Brooklyn Heights in the context of "Boerum Hill"

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⭐ Core Definition: 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, it has been a prominent area of Brooklyn since 1834. The neighborhood is noted for its low-rise architecture and its many brownstone rowhouses, most of them built prior to the Civil War. It also has an abundance of notable churches and other religious institutions. Brooklyn's first art gallery, the Brooklyn Arts Gallery, was opened in Brooklyn Heights in 1958. In 1965, a large part of Brooklyn Heights was protected from unchecked development by the creation of the Brooklyn Heights Historic District, the first such district in New York City. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.

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In this Dossier

Brooklyn Heights in the context of Suburbanization

Suburbanization (American English), also spelled suburbanisation (British English), is a population shift from historic core cities or rural areas into suburbs. Most suburbs are built in a formation of (sub)urban sprawl. As a consequence of the movement of households and businesses away from city centers, low-density, peripheral urban areas grow. Proponents of curbing suburbanization argue that sprawl leads to urban decay and a concentration of lower-income residents in the inner city, in addition to environmental harm.

Suburbanization can be a progressive process, as growing population pushes outward the zones of the concentric zone model that move outward to escape the increasing density of inward areas. For example, Kings County, New York served New York City as farmland in the 18th century, with boats carrying produce across the East River. The steam ferry later made Brooklyn Heights a commuter town for Wall Street. Streetcar suburbs spread through the county, and as elevated railways further extended its reach, the City of Brooklyn grew to fill the county. Areas along the river became industrialized and apartment buildings filled the places where factories did not replace the scattered houses. As a result, much of Brooklyn transformed into a suburban economy and later into an urban economy entirely.

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Brooklyn Heights in the context of IND Eighth Avenue Line

The IND Eighth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line in the B Division of the New York City Subway. Opened in 1932, it was the first line of the Independent Subway System (IND); as such, New Yorkers originally applied the Eighth Avenue Subway name to the entire IND system.

The line runs from 207th Street in Inwood south to an interlocking south of High Street in Brooklyn Heights, including large sections under St. Nicholas Avenue, Central Park West, and Eighth Avenue. The entire length is underground, though the 207th Street Yard, which branches off near the north end, is on the surface. Flying junctions are provided with the IND Concourse Line, IND Sixth Avenue Line, and IND Queens Boulevard Line.

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Brooklyn Heights in the context of Fulton Street (Brooklyn)

Fulton Street is a long east–west street in northern Brooklyn, New York City. This street begins at the intersection of Adams Street and Joralemon Street in Brooklyn Heights, and runs eastward to East New York and Cypress Hills. At the border with Queens, Fulton Street becomes 91st Avenue, which ends at 84th Street in Woodhaven.

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Brooklyn Heights in the context of Atlantic Avenue (New York City)

Atlantic Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. It stretches from the Brooklyn waterfront on the East River all the way to Jamaica, Queens. Atlantic Avenue runs parallel to Fulton Street for much of its course through Brooklyn, where it serves as a border between the neighborhoods of Prospect Heights and Fort Greene and between Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights, and between Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill. This stretch of avenue is known for having a high rate of pedestrian fatalities and has been described as "the killing fields of the city."

Atlantic Avenue is the sole east–west through truck route across Brooklyn, mostly serving the purpose of the canceled Bushwick Expressway (Interstate 78) and the Brooklyn portion of the Cross Brooklyn Expressway (New York State Route 878, internally known as Interstate 878). The street connects to the existing segment of NY 878 via Conduit Boulevard, which splits from Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn and connects to NY 878 in Queens.

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Brooklyn Heights in the context of Dumbo, Brooklyn

Dumbo (or DUMBO, an acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It encompasses two sections: one situated between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges, which connect Brooklyn to Manhattan across the East River, and another extending eastward from the Manhattan Bridge to the Vinegar Hill area. The neighborhood is bounded by Brooklyn Bridge Park to the north, the Brooklyn Bridge to the west, Brooklyn Heights to the south, and Vinegar Hill to the east. Dumbo is part of Brooklyn Community Board 2.

Dumbo has historically been known by several names, including Gairville, Rapailie, Olympia, and Walentasville. The area was originally a ferry landing, characterized by 19th- and early 20th-century industrial and warehouse buildings, Belgian block streets, and its location on the East River by the imposing anchorage of the Manhattan Bridge. A large number of the buildings in Dumbo were bought by developer David Walentas and his company Two Trees Management in the late 20th century, and remade into an upscale residential and commercial community—first becoming a haven for art galleries, and currently a center for technology startups.

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Brooklyn Heights in the context of Brooklyn Arts Gallery

The Brooklyn Arts Gallery was Brooklyn's first art gallery. Located in the borough's Brooklyn Heights neighborhood in New York City, the gallery first opened on January 22, 1958, with the purpose being to "provide facilities where artists may display their work to the public at a minimum cost and without red tape." Open to the public and free of charge to both patrons and artists, the gallery was privately established for the benefit of lesser-known artists in Brooklyn by its founder and director, Sylvia Dwyer. The Gallery's exhibits of paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, and ceramics reflected many artistic movements of that era, including expressionism, realism, modern, non-objective, and abstraction. Throughout the 1960s, the gallery remained a center for artists and was heralded for its cultural influence on the neighborhood.

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Brooklyn Heights in the context of Brooklyn Heights Historic District

The Brooklyn Heights Historic District is a historic district that comprises much of the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City, United States. It was named a National Historic Landmark in January, 1965, designated a New York City Landmark in November, 1965, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in October, 1966.

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.

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