Brooklyn Heights

Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, and the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway or the East River on the west. Adjacent neighborhoods are Dumbo to the north, Downtown Brooklyn to the east, and Cobble Hill and Boerum Hill to the south.

Originally referred to as Brooklyn Village, Brooklyn Heights was developed as a fashionable residential area after the introduction of ferry service to Manhattan in 1814. By the mid-19th century, the area was served by three ferry services as well as the Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad, and it was one of New York's premier residential addresses. Some of its streets are named for early real estate developers. Much of the neighborhood is part of the Brooklyn Heights Historic District, a city-designated and National Historic Landmark District.

Directly across the East River from Manhattan and connected to it by subways and regular ferry service, Brooklyn Heights is also easily accessible from Downtown Brooklyn. Columbia Heights, an upscale six-block-long street next to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, is sometimes considered to be its own neighborhood.

Brooklyn Heights is part of Brooklyn Community District 2, and its primary ZIP Code is 11201.

Development

Brooklyn Heights began to develop once Robert Fulton's New York and Brooklyn Steam Ferry Boat Company began regularly scheduled steam ferry service in 1814, with the financial backing of Hezekiah Beers Pierrepont, one of the area's major landowners. Pierrepont had accumulated 60 acres of land, including 800 feet which directly overlooked the harbor, all of which he planned to sub-divide. Since his intention was to sell to merchants and bankers who lived in Manhattan, he needed easy access between Brooklyn Heights and New York City, which Fulton's company provided. Pierrepont bought – part of the Livingston estate, plus the Benson, De Bevoise and Reemsen farms – on what was then called "Clover Hill", now Brooklyn Heights, and built a mansion there.

Thanks to the influence of Pierrepont and other landowners, Brooklyn received a charter from the state as a village in 1816, which led to streets being laid out in a regular grid pattern, sidewalks being laid, water pumps being installed and the institution of a watch. The community's development was helped by the yellow fever epidemic of 1822, when many of the rich from the city abandoned it for an area that was advertised as "elevated and perfectly healthy at all seasons ... a select neighborhood and circle of society." and by 1890 the area was almost completely developed.

Prior to the Civil War, Brooklyn Heights was a locus of the Abolitionist movement, due to the speeches and activities of Henry Ward Beecher, the pastor of Plymouth Church, now the Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims. Beecher was a nationally known figure famous on the lecture circuit for his novel oratorical style, in which he employed humor, dialect, and slang. Under Beecher, so many slaves passed through Plymouth Church on their way to freedom in Canada that later generations have referred to the church as the "Grand Central Station of the Underground Railroad". To dramatize the plight of those held in captivity, Beecher once brought a female slave to the church and held an auction, with the highest bidder purchasing not the slave, but her freedom. Beecher also raised money to buy other slaves out of captivity, and shipped rifles to abolitionists in Kansas and Nebraska in crates labelled "Bibles", which gave the rifles the nickname "Beecher's Bibles".

20th century

thumb|300px|The Brooklyn Heights Promenade

The completion of the now historic Brooklyn Bridge in 1883, the Brooklyn end of which was near Brooklyn Heights' eastern boundary, began the process of making the neighborhood more accessible from places such as Manhattan. The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT)'s Lexington Avenue subway line, which reached Brooklyn Heights in 1908, was an even more powerful catalyst in the neighborhood's development. The resulting ease of transportation into the neighborhood and the perceived loss of the specialness and "quality" began to drive out the merchants and patricians who lived there; in time their mansions were divided to become apartment houses and boarding houses. Artists began to move into the neighborhood, as well as writers, and a number of large hotels – the St. George (1885), the Margaret (1889), the Bossert (1909), Leverich Towers (1928), and the Pierrepont (1928), among others

One positive development came about when community groups – prominently the Brooklyn Heights Association, founded in 1910

By the mid-1950s, a new generation of property owners had begun moving into the Heights, pioneering the "Brownstone Revival" by buying and renovating pre-Civil War period houses, which became part of the preservationist movement which culminated in the passage in 1965 of the Landmarks Preservation Law. In 1965, community groups which later became the Brooklyn Heights Association, succeeded in having the neighborhood designated the Brooklyn Heights Historic District by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, the first such district in the city. This was followed in the following decades by the further gentrification of the neighborhood into a firmly middle-class area, which became "one of New York City's most pleasant and attractive neighborhoods." the park was 90% complete, and it is now completely renovated. The Squibb Park Bridge was constructed in 2013 to provide access between the park and the rest of Brooklyn Heights, but had to be demolished in 2019 due to various structural issues. A replacement bridge opened in 2020. By the early 2020s, increasing numbers of celebrities were moving to the neighborhood.

Brooklyn Heights Within Pop Culture

Music

Bob Dylan pens about Brooklyn Heights within his song "Tangled Up in Blue." "I lived with him on Montague street, a basement down the stairs."

Television

Brooklyn Heights is location for many Tv shows and Movies. Notable shows include CBS's FBI (2018), FBI Most Wanted (2020) and ABC's Gemini (2026)

Architecture and places of interest

thumb|300px|alt=The Center for Brooklyn History on the corner of Pierrepont and Clinton streets|The [[Center for Brooklyn History (formerly the Brooklyn Historical Society), 128 Pierrepont Street on the corner of Clinton Street, founded by Henry Pierrepont in 1863 as the "Long Island Historical Society". The building was constructed in 1878–81 and was designed by George B. Post.]]

Brooklyn Heights is largely composed of blocks of picturesque rowhouses and a few mansions. A great range of architectural styles is represented, including Greek Revival, Italianate, Second Empire, Victorian Gothic, Romanesque, Neo-Grec, and Classical Revival, as well as a few 2/1/2-story late Federal houses from the early 19th century in the northern part of the neighborhood. Some houses were constructed of brick, but the dominant building material was brownstone or "Jersey freestone", a reddish-brown stone from Passaic County, New Jersey.

The executive offices of the Brooklyn Dodgers were, for many years, located in the Heights, near the intersection of Montague and Court Streets. A plaque on the office building that replaced the Dodgers' old headquarters at 215 Montague Street identifies it as the site where Jackie Robinson signed his major league contract.

Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims and Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic Cathedral are located in Brooklyn Heights, as are the First Unitarian Congregational Society, the Long Island Historical Society, Packer Collegiate Institute, and St. Ann's and the Holy Trinity Church, among other historically notable buildings. A number of bank buildings are concentrated on Montague Street, including the Brooklyn Trust Company Building, the People's Trust Building, and the National Title Guaranty Building.

The district is bounded by Cadman Plaza West (Old Fulton Street) on the north, the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway on the west, Atlantic Avenue on the south, and an irregular line that partly follows Clinton and Henry Streets on the east. It is of national significance as an early commuter suburb, and as a remarkably well-preserved 19th-century urban streetscape. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 75.2% (17,210) White, 5.5% (1,259) African American, 0.2% (37) Native American, 8.8% (2,003) Asian, 0% (3) Pacific Islander, 0.4% (82) from other races, and 2.7% (618) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.3% (1,675) of the population.

The entirety of Community Board 2, which comprises Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene, had 117,046 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 80.6 years. This is slightly lower than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are middle-aged adults and youth: 15% are between the ages of 0–17, 44% between 25 and 44, and 20% between 45 and 64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 9% and 12% respectively. In 2018, an estimated 22% of Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene residents lived in poverty, compared to 21% in all of Brooklyn and 20% in all of New York City. One in twelve residents (8%) 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 39% in Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene, lower than the citywide and boroughwide rates of 52% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, , Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene are considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying. The 84th Precinct ranked 60th-safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. This was attributed to a high rate of property crimes in the neighborhood. , with a non-fatal assault rate of 40 per 100,000 people, Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene's rate of violent crimes per capita is less than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 401 per 100,000 people is lower than that of the city as a whole.

Fire safety

thumb|267px|The firehouse for FDNY Engine Co. 205/Ladder Co. 118. This mural is based on the last known photograph of Ladder 118, as their firetruck crossed the Brooklyn Bridge for what proved to be the last time on September 11, 2001.Brooklyn Heights is served by two New York City Fire Department (FDNY) fire stations. while Engine Co. 224 is located at 274 Hicks Street, serving the southern part of the neighborhood.

A third fire station, Engine Co. 207/Ladder Co. 110/Satellite 6/Battalion 31/Division 11, is located at 172 Tillary Street in nearby Fort Greene. In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 4%, which is lower than the citywide rate of 12%. However, this estimate was based on a small sample size. The United States Post Office operates two locations nearby: the Cadman Plaza Station at 271 Cadman Plaza East, and the DUMBO Automated Postal Center at 84 Front Street.

Education

Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene generally have a higher ratio of college-educated residents than the rest of the city . The majority of residents (64%) have a college education or higher, while 11% have less than a high school education and 25% 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.

Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is about equal to the rest of New York City. In Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene, 20% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per school year, the same as the citywide average..

St. Francis College is located on Remsen Street and occupies half a city block. It was founded as St. Francis Academy in 1859 by the Franciscan Brothers and was originally located on Baltic Street. St. Francis College was the first private school in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. , 2,000 full-time students and more than 400 part-time students from 80 countries attend the college. St. Francis College has been ranked by The New York Times as one of the more diverse colleges in the United States. The college has also been ranked by both Forbes magazine and U.S. News & World Report as one of the top baccalaureate colleges in the north.

Brooklyn Heights is also the location of Brooklyn Law School, founded in 1901.

thumb|267px|The former [[Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) Brooklyn Heights branch at 280 Cadman Plaza West, now demolished]]

Libraries

The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL)'s Brooklyn Heights branch is located at 286 Cadman Plaza West. The branch was formerly located at 280 Cadman Plaza West, which was shared with the Business & Career Library, but that site was sold to a developer and demolished.

Brooklyn Heights' first library was founded in 1857 by the Mercantile Library Association of the City of Brooklyn. The first BPL branch in the neighborhood, the Montague Street branch, was opened in 1903. The Brooklyn Heights branch building at 280 Cadman Plaza West opened in 1962 and originally contained an auditorium and children's room. It was renovated and expanded from 1990 to 1993, and upon the completion of the renovation, the Brooklyn Heights branch shared the site with the Business & Career Library. In 2013, BPL announced its intent to sell 280 Cadman Plaza West, and as part of this announcement, the Business and Career Library's functions were relocated to BPL's Central Branch. BPL then sold the Brooklyn Heights branch to developer Hudson Companies. Hudson Companies then demolished the structure and replaced it with a 34-story condominium, which now contains the smaller library at its base. until the new location was completed in 2022.

Transportation

Brooklyn Heights is serviced by numerous subway services, specifically the at High Street; the at Jay Street–MetroTech; the at Clark Street; and the at Borough Hall/Court Street.

Although no bus routes actually stop in Brooklyn Heights, many MTA Regional Bus Operations bus routes are located nearby in Downtown Brooklyn. The also stops in Dumbo/Fulton Ferry, while the serve Cobble Hill.

In June 2017, NYC Ferry's South Brooklyn route started stopping at Brooklyn Bridge Park Piers 1 and 6 in Brooklyn Heights.

Under Montague Street the tunnel for the R train (Yellow Line) runs. It is also noted that Montage street used to run from on top of the cliff all the way down to the waterfront.

Street names

Many of the streets in Brooklyn Heights are named after people who figured prominently in the neighborhood's history. The city would restore the proper names, and Middagh would put back her own signs. Several iterations of this game ended when Middagh's new names were given official status by a resolution of the alderman.

Matthew Barney (born 1967), artist
John R. Bartels (1897–1997), United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
Henry Ward Beecher (1813–1887), clergyman, social reformer and abolitionist
Edet Belzberg, documentary filmmaker who won a 2005 MacArthur Fellowship.
Paul Bettany (born 1971), actor
Morton Birnbaum (1926–2005), lawyer and physician who advocated for the right of psychiatric patients to have adequate, humane care, and who coined the term sanism.
Björk (born 1965), musician
Emily Blunt (born 1983), actress.
Lee Breuer (1937–2021), playwright and theater director
Benjamin Britten (1913–1976), composer, lived with W. H. Auden and Carson McCullers at 7 Middagh Street
Gabriel Byrne (born 1950), actor
Truman Capote (1924–1984), author, lived at 70 Willow Street
Ron Chernow (born 1949), Pulitzer prize-winning author and historian
Peggy Clark (1915–1996), lighting designer, costume designer and set designer.
Jennifer Connelly (born 1970), actress
Barbara Cooney (1917–2000), writer and illustrator
Hart Crane (1899–1932), poet
Matt Damon (born 1970), actor
Adam Driver (born 1983), actor who appeared as Kylo Ren in the Star Wars sequel trilogy.
W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963), sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, author and editor
Lena Dunham (born 1986), actress, writer and director
Bonnie Erickson (born 1941), designer of puppets, costumes, toys, and graphics, best known for her work with Jim Henson and The Muppets where her creations include Miss Piggy.
William Everdell (born 1941), historian, author and teacher
Tom Frieden, infectious disease and public health expert, who was director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Elizabeth Gaffney (born 1966), novelist
Paul Giamatti (born 1967), actor
Hetty Green (1834–1916), businesswoman known for both her wealth and her miserliness
Lucas Hedges (born 1996), actor
Peter Hedges (born 1962), novelist, playwright, screenwriter and film director
Jack Holland (1947–2004), journalist, novelist and poet who chronicled "The Troubles" in his native Northern Ireland.
Alice Recknagel Ireys (1911–2000), landscape architect.
John Krasinski (born 1979), actor
Utrice Leid (born ), journalist who was the managing editor of The City Sun and general manager of New York radio station WBAI
Philip Levine (1928–2015), poet
Joe Lhota (born 1954), public servant and a former politician, who served as the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Grace Denio Litchfield (1849–1944), poet and novelist
Philip Livingston (1716–1778), lawyer, businessman, slave trader and one of New York's four signers of the United States Declaration of Independence.
H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937), short-story writer, editor, novelist and poet.
James Lyons (1960–2007), film editor, screenwriter and actor who frequently collaborated with Todd Haynes.
Norman Mailer (1923–2007), novelist.
Carson McCullers (1917–1967), writer, lived with W. H. Auden and Benjamin Britten at 7 Middagh Street
Henry Miller (1891–1980), author
Mary Tyler Moore (1936–2017), actress
Errol Morris (born 1948), film director
Mary-Louise Parker (born 1964), actress and writer.
Joseph Pennell (1857–1926), painter
Suzanne Pleshette (1937–2008), actress and voice actress
John Podhoretz (born 1961), commentator
Ernest Poole (1880–1950), novelist
Marky Ramone (born 1952), former drummer of punk rock band the Ramones.
John A. Roebling II (1867–1952), engineer and philanthropist
Theodore Roosevelt IV (born 1942), investment banker and managing director at Barclays Investment Bank
Keri Russell (born 1976), actress
Amy Ryan (born 1968), actress who appeared in The Office
Mia Sara (born 1967), actress who appeared in Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Amy Schumer (born 1981), comedian and actress
Louis Sheaffer (1912–1993), journalist and author who was awarded the 1974 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography for his biography of Eugene O'Neill.
Oliver Smith (1918–1984), stage designer, owned 60 Willow Street
Dan Stevens (born 1982), actor
William C. Thompson (1924–2018), New York State Senator and Justice of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division
Sigrid Undset (1882–1949), Norwegian author who resided in the U.S. in exile during World War II
John Utendahl (born 1962), owner of the Utendahl Group, one of the largest African American-owned investment banking groups in the United States
Andrew VanWyngarden (born 1983), musician, MGMT
Walt Whitman (1819–1892), poet and editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Bill W. (1895–1971 as William Griffith Wilson), co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous in a town house at 182 Clinton Street.
Michelle Williams (born 1980), actress
Thomas Wolfe (1900–1938), novelist
Adam Yauch (1964–2012), founding member of the Beastie Boys
Thaddeus Young (born 1988), power forward for the Indiana Pacers.
Louis Zukofsky (1904–1978), poet

In popular culture

The 1960s TV show The Patty Duke Show was set at 8 Remsen Street, Brooklyn Heights, and the neighborhood received a name check in the theme song, in which "Patty's only seen the sights a girl can see from Brooklyn Heights."
The 1975 movie Three Days of the Condor, directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway, had the fictional residence of Dunaway's character located at 9 Cranberry Street in Brooklyn Heights.
The 1977 horror film The Sentinel featured exterior shots along the Promenade, most notably of the southernmost building at 13 Remsen Street. The neighborhood is a popular destination for many TV and film producers, and has been used both for interior and exterior shoots in projects that included Boardwalk Empire, St. James Place, White Collar, and Hostages.
The area was also the main setting of The Cosby Show (1984–1992) where the Huxtable family resided in a two-story brownstone at 10 Stigwood Avenue, a fictional address in Brooklyn Heights.
The 1987 romantic comedy film Moonstruck, starring Cher and Nicolas Cage, is set in the neighborhood.
Canadian drag queen Brooke Lynn Hytes's name comes from the neighborhood. He was a runner-up on the eleventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race.

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

"Living in Brooklyn Heights" slideshow from The New York Times