East Flatbush, Brooklyn

PS 181, Tilden and New York Avenues

East Flatbush is a residential neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The area is part of Brooklyn Community Board 17[1] East Flatbush is patrolled by the NYPD's 67th[2] Precinct.

Boundaries

As with many neighborhoods in Brooklyn, the borders of East Flatbush are subjective, but its northern border is roughly at Empire Boulevard and East New York Avenue east of East 91st Street, its southern border is in the vicinity of the Long Island Rail Road Bay Ridge Branch, its eastern border is roughly at East 98th Street and its western border is Nostrand Avenue as per all historic maps.

Demographics

East Flatbush generally is very similar in nature to neighboring Flatbush; so much so that some consider the two neighborhoods to be the same community. Both are predominantly West Indian and working class. Flatbush has a higher percentage of White and Asian residents than East Flatbush.

The area was populated after World War II predominantly by immigrant Jews and Italians, then in the 1960s by African Americans, but most recently has seen many West Indian immigrants such as Guyanese, Haitians, Jamaicans, St.Lucians, Trinidadians, Grenadians, Vincentians, Bajans, Panamaians and Dominicans groups coming to the area. Within its confines is the Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn, which is located at 3620 Tilden Avenue. While some residents are affluent, East Flatbush is mostly populated by working-class Brooklynites. Similar to other eastern Brooklyn neighborhoods, blacks predominate East Flatbush. The area has a population of about 105,000 and is 91.4% Black or African-American [3] and 51% foreign born,[4] the majority of whom are from the Caribbean. Considering this data, East Flatbush has been noted as being the single largest West Indian neighborhood in all of New York City and America as a whole.[5][6]

In 2010 about 105,000 people were living in East Flatbush [7] According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the demographics were 91.4% Black or African American, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 3.1% White, 1.0% Asian, 0.2% Native American, 1.6% were some other race and 2.6% were two or more races. 72.8% of the residents are High School graduates or higher, 16.3% have a Bachelor's degree or higher. 22.4% of the population speak a language other than English at home. The median household income in 1999 was $37,341, the median family income in 1999 was $43,776 and the per capita income in 1999 was $16,026. 16.0% of the families are below poverty level.

Transportation

East Flatbush does not have as much access to the New York City Subway as Flatbush. The BMT Brighton Line (B Q trains) and the IRT Nostrand Avenue Line (2 5 trains) both have stations located in Flatbush, but the latter only skirts the borders of East Flatbush. Many East Flatbush residents take a train and a bus to commute to and from work.

Education

Schools located in East Flatbush include:

Crime

While crime generally had always been a problem in the community (e.g., a number of stores on Flatbush, East Flatbush and Church Avenues were looted during the New York City blackout of 1977), a drug epidemic ravaged East Flatbush during the 1980s and early 1990s. The intersection of Foster Avenue and Nostrand Avenues was nicknamed "the Front Page" because of media attention to drug murders there while a comparatively less noticed area at the intersection of Foster between New York Avenue and Brooklyn Avenue that didn't receive media attention was called "the Back Page".[8] The area around the Nostrand playground had various gangs: Crips, Jamaicans, Haitians, Trinidadians and Grenadians, particularly notorious for drug turf wars, shootouts, and pitbull fights.

Notable places

East Flatbush is the home of the former General George W. Wingate High School and Gov. Samuel J. Tilden High School. It is also home to three major hospitals, Kings County Hospital, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, and Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center. The former Congregation Beth Israel, now known as Mt. Zion Church of God 7th Day, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.[9]

In summer 2006, the New York City Department of Transportation co-named a portion of Church Avenue from Remsen Avenue to East 98th Street in East Flatbush as "Bob Marley Boulevard".[10][11]

Notable people

Notable current and former residents of East Flatbush include:

References

  1. ↑ Brooklyn Community Boards, New York City. Accessed December 31, 2007.
  2. ↑ 67th Precinct, NYPD.
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ "Community Health Profiles: The Health of Flatbush, Brooklyn", nyc.gov
  5. ↑ "The West Indian Americans". google.com.
  6. ↑ "‘Mike and Molly’ Star Reno Wilson On His Caribbean Heritage". aol.on.
  7. ↑ Table PL-P1 NTA: Total Population: New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas, 2010", nyc.gov
  8. ↑ Vitullo-Martin, Julia. "A Once-Troubled Housing Complex Seeks Change: Flatbush Gardens", The New York Sun, March 15, 2007. Accessed May 2, 2016. "A criminologist and professor of anthropology at John Jay College who produced a report on crime for the Brooklyn district attorney in 2003, Ric Curtis, said Vanderveer residents nicknamed the intersection of Foster and Nostrand avenues 'the Front Page' because the drug murders there often ended up on the front pages of local papers."
  9. ↑ "National Register of Historic Places". WEEKLY LIST OF ACTIONS TAKEN ON PROPERTIES: 4/27/09 THROUGH 5/01/09. National Park Service. 2011-03-05.
  10. ↑ Mooney, Jake. "Drum Roll for a Sign With a Reggae Beat", The New York Times, May 21, 2006. Accessed October 11, 2007. "On May 10, the City Council approved a plan to hang Bob Marley Boulevard signs beneath the Church Avenue ones along an eight-block section, from Remsen Avenue to East 98th Street."
  11. ↑ Brooklyn Street Renamed Bob Marley Boulevard, NY1. Accessed October 11, 2007.
  12. ↑ "Busta Rhymes: Bustin' Out". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  13. ↑ Dewan, Shaila mmb K. 'Body Discovered in Brooklyn Is Identified as Hunter Student", The New York Times, May 13, 2003. Accessed October 11, 2007. "A body found wrapped in a blanket behind a boarded-up house on Saturday was identified by the police yesterday as that of Ramona Moore, a 21-year-old Hunter College student who lived at home with her parents in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, until she disappeared in April."
  14. ↑ "In Giuliani's Old Neighborhood, Skepticism". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  15. ↑ "High ‘Wire’ act". The Brooklyn Paper.
  16. ↑ "Michael K. Williams: My Brooklyn". New York Post.
  17. ↑ "Michael K. Williams Talks "Snitch," Life After "The Wire" & Acting Advice From 2 Pac". Vibe.
  18. ↑ "Mini Masters of Reality: Unlocking the Truth Plot Metal’s Future From Their Parents’ Basement". Spin. Retrieved 2 May 2016.

Coordinates: 40°38′38″N 73°55′48″W / 40.6438°N 73.9300°W / 40.6438; -73.9300

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