a way to make moving freight across the region easier. The Brooklyn Bridge Park area is also a good place to see the Manhattan Bridge.

Partnerships with districts of foreign cities

See also: New York City § Sister cities

Brooklyn has partnerships with districts in cities in other countries. Some of these partnerships started in certain years.

• Anzio, Lazio, Italy (since 1990)
• Huế, Vietnam
• Gdynia, Poland (since 1991)
• Beşiktaş, Istanbul Province, Turkey (since 2005)
• Leopoldstadt, Vienna, Austria (since 2007)
• London Borough of Lambeth, United Kingdom
• Bnei Brak, Israel
• Konak, İzmir, Turkey (since 2010)
• Chaoyang District, Beijing, China (since 2014)
• Yiwu, China (since 2014)
• Üsküdar, Istanbul, Turkey (since 2015)

Hospitals and healthcare

Main article: List of hospitals in Brooklyn

• Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center
• Kings County Hospital Center
• Maimonides Medical Center
• Mount Sinai Brooklyn
• New York Community Hospital
• NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County
• NYU Langone Hospital – Brooklyn
• SUNY Downstate Medical Center