Brooklyn

Brooklyn Kings County, New York
Boroughand county
Downtown Brooklynseen from Lower Manhattan Brooklyn Bridge Coney Island Brooklyn Museum Borough Hall Barclays Center Brooklyn College
Flag Seal
Motto(s): Eendraght Maeckt Maght ("Unity makes strength")
Interactive map outlining Brooklyn
Brooklyn in New York State
Brooklyn Location within New York City Show map of New York City Brooklyn Location within the State of New York Show map of New York Brooklyn Location within the United States Show map of the United States Brooklyn Location on Earth Show map of Earth
Coordinates:40°41′34″N73°59′25″W / 40.69278°N 73.99028°W /40.69278; -73.99028
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Kings (coterminous)
City	New York City
Settled	1634
Named for	Breukelen, Netherlands
Government
• Type	Borough
•Borough President	Antonio Reynoso(D) —(Borough of Brooklyn)
•District Attorney	Eric Gonzalez(D) —(Kings County)
Area
• Total	97 sq mi (250 km2)
• Land	70.82 sq mi (183.4 km2)
• Water	26 sq mi (67 km2)
Highest elevation [2]	220 ft (67 m)
Population ( 2020)
• Total	2,736,074[1]
• Density	38,634/sq mi (14,917/km2)
•Demonym	Brooklynite[3]
GDP [4]
• Total	US$107.274 billion (2022)
ZIP Codeprefix	112
Area codes	718/347/929,917
Congressional districts	7th,8th,9th,10th,11th
Website	brooklynbp.nyc.gov

Brooklynis aboroughofNew York City. Located on the westernmost end ofLong Island, it is coextensive withKings Countyin theU.S. stateofNew York. With 2,736,074 residents as of the2020 United States census,^[1]Kings County is the most populous of the five boroughs of New York City and the most populouscountyin the State of New York.^[5][6]The population density of Brooklyn was 37,339.9 inhabitants per square mile (14,417.0/km²) in 2022, making it thesecond-most-densely-populated countyin the United States, behindManhattan,^[7]and it had the ninth-highest population of any county nationwide.^[8]Were Brooklyn still an independent city, it would be thefourth most populous in the U.S.after the rest ofNew York City,Los Angeles, andChicago.^[8]

Named after the Dutch town ofBreukelenin the Netherlands, Brooklyn shares a border with the borough ofQueens. It has several bridge and tunnel connections to the borough of Manhattan, across theEast River, and is connected toStaten Islandby way of theVerrazzano-Narrows Bridge. With a land area of 69.38 square miles (179.7 km²) and a water area of 27.48 square miles (71.2 km²), Kings County is the state of New York's fourth-smallest county by land area and third smallest by total area.^[9]

Brooklyn was founded bythe Dutchin the 17thcentury and grew into a busy port city by the 19thcentury. On January1, 1898, after a long political campaign and public-relations battle during the 1890s and despite opposition from Brooklyn residents,Brooklyn was consolidated in and annexed(along with other areas) to form the current five-borough structure of New York City in accordance to the new municipal charter of "Greater New York".^[10]The borough continues to maintain somedistinct culture. ManyBrooklyn neighborhoodsareethnic enclaves. WithJewsforming around a quarter of its population, the borough has been described as "the most Jewish spot on Earth".^[11]Brooklyn's official motto, displayed on the borough seal andflag, isEendraght Maeckt Maght, which translates from early modernDutchas 'Unity makes strength'.^[12]

In the first decades of the 21stcentury, Brooklyn has experienced a renaissance as a destination forhipsters,^[13]with concomitantgentrification, dramatic house-price increases, and a decrease in housing affordability.^[14]Some new developments are required to include affordable housing units.^[15]Since the 2010s, parts of Brooklyn have evolved into a hub of entrepreneurship, high-technologystartup firms,^[16][17]postmodern art,^[18]and design.^[17]

The name Brooklyn is derived from the originalDutchtown ofBreukelen. The oldest mention of the settlement in the Netherlands is in a charter of 953 byHoly Roman Emperor Otto IasBroecklede.^[19]This form is made up of the wordsbroeck, meaning bog ormarshland, andlede, meaning small (dug) water stream, specifically in peat areas.^[20]Breuckelen on the American continent was established in 1646, and the name first appeared in print in 1663.^[21][22][23]

Over the past two millennia, the name of the ancient town in Holland has beenBracola,Broccke,Brocckede,Broiclede,Brocklandia,Broekclen,Broikelen,Breuckelen,and finallyBreukelen.^[24]The New Amsterdam settlement ofBreuckelenalso went through many spelling variations, includingBreucklyn,Breuckland,Brucklyn,Broucklyn,Brookland,Brockland,Brocklin, andBrookline/Brook-line. There have been so many variations of the name that its origin has been debated; some have claimedbreuckelenmeans "broken land."^[25]The current name, however, is the one that best reflects its meaning.^[26][27]

Part of a series on
Long Island
Topics
Geography History Economy Education Transportation Politics People Tallest buildings Recreation Law enforcement Viticulture
Regions
Brooklyn Queens Nassau County Suffolk County Municipalities North Shore South Shore North Fork South Fork Long Island Sound Barrier islands
v t e

New Netherlandseries
Exploration
Fortifications:
Fort Amsterdam Fort Nassau (North) Fort Orange Fort Nassau (South) Fort Goede Hoop De Wal Fort Casimir Fort Altena Fort Wilhelmus Fort Beversreede Fort Nya Korsholm De Rondout
Settlements:
Noten Eylandt Nieuw Amsterdam Rensselaerswijck Nieuw Haarlem Beverwijck Wiltwijk Bergen Pavonia Vriessendael Achter Col Vlissingen Oude Dorpe Colen Donck Greenwich Heemstede Rustdorp Gravesende Breuckelen Nieuw Amersfoort Midwout Nieuw Utrecht Boswijk Swaanendael Nieuw Amstel Nieuw Dorp
The Patroon System
Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions
Cornelius Jacobsen May(1620–25) Willem Verhulst(1625–26) Peter Minuit(1626–32) Sebastiaen Jansen Krol(1632–33) Wouter van Twiller(1633–38) Willem Kieft(1638–47) Peter Stuyvesant(1647–64)
People of New Netherland
New Netherlander Twelve Men Eight Men Nine Men
Flushing Remonstrance
v t e

The history ofEuropean settlementin Brooklyn spans more than 350 years. The settlement began in the 17th century as the smallDutch-foundedtown of "Breuckelen" on theEast Rivershore ofLong Island, grew to be a sizeable city in the 19th century and was consolidated in 1898 with New York City (then confined toManhattanandthe Bronx), the remaining rural areas of Kings County, and the largely rural areas ofQueensandStaten Island, to form the modern City of New York.

TheDutchwere the first Europeans to settle Long Island's western edge, which was then largely inhabited by theLenape, an Algonquian-speakingAmerican Indiantribe often referred to in European documents by a variation of the place name "Canarsie". Bands were associated with place names, but the colonists thought their names represented different tribes. TheBreuckelensettlement was named afterBreukelenin theNetherlands; it was part ofNew Netherland. TheDutch West India Companylost little time in chartering the six original parishes (listed here by their later English town names):^[28]

• Gravesend: in 1645, settled under Dutch patent by English followers ofAnabaptistDeborah Moody, named for's-Gravenzande, Netherlands, orGravesend, England;
• Brooklyn Heights: chartered asBreuckelenin 1646, after the town now spelledBreukelen, Netherlands. Breuckelen was along Fulton Street (now Fulton Mall) between Hoyt Street and Smith Street (according to H. Stiles and P. Ross). Brooklyn Heights, or Clover Hill, is where the village of Brooklyn was founded in 1816;
• Flatlands: chartered asNieuwAmersfoortin 1647;
• Flatbush: chartered asMidwoutin 1652;
• Nieuw Utrechtin 1652, named after the city ofUtrecht, Netherlands; and
• Bushwick: chartered asBoswijckin 1661.

  

The colony's capital ofNew Amsterdam, across the East River, obtained its charter in 1653. The neighborhood ofMarine Parkwas home to North America's firsttide mill. It was built by the Dutch, and the foundation can be seen today. But the area was not formally settled as a town. Many incidents and documents relating to this period are inGabriel Furman's 1824 compilation.^[29]

Present-day Brooklyn left Dutch hands after theEnglishcaptured theNew Netherlandcolony in 1664, a prelude to theSecond Anglo-Dutch War. New Netherland was taken in a naval action, and the English renamed the new capture for their naval commander,James, Duke of York, brother of the then monarchKing Charles IIand future king himself asKing James II. Brooklyn became a part of the West Riding ofYork Shirein theProvince of New York, one of theMiddle Coloniesof nascentBritish America.

On November 1, 1683,Kings Countywas partitioned from the West Riding of York Shire, containing the six old Dutch towns on southwestern Long Island,^[30]as one of the"original twelve counties". This tract of land was recognized as a political entity for the first time, and the municipal groundwork was laid for a later expansive idea of a Brooklyn identity.

Lacking thepatroonand tenant farmer system established along theHudson River Valley, thisagriculturalcounty unusually came to have one of the highest percentages ofslavesamong the population in the"Original Thirteen Colonies"along theAtlantic Oceaneastern coast ofNorth America.^[31]

On August 27, 1776, theBattle of Long Island(also known as the 'Battle of Brooklyn') was fought, the first major engagement fought in theAmerican Revolutionary Warafterindependence was declared, and the largest of the entire conflict.British troopsforcedContinental Armytroops underGeorge Washingtonoff the heights near the modern sites ofGreen-Wood Cemetery,Prospect Park, andGrand Army Plaza.^[32]

Washington, viewing particularly fierce fighting at theGowanus CreekandOld Stone Housefrom atop a hill near the west end of present-dayAtlantic Avenue, was reported to have emotionally exclaimed: "What brave men I must this day lose!".^[32]

ThefortifiedAmerican positions atBrooklyn Heightsconsequently became untenable and were evacuated a few days later, leaving the British in control ofNew York Harbor. While Washington's defeat on the battlefield cast early doubts on his ability as the commander, thetactical withdrawalof all his troops and supplies across theEast Riverin a single night is now seen by historians as one of his most brilliant triumphs.^[32]

The British controlled the surrounding region for the duration of the war, as New York City was soon occupied and became their military and political base of operations inNorth Americafor the remainder of the conflict. ThePatriotresidents largely fled or were cleared from the area, and afterward the British generally enjoyed a dominantLoyalistsentiment from the residents in Kings County who did not evacuate, though the region was also the center of the fledgling—and largely successful—Patriot intelligence network, headed by Washington himself.

The British set up a system ofprison shipsoff the coast of Brooklyn inWallabout Bay. More Americanpatriotsdied there thanin combaton all the battlefield engagements of the American Revolutionary War combined. One result of theTreaty of Parisin 1783 was theevacuation of the British from New York City, which was celebrated by New Yorkers into the 20th century.

The first half of the 19th century saw the beginning of the development of urban areas on the economically strategic East River shore of Kings County, facing the adolescent City of New York confined to Manhattan Island. TheNew York Navy Yardoperated inWallabout Bay(border between Fort Greene and Williamsburg) during the 19th century and two-thirds of the 20th century.

The first center ofurbanizationsprang up in the Town of Brooklyn, directly across fromLower Manhattan, which saw the incorporation of the Village of Brooklyn in 1816. Reliable steamferry serviceacross the East River toFulton LandingconvertedBrooklyn Heightsinto acommuter townforWall Street. Ferry Road to Jamaica Pass becameFulton StreettoEast New York. Town and Village were combined to form the first, kernel incarnation of the City of Brooklyn in 1834.

In a parallel development, the Town of Bushwick, farther up the river, saw the incorporation of the Village ofWilliamsburghin 1827, which separated as the Town of Williamsburgh in 1840 and formed the short-lived City of Williamsburgh in 1851.Industrial deconcentrationin the mid-century was bringing shipbuilding and other manufacturing to the northern part of the county. Each of the two cities and six towns in Kings County remained independent municipalities and purposely created non-aligning street grids with different naming systems.

However, the East River shore was growing too fast for the three-year-old infant City of Williamsburg; it, along with its Town ofBushwickhinterland, was subsumed within a greater City of Brooklyn in 1855, subsequently dropping the 'h' from its name.^[33]

By 1841, with the appearance ofThe Brooklyn Eagle, and Kings County Democratpublished by Alfred G. Stevens, the growing city across the East River from Manhattan was producing its own prominent newspaper.^[34]It later became the most popular and highest circulation afternoon paper in America. The publisher changed to L. Van Anden on April 19, 1842,^[35]and the paper was renamedThe Brooklyn Daily Eagle and Kings County Democraton June 1, 1846.^[36]On May 14, 1849, the name was shortened toThe Brooklyn Daily Eagle;^[37]on September 5, 1938, it was further shortened toBrooklyn Eagle.^[38]The establishment of the paper in the 1840s helped develop a separate identity for Brooklynites over the next century. The borough's soon-to-be-famousNational Leaguebaseball team, theBrooklyn Dodgers, also assisted with this. Both major institutions were lost in the 1950s: the paper closed in 1955 after unsuccessful attempts at a sale following a reporters' strike, and the baseball team decamped for Los Angeles in a realignment ofMajor League Baseballin 1957.

Agitation againstSouthernslaverywas stronger in Brooklyn than in New York,^[39]and under Republican leadership, the city was fervent in the Union cause in theCivil War. After the war theHenry Ward Beecher Monumentwas built downtown to honor a famous localabolitionist. A great victory arch was built at what was then the south end of town to celebrate the armed forces; this place is now calledGrand Army Plaza.

The number of people living in Brooklyn grew rapidly early in the 19th century. There were 4,402 by 1810, 7,175 in 1820 and 15,396 by 1830.^[40]The city's population was 25,000 in 1834, but the police department comprised only 12 men on the day shift and another 12 on the night shift. Every time a rash of burglaries broke out, officials blamed burglars from New York City. Finally, in 1855, a modern police force was created, employing 150 men. Voters complained of inadequate protection and excessive costs. In 1857, the state legislature merged the Brooklyn force with that of New York City.^[41]

Fervent in the Union cause, the city of Brooklyn played a major role in supplying troops andmaterielfor theAmerican Civil War. The best-known regiment to be sent off to war from the city was the14th Brooklyn"Red Legged Devils". They fought from 1861 to 1864, wore red the entire war, and were the only regiment named after a city. PresidentAbraham Lincolncalled them into service, making them part of a handful of three-year enlisted soldiers in April 1861. Unlike other regiments during the American Civil War, the 14th wore a uniform inspired by the FrenchChasseurs, a light infantry used for quick assaults.

As a seaport and a manufacturing center, Brooklyn was well prepared to contribute to the Union's strengths in shipping and manufacturing. The two combined in shipbuilding; the ironcladMonitorwas built in Brooklyn.

Brooklyn is referred to as the twin city of New York in the 1883 poem, "The New Colossus" byEmma Lazarus, which appears on a plaque inside theStatue of Liberty. The poem calls New York Harbor "the air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame". As a twin city to New York, it played a role in national affairs that was later overshadowed by decades of subordination by its old partner and rival.

During this period, the affluent, contiguous districts ofFort GreeneandClinton Hill(then characterized collectively as The Hill) were home to such notable figures asAstral Oil WorksfounderCharles Prattand his children, including local civic leaderCharles Millard Pratt;Theosophical Societyco-founderWilliam Quan Judge; andPfizerco-foundersCharles PfizerandCharles F. Erhart. Brooklyn Heights remained one of the New York metropolitan area's most august patrician redoubts into the early 20th century under the aegis of such figures as abolitionist clergymanHenry Ward Beecher,CongregationalisttheologiansLyman AbbottandNewell Dwight Hillis(who followed Beecher as the second and third pastors ofPlymouth Church, respectively), financierJohn Jay Pierrepont(a grandson of founding Heights residentHezekiah Pierrepont), banker/art collectorDavid Leavitt, educator/politicianSeth Low, merchant/bankerHorace Brigham Claflin, attorneyWilliam Cary Sanger(who served for two years asUnited States Assistant Secretary of Warunder PresidentsWilliam McKinleyandTheodore Roosevelt) and publisherAlfred Smith Barnes. Contiguous to the Heights, the less exclusiveSouth Brooklynwas home to longtime civic leaderJames S. T. Stranahan, who became known (often derisively) as the "Baron Haussmannof Brooklyn" for championingProspect Parkand other public works.

Economic growth continued, propelled byimmigrationandindustrialization, and Brooklyn established itself as the third-most populous American city for much of the 19th century. The waterfront fromGowanustoGreenpointwas developed with piers and factories. Industrial access to the waterfront was improved by theGowanus Canaland the canalizedNewtown Creek.USSMonitorwas the most famous product of the large and growingshipbuilding industryof Williamsburg. After theCivil War, trolley lines and other transport broughturban sprawlbeyond Prospect Park (completed byFrederick Law OlmstedandCalvert Vauxin 1873 and widely heralded as an improvement upon the earlierCentral Park) into the center of the county, as evinced by gradual settlement in the comparatively rustic villages ofWindsor TerraceandKensingtonin the Town of Flatbush. By century's end,Dean Alvord'sProspect Park Southdevelopment (adjacent to the village of Flatbush) would serve as the template for contemporaneous "Victorian Flatbush" micro-neighborhoods and the post-consolidation emergence of outlying districts, such asMidwoodandMarine Park. Along withOak Park, Illinois, it also presaged theautomobileandcommuter rail-driven vogue for more remote prewar suburban communities, such asGarden City, New YorkandMontclair, New Jersey.

The rapidly growing population needed more water, so the City built centralized waterworks, including theRidgewood Reservoir. The municipal Police Department, however, was abolished in 1854 in favor of a Metropolitan force covering also New York and Westchester Counties. In 1865 theBrooklyn Fire Department(BFD) also gave way to the new Metropolitan Fire District.

Throughout this period the peripheral towns of Kings County, far from Manhattan and even from urban Brooklyn, maintained their rustic independence. The only municipal change seen was the secession of the eastern section of the Town of Flatbush as the Town of New Lots in 1852. The building ofrail linkssuch as theBrighton Beach Linein 1878 heralded the end of this isolation.

Sports in Brooklynbecame a business. The Brooklyn Bridegrooms played professional baseball at Washington Park in the convenient suburb ofPark Slopeand elsewhere. Early in the next century, under their new name of Brooklyn Dodgers, they brought baseball toEbbets Field, beyond Prospect Park. Racetracks,amusement parks, andbeach resortsopened inBrighton Beach,Coney Island, and elsewhere in the southern part of the county.

Toward the end of the 19th century, the City of Brooklyn experienced its final, explosive growth spurt. Park Slope was rapidly urbanized, with its eastern summit soon emerging as the city's third "Gold Coast" district alongside Brooklyn Heights and The Hill; notable residents of the era includedAmerican Chicle Companyco-founder Thomas Adams Jr. andNew York Central Railroadexecutive Clinton L. Rossiter. East of The Hill,Bedford-Stuyvesantcoalesced as an upper middle class enclave for lawyers, shopkeepers, and merchants of German and Irish descent (notably exemplified by John C. Kelley, a water meter magnate and close friend of PresidentGrover Cleveland), with nearbyCrown Heightsgradually fulfilling an analogous role for the city's Jewish population as development continued through the early 20th century. Northeast of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bushwick (by now a working class, predominantly German district) established a considerablebreweryindustry; the so-called "Brewer's Row" encompassed 14 breweries operating in a 14-block area in 1890. On the southwestern waterfront of Kings County, railroads and industrialization spread toSunset Park(then coterminous with the city's sprawling, sparsely populated Eighth Ward) and adjacentBay Ridge(hitherto a resort-like subsection of the Town ofNew Utrecht). Within a decade, the city had annexed the Town ofNew Lotsin 1886; the Towns ofFlatbush,Gravesendand New Utrecht in 1894; and the Town ofFlatlandsin 1896. Brooklyn had reached its natural municipal boundaries at the ends of Kings County.

Low's time in office from 1882 to 1885 was marked by a number of reforms:^[42]

• Secured a degree of "home rule" of the city. Previously, the State Government dictated city policies, hiring, salaries, and other affairs. Low managed to secure an unofficial veto over all Brooklyn bills in the State Assembly.
• Instituted a number of educational reforms. He was the first to integrate Brooklyn schools. He introduced free textbooks for all students, not just those who had taken a pauper's oath. He instituted a competitive examination for hiring teachers, instead of giving teaching jobs to pay political debts. He set aside $430,000 (equivalent to $13,576,138 in 2023) for the construction of new schools to accommodate 10,000 new students.
• Introduced Civil Service Code to all city employees, eliminating patronage jobs.
• German Americanswanted to enjoy their local beer gardens on the Sabbath, in violation of state "dry" laws and the demands of local puritanical clergy. Low's compromise solution was that saloons could stay open as long as they were orderly. At the first sign of rowdiness, they would be closed.
• Served as a member of the board of the New York Bridge Company, the company that built theBrooklyn Bridge, and led an unsuccessful effort to removeWashington Roeblingas the chief engineer on that project.^[43]
• Raised the tax rate from 2.33% of $100 assessed valuation in 1881 to 2.59% in 1883.^[42]He also went after property owners who had not paid back taxes. This increase in city revenue enabled him to reduce the city's debt and increase services. However, raising taxes proved extremely unpopular.

Brooklyn elected a mayor from 1834 until 1898, after which it was consolidated into theCity of Greater New York, whose own second mayor (1902–1903), Seth Low, had been Mayor of Brooklyn from 1882 to 1885. Since 1898, Brooklyn has, in place of a separate mayor, elected aBorough President.

Mayors of the City of Brooklyn ^[44]

Mayor		Party	Start year	End year
George Hall		Democratic-Republican	1834	1834
Jonathan Trotter		Democratic	1835	1836
Jeremiah Johnson		Whig	1837	1838
Cyrus P. Smith		Whig	1839	1841
Henry C. Murphy		Democratic	1842	1842
Joseph Sprague		Democratic	1843	1844
Thomas G. Talmage		Democratic	1845	1845
Francis B. Stryker		Whig	1846	1848
Edward Copland		Whig	1849	1849
Samuel Smith		Democratic	1850	1850
Conklin Brush		Whig	1851	1852
Edward A. Lambert		Democratic	1853	1854
George Hall		Know Nothing	1855	1856
Samuel S. Powell		Democratic	1857	1860
Martin Kalbfleisch		Democratic	1861	1863
Alfred M. Wood		Republican	1864	1865
Samuel Booth		Republican	1866	1867
Martin Kalbfleisch		Democratic	1868	1871
Samuel S. Powell		Democratic	1872	1873
John W. Hunter		Democratic	1874	1875
Frederick A. Schroeder		Republican	1876	1877
James Howell		Democratic	1878	1881
Seth Low		Republican	1882	1885
Daniel D. Whitney		Democratic	1886	1887
Alfred C. Chapin		Democratic	1888	1891
David A. Boody		Democratic	1892	1893
Charles A. Schieren		Republican	1894	1895
Frederick W. Wurster		Republican	1896	1897

In 1883, theBrooklyn Bridgewas completed, transportation to Manhattan was no longer by water only, and the City of Brooklyn's ties to the City of New York were strengthened.

The question became whether Brooklyn was prepared to engage in the still-grander process of consolidation then developing throughout the region, whether to join with the county ofRichmondand the western portion ofQueens County, and the county ofNew York, which by then already includedthe Bronx, to form the five boroughs of a united City of New York.Andrew Haswell Greenand other progressives said yes, and eventually, they prevailed against theDaily Eagleand other conservative forces. In 1894, residents of Brooklyn and the other counties voted by a slight majority to merge, effective in 1898.^[45]

Kings County retained its status as one of New York State's counties, but the loss of Brooklyn's separate identity as a city was met with consternation by some residents at the time. Many newspapers of the day called the merger the "Great Mistake of 1898", and the phrase still elicits Brooklyn pride among old-time Brooklynites.^[46]

Brooklyn is 97 square miles (250 km²) in area, of which 71 square miles (180 km²) is land (73%), and 26 square miles (67 km²) is water (27%); the borough is the second-largest by land area among the New York City's boroughs. However, Kings County, coterminous with Brooklyn, is New York State's fourth-smallestcountyby land area and third-smallest by total area.^[6]Brooklyn lies at the southwestern end of Long Island, and the borough's western border constitutes the island's western tip.

Brooklyn's water borders are extensive and varied, includingJamaica Bay; theAtlantic Ocean;The Narrows, separating Brooklyn from the borough ofStaten Islandin New York City and crossed by theVerrazzano-Narrows Bridge;Upper New York Bay, separating Brooklyn fromJersey CityandBayonnein theU.S. stateofNew Jersey; and theEast River, separating Brooklyn from the borough of Manhattan in New York City and traversed by theBrooklyn-Battery Tunnel, theBrooklyn Bridge, theManhattan Bridge, theWilliamsburg Bridge, and numerous routes of theNew York City Subway. To the east of Brooklyn lies the borough of Queens, which containsJohn F. Kennedy International Airportin that borough'sJamaicaneighborhood, approximately two miles from the border of Brooklyn'sEast New Yorkneighborhood.

Under theKöppen climate classification, Brooklyn experiences ahumid subtropical climate(Cfa),^[47]with partial shielding from theAppalachian Mountainsand moderating influences from theAtlantic Ocean. Brooklyn receives plentiful precipitation all year round, with nearly 50 in (1,300 mm) yearly. The area averages 234 days with at least some sunshine annually, and averages 57% of possible sunshine annually, accumulating 2,535 hours of sunshine per annum.^[48]Brooklyn lies in theUSDA7b plant hardiness zone.^[49]

Brooklyn's neighborhoods are dynamic in ethnic composition. For example, the early to mid-20th century,Brownsvillehad a majority ofJewishresidents; since the 1970s it has been majority African American.Midwoodduring the early 20th century was filled with ethnicIrish, then filled with Jewish residents for nearly 50 years, and is slowly becoming aPakistanienclave. Brooklyn's most populous racial group, white, declined from 97.2% in 1930 to 46.9% by 1990.^[55]

The borough attracts people previously living in other cities in the United States. Of these, most come fromChicago,Detroit,San Francisco,Washington, D.C.,Baltimore,Philadelphia,Boston,Cincinnati, andSeattle.^{[56][57][58][59][60][61][62]}

Given New York City's role as a crossroads for immigration from around the world, Brooklyn has evolved a globallycosmopolitanambiance of its own, demonstrating a robust and growing demographic and cultural diversity with respect to metrics including nationality, religion, race, anddomiciliary partnership. In 2010, 51.6% of the population was counted as members of religious congregations.^[63]In 2014, there were 914 religious organizations in Brooklyn, the 10th most of all counties in the nation.^[64]Brooklyn contains dozens of distinct neighborhoods representing many of the major culturally identified groups found within New York City. Among the most prominent are listed below:

Over 600,000Jews, particularlyOrthodoxandHasidic Jews, have become concentrated in such historically Jewish areas asBorough Park,Williamsburg, andMidwood, where there are manyyeshivas,synagogues, andkosherrestaurants, as well as a variety of Jewish businesses. Adjacent to Borough Park, theKensingtonarea housed a significant population ofConservative Jews(under the aegis of such nationally prominent midcentury rabbis asJacob Bosniakand Abraham Heller)^[65]when it was still considered to be a subsection of Flatbush; many of their defunct facilities have been repurposed to serve extensions of the Borough Park Hasidic community. Other notable religious Jewish neighborhoods with a longstanding cultural lineage includeCanarsie,Sea Gate, andCrown Heights, home to theChabadworld headquarters. Neighborhoods with largely defunct yet historically notable Jewish populations include central Flatbush, East Flatbush, Brownsville, East New York, Bensonhurst and Sheepshead Bay (particularly its Madison subsection). Many hospitals in Brooklyn were started by Jewish charities, includingMaimonides Medical Centerin Borough Park and Brookdale Hospital in East Flatbush.^[66][67]

According to the American Jewish Population Project in 2020, Brooklyn was home to over 480,000 Jews.^[68]In 2023, theUJA-Federation of New Yorkestimated that Brooklyn is home to 462,000 Jews, a large decrease compared to the 561,000 estimated in 2011.^[69]

The predominantly Jewish, Crown Heights (and later East Flatbush)-based Madison Democratic Club served as the borough's primary "clubhouse" political venue for decades until the ascendancy ofMeade Esposito's rival, Canarsie-based Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club in the 1960s and 1970s, playing an integral role in the rise of such figures asSpeaker of the New York State AssemblyIrwin Steingut; his son, fellow SpeakerStanley Steingut;New York City MayorAbraham Beame; real estate developerFred Trump; Democratic district leader Beadie Markowitz; and political fixer Abraham "Bunny" Lindenbaum.

Many non-Orthodox Jews (ranging from observant members of various denominations toatheistsof Jewish cultural heritage) are concentrated inDitmas ParkandPark Slope, with smaller observant and culturally Jewish populations in Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Brighton Beach, and Coney Island.

Over 200,000Chinese Americanslive throughout the southern parts of Brooklyn, primarily concentrated inSunset Park,Bensonhurst,Gravesend, andHomecrest. Brooklyn is the borough that is home to the highest number ofChinatowns in New York City. The largest concentration is in Sunset Park along 8th Avenue, which has become known for itsChinese culturesince the opening of the now-defunct Winley Supermarket in 1986 spurred widespread settlement in the area. It is called"Brooklyn's Chinatown"and originally it was a small Chinese enclave withCantonesespeakers being the mainChinesepopulation during the late 1980s and 1990s, but since the 2000s, the Chinese population in the area dramatically shifted to majorityFuzhounese Americans, which contributed immensely to expanding this Chinatown, and bestowing the nicknames "Fuzhou Town(福州埠), Brooklyn" or the "Little Fuzhou(小福州)" of Brooklyn. ManyChinese restaurantscan be found throughout Sunset Park, and the area hosts a popularChinese New Yearcelebration. Since the 2000s going forward, the growing concentration of theCantonesespeaking population in Brooklyn have dramatically shifted to Bensonhurst/Gravesend and Homecrest creating newer Chinatowns of Brooklyn and these newer Brooklyn Chinatowns are known as "Brooklyn's Little Hong Kong/Guangdong" due to their Chinese populations being overwhelmingly Cantonese populated.^[70][71]

Brooklyn'sAfrican AmericanandCaribbeancommunities are spread throughout much of Brooklyn. Brooklyn'sWest Indiancommunity is concentrated in the Crown Heights, Flatbush,East Flatbush, Kensington, and Canarsie neighborhoods in central Brooklyn. Brooklyn is home to the largest community of West Indians outside of the Caribbean. Although the largest West Indian groups in Brooklyn areJamaicans,GuyaneseandHaitians, there areWest Indian immigrantsfrom nearly every part of the Caribbean. Crown Heights and Flatbush are home to many of Brooklyn's West Indian restaurants and bakeries. Brooklyn has an annual, celebrated Carnival in the tradition of pre-Lenten celebrations in the islands.^[72]Started by natives ofTrinidad and Tobago, theWest Indian Labor Day Paradetakes place every Labor Day onEastern Parkway. TheBrooklyn Academy of Musicalso holds theDanceAfricafestival in late May, featuring street vendors and dance performances showcasing food and culture from all parts of Africa.^[73][74]Since the opening of theIND Fulton Street Linein 1936,Bedford-Stuyvesanthas been home to one of the most famous African American communities in the United States. Working-class communities remain prevalent inBrownsville,East New YorkandConey Island, while remnants of similar communities inProspect Heights,Fort GreeneandClinton Hillhave endured amid widespread gentrification.

In the aftermath ofWorld War IIand subsequenturban renewalinitiatives that decimated longtime Manhattan enclaves (most notably on theUpper West Side), Puerto Rican migrants began to settle in such waterfront industrial neighborhoods asSunset Park,Red HookandGowanus, near the shipyards and factories where they worked. The borough's Hispanic population diversified after the 1965Hart-Cellar Actloosened restrictions on immigration from elsewhere in Latin America.

Bushwickhas since emerged as the largest hub of Brooklyn'sHispanic Americancommunity. Like other Hispanic neighborhoods in New York City, Bushwick has an establishedPuerto Ricanpresence, along with an influx of manyDominicans,South Americans,Central AmericansandMexicans. As nearly 80% of Bushwick's population is Hispanic, its residents have created many businesses to support their various national and distinct traditions in food and other items. Sunset Park's population is 42% Hispanic, made up of these various ethnic groups. Brooklyn's main Hispanic groups are Puerto Ricans,Mexicans, Dominicans andEcuadorians; they are spread out throughout the borough. Puerto Ricans and Dominicans are predominant in Bushwick,Williamsburg's South Side and East New York. Mexicans (especially from the state ofPuebla) now predominate alongside Chinese immigrants in Sunset Park, although remnants of the neighborhood's once-substantial postwar Puerto Rican and Dominican communities continue to reside below 39th Street. Save forRed Hook(which remained roughly one-fifth Hispanic American as of the 2010 Census), the South Side and Sunset Park, similar postwar communities in other waterfront neighborhoods—including western Park Slope, the north end of Greenpoint,^[75]andBoerum Hill, long considered the northern subsection of Gowanus—largely disappeared by the turn of the century due to various factors, including deindustrialization, ensuing gentrification and suburbanization among more affluent Dominicans and Puerto Ricans. A Panamanian enclave exists inCrown Heights.

Brooklyn is also home to manyRussiansandUkrainians, who are mainly concentrated in the areas ofBrighton BeachandSheepshead Bay. Brighton Beach features many Russian and Ukrainian businesses and has been nicknamedLittle RussiaandLittleOdessa, respectively. In the 1970s,Soviet Jews won the right to immigrate, and many ended up in Brighton Beach. In recent years, the non-Jewish Russian and Ukrainian communities of Brighton Beach have grown, and the area is now home to a diverse collection of immigrants from across theformer USSR. Smaller concentrations of Russian and Ukrainian Americans are scattered elsewhere in south Brooklyn, including Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Homecrest, Coney Island, andMill Basin. A growing community ofUzbek Americanshave settled alongside them in recent years due to their ability to speakRussian.^[76][77]

Brooklyn'sPolishinhabitants are historically concentrated inGreenpoint, home toLittle Poland. Other longstanding settlements inBorough ParkandSunset Parkhave endured, while more recent immigrants are scattered throughout the southern parts of Brooklyn alongside the Russian and Ukrainian American communities.

Despite widespread migration toStaten Islandand more suburban areas in metropolitan New York throughout the postwar era, notable concentrations ofItalian Americanscontinue to reside in the neighborhoods ofBensonhurst,Dyker Heights,Bay Ridge,Bath BeachandGravesend. Less perceptible remnants of older communities have persisted inCobble HillandCarroll Gardens, where the homes of the remaining Italian Americans can often be contrasted with more recentupper middle classresidents through the display of smallMadonnastatues, the retention of plastic-metal stoop awnings and the use ofFormstonein house cladding. All of the aforementioned neighborhoods have retained Italian restaurants, bakeries, delicatessens, pizzerias, cafes and social clubs.

In the early 20th century, manyLebaneseandSyrian Christianssettled aroundAtlantic Avenuewest ofFlatbush AvenueinBoerum Hill; more recently, this area has evolved into a Yemeni commercial district. More recent, predominantlyMuslimArab immigrants, especiallyEgyptiansandLebanese, have moved into the southwest portion of Brooklyn, particularly toBay Ridge, where many Middle Eastern restaurants, hookah lounges, halal grocers, Islamic shops and mosques line the commercial thoroughfares of Fifth and Third Avenues below 86th Street. Brighton Beach is home to a growingPakistani Americancommunity, while Midwood is home toLittlePakistanalongConey Island Avenue(recently co-namedMuhammad Ali JinnahWay). Pakistani Independence Day is celebrated every year with parades and parties on Coney Island Avenue. Just to the north, Kensington is one of New York's several emergingBangladeshienclaves.

Third-, fourth- and fifth-generationIrish Americanscan be found throughout Brooklyn, with moderate concentrations^{[clarification needed]}enduring in the neighborhoods ofWindsor Terrace,Park Slope,Bay Ridge,Marine ParkandGerritsen Beach. Historical communities also existed inVinegar Hilland other waterfront industrial neighborhoods, such as Greenpoint and Sunset Park. Paralleling the Italian American community, many moved to Staten Island and suburban areas in the postwar era. Those that stayed engendered close-knit, stable working-to-middle class communities through employment in the civil service (especially in law enforcement, transportation, and theNew York City Fire Department) and the building and construction trades, while others were subsumed by theprofessional-managerial classand largely shed the Irish American community's distinct cultural traditions (including continued worship in theCatholic Churchand other social activities, such asIrish stepdanceand frequenting Irish American bars).^{[citation needed]}

While not as extensive as theIndian Americanpopulation inQueens, younger professionals ofAsian Indianorigin are finding Brooklyn to be a convenient alternative to Manhattan to find housing. Nearly 30,000 Indian Americans call Brooklyn home.^{[citation needed]}

Brighton Beach is home to a growingPakistani Americancommunity, while Midwood is home toLittle PakistanalongConey Island Avenuerecently renamedMuhammad Ali Jinnahway.Pakistan Independence Dayis celebrated every year with parades and parties on Coney Island Avenue. Just to the north,Kensingtonis one of New York's several emergingBangladeshienclaves.

Brooklyn'sGreek Americanslive throughout the borough. A historical concentration has endured in Bay Ridge and adjacent areas, where there is a noticeable cluster of Hellenic-focused schools, businesses and cultural institutions. Other businesses are situated in Downtown Brooklyn near Atlantic Avenue. As in much of theNew York metropolitan area, Greek-owned diners are found throughout the borough.

Brooklyn is home to a large and growing number of same-sex couples.Same-sex marriages in New Yorkwere legalized on June 24, 2011, and were authorized to take place beginning 30 days thereafter.^[78]ThePark Slopeneighborhood spearheaded the popularity of Brooklyn among lesbians, andProspect Heightshas an LGBT residential presence.^[79]Numerous neighborhoods have since become home to LGBT communities. Brooklyn Liberation March, the largesttransgender-rightsdemonstration in LGBTQ history, took place on June 14, 2020, stretching fromGrand Army PlazatoFort Greene, focused on supporting Black transgender lives, drawing an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 participants.^[80][81]

Brooklyn became a preferred site for artists andhipstersto set up live/work spaces after being priced out of the same types of living arrangements in Manhattan. Various neighborhoods in Brooklyn, including Williamsburg,DUMBO,Red Hook, and Park Slope evolved as popular neighborhoods forartists-in-residence. However, rents and costs of living have since increased dramatically in these same neighborhoods, forcing artists to move to somewhat less expensive neighborhoods in Brooklyn or across Upper New York Bay to locales in New Jersey, such asJersey CityorHoboken.^[82]

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1731	2,150	—
1756	2,707	+25.9%
1771	3,623	+33.8%
1786	3,966	+9.5%
1790	4,549	+14.7%
1800	5,740	+26.2%
1810	8,303	+44.7%
1820	11,187	+34.7%
1830	20,535	+83.6%
1840	47,613	+131.9%
1850	138,822	+191.6%
1860	279,122	+101.1%
1870	419,921	+50.4%
1880	599,495	+42.8%
1890	838,547	+39.9%
1900	1,166,582	+39.1%
1910	1,634,351	+40.1%
1920	2,018,356	+23.5%
1930	2,560,401	+26.9%
1940	2,698,285	+5.4%
1950	2,738,175	+1.5%
1960	2,627,319	−4.0%
1970	2,602,012	−1.0%
1980	2,230,936	−14.3%
1990	2,300,664	+3.1%
2000	2,465,326	+7.2%
2010	2,504,700	+1.6%
2020	2,736,074	+9.2%
1731–1786[83] U.S. Decennial Census[84] 1790–1960[85]1900–1990[86] 1990–2000[87]2010[88]2020[1] Source: U.S. Decennial Census [89]

New York City's five boroughs v t e
Jurisdiction		Population	Land area		Density of population		GDP
Borough	County	Census (2020)	square miles	square km	people/ sq. mile	people/ sq. km	billions (2022 US$)2
The Bronx	Bronx	1,472,654	42.2	109.2	34,920	13,482	$43.7
Brooklyn	Kings	2,736,074	69.4	179.7	39,438	15,227	$107.3
Manhattan	New York	1,694,251	22.7	58.7	74,781	28,872	$781.0
Queens	Queens	2,405,464	108.7	281.6	22,125	8,542	$103.3
Staten Island	Richmond	495,747	57.5	149.0	8,618	3,327	$17.5
City of New York		8,804,190	300.5	778.2	29,303	11,314	$1,052.8
State of New York		20,201,249	47,123.6	122,049.5	429	166	$1,763.5
Sources:[90][91][92][93]and see individual borough articles.

Racial composition	2020[94]	2010[95]	1990[55]	1950[55]	1900[55]
White	37.6%	42.8%	46.9%	92.2%	98.3%
—Non-Hispanic	35.4%	35.7%	40.1%	n/a	n/a
Black or African American	26.7%	34.3%	37.9%	7.6%	1.6%
Hispanic or Latino(of any race)	18.9%	19.8%	20.1%	n/a	n/a
Asian	13.6%	10.5%	4.8%	0.1%	0.1%
Two or more races	8.7%	3.0%	n/a	n/a	n/a

At the 2020 census, 2,736,074 people lived in Brooklyn. TheUnited States Census Bureauhad estimated Brooklyn's population increased by 2.2% to 2,559,903 between 2010 and 2019. Brooklyn's estimated population represented 30.7% of New York City's estimated population of 8,336,817; 33.5% of Long Island's population of 7,701,172; and 13.2% of New York State's population of 19,542,209.^[96]In 2020, the government of New York City projected Brooklyn's population at 2,648,403.^[97]The 2019 census estimates determined there were 958,567 households with an average of 2.66 persons per household.^[98]There were 1,065,399 housing units in 2019 and a median gross rent of $1,426. Citing growth, Brooklyn gained 9,696 building permits at the 2019 census estimates program.

The 2020American Community Surveyestimated the racial and ethnic makeup of Brooklyn was 35.4%non-Hispanic white, 26.7%Black or African American, 0.9%American Indian or Alaska Native, 13.6%Asian, 0.1%Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, 4.1%two or more races, and 18.9%Hispanic or Latin Americanof any race.^[102]According to the2010 United States census, Brooklyn's population was 42.8% White, including 35.7% non-Hispanic White; 34.3% Black, including 31.9% non-Hispanic black; 10.5% Asian; 0.5% Native American; 0.0% (rounded) Pacific Islander; 3.0% Multiracial American; and 8.8% from other races. Hispanics and Latinos made up 19.8% of Brooklyn's population.^[103]In 2010, Brooklyn had some neighborhoods segregated based on race, ethnicity, and religion. Overall, the southwest half of Brooklyn is racially mixed although it contains few black residents; the northeast section is mostly black and Hispanic/Latino.^[104]

Brooklyn has a high degree oflinguistic diversity. As of 2010, 54.1% (1,240,416) of Brooklyn residents ages 5 and older spokeEnglishat home as aprimary language, while 17.2% (393,340) spokeSpanish, 6.5% (148,012)Chinese, 5.3% (121,607)Russian, 3.5% (79,469)Yiddish, 2.8% (63,019)French Creole, 1.4% (31,004)Italian, 1.2% (27,440)Hebrew, 1.0% (23,207)Polish, 1.0% (22,763)French, 1.0% (21,773)Arabic, 0.9% (19,388)various Indic languages, 0.7% (15,936)Urdu, andAfrican languageswere spoken as amain languageby 0.5% (12,305) of the population over the age of five. In total, 45.9% (1,051,456) of Brooklyn's population ages 5 and older spoke amother tongueother than English.^[105]

Brooklyn has played a major role in various aspects of American culture, including literature, cinema, and theater.Brooklyn's accenthas often been portrayed as "the typical New Yorker accent" in American media, although this accent and its stereotypes are supposedly diminishing in currency.^[106]Brooklyn's official colors are blue and gold.^[107]

Brooklyn hosts the world-renownedBrooklyn Academy of Music, theBrooklyn Philharmonic, and the second-largest public art collection in the United States, housed in theBrooklyn Museum.

TheBrooklyn Museum, opened in 1897, is New York City's second-largest public art museum. It has in its permanent collection more than 1.5 million objects, from ancient Egyptian masterpieces to contemporary art. TheBrooklyn Children's Museum, the world's first museum dedicated to children, opened in December 1899. The only such New York State institution accredited by theAmerican Alliance of Museums, it is one of the few globally to have a permanent collection – over 30,000 cultural objects and natural history specimens.

TheBrooklyn Academy of Music(BAM) includes a 2,109-seat opera house, an 874-seat theater, and the art-house BAM Rose Cinemas.Bargemusicand St. Ann's Warehouse are on the other side of Downtown Brooklyn in theDUMBOarts district.Brooklyn Technical High Schoolhas the second-largest auditorium in New York City (afterRadio City Music Hall), with aseating capacityof over 3,000.^[108]

Brooklyn has several local newspapers: TheBrooklyn Daily Eagle,Bay Currents(Oceanfront Brooklyn),Brooklyn View,The Brooklyn Paper, and Courier-Life Publications. Courier-Life Publications, owned by Rupert Murdoch'sNews Corporation, is Brooklyn's largest chain of newspapers. Brooklyn is also served by the major New York dailies, includingThe New York Times, theNew York Daily News, and theNew York Post. Several others are now defunct, including theBrooklyn Union(1867–1937),^[109][110]and theBrooklyn Times.^[109]

The borough is home to the arts and politics monthlyBrooklyn Rail, as well as the arts and cultural quarterlyCabinet.Hello Mr.is also published in Brooklyn.

Brooklyn Magazineis one of the few glossy magazines about Brooklyn. Several others are now defunct, includingBKLYN Magazine(a bimonthly lifestyle book owned by Joseph McCarthy, that saw itself as a vehicle for high-end advertisers in Manhattan and was mailed to 80,000 high-income households),Brooklyn Bridge Magazine,The Brooklynite(a free, glossy quarterly edited by Daniel Treiman), andNRG(edited by Gail Johnson and originally marketed as a local periodical for Clinton Hill and Fort Greene, but expanded in scope to become the self-proclaimed "Pulse of Brooklyn" and then the "Pulse of New York").^[111]

Brooklyn has a thriving ethnic press.El Diario La Prensa, the largest and oldest Spanish-language daily newspaper in the United States, maintains its corporate headquarters at 1MetroTech Centerindowntown Brooklyn.^[112]Major ethnic publications include the Brooklyn-Queens Catholic paperThe Tablet,Hamodia, an Orthodox Jewish daily, andThe Jewish Press, an Orthodox Jewish weekly. Many nationally distributed ethnic newspapers are based in Brooklyn. Over 60 ethnic groups, writing in 42 languages, publish some 300 non-English language magazines and newspapers in New York City. Among them is the quarterlyL'Idea, a bilingual magazine printed in Italian and English since 1974. In addition, many newspapers published abroad, such asThe Daily GleanerandThe Starof Jamaica, are available in Brooklyn.^{[citation needed]}Our Time Press, published weekly by DBG Media, covers the Village of Brooklyn with a motto of "The Local Paper with the Global View".

The City of New York has an official television station, run byNYC Media, which features programming based in Brooklyn.Brooklyn Community Access Televisionis the borough'spublic access channel.^[113]Its studios are at theBRIC Arts Mediavenue, called BRIC House, located onFulton Streetin theFort Greenesection of the borough.^[114]

• The annualConey Island Mermaid Parade(mid-to-late June) is a costume-and-float parade.^[115]
• Coney Island also hosts the annualNathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest(July 4).^[115]
• The annualLabor Day Carnival(also known as the Labor Day Parade or West Indian Day Parade) takes place alongEastern ParkwayinCrown Heights.
• The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival runs annually around the second week of June.^[116]

Brooklyn's job market is driven by three main factors: the performance of the national and city economy, population flows and the borough's position as a convenient back office for New York's businesses.^[117]

Forty-four percent of Brooklyn's employed population, or 410,000 people, work in the borough; more than half of the borough's residents work outside its boundaries. As a result, economic conditions in Manhattan are important to the borough's jobseekers. Strong international immigration to Brooklyn generates jobs in services, retailing and construction.^[117]

Since the late 20th century, Brooklyn has benefited from a steady influx of financialback officeoperations from Manhattan, the rapid growth of ahigh-techand entertainment economy inDUMBO, and strong growth in support services such as accounting, personal supply agencies, and computer services firms.^[117]

Jobs in the borough have traditionally been concentrated in manufacturing, but since 1975, Brooklyn has shifted from a manufacturing-based to a service-based economy. In 2004, 215,000 Brooklyn residents worked in the services sector, while 27,500 worked in manufacturing. Although manufacturing has declined, a substantial base has remained in apparel and niche manufacturing concerns such as furniture, fabricated metals, and food products.^[118]The pharmaceutical companyPfizerwas founded in Brooklyn in 1869 and had a manufacturing plant in the borough for many years that employed thousands of workers, but the plant shut down in 2008. However, new light-manufacturing concerns in packaging organic and high-end food have sprung up in the old plant.^[119]

First established as ashipbuildingfacility in 1801, theBrooklyn Navy Yardemployed 70,000 people at its peak during World War II and was then the largest employer in the borough. TheMissouri, the ship on which the Japanese formally surrendered, was built there, as was theMaine, whose sinking off Havana led to the start of the Spanish–American War. The iron-sided Civil War vessel theMonitorwas built in Greenpoint. From 1968 to 1979Seatrain Shipbuildingwas the major employer.^[120]Later tenants include industrial design firms, food processing businesses, artisans, and the film and television production industry. About 230 private-sector firms providing 4,000 jobs are at the Yard.

Construction and services are the fastest-growing sectors.^[121]Most employers in Brooklyn are small businesses. In 2000, 91% of the approximately 38,704 business establishments in Brooklyn had fewer than 20 employees.^[122]As of August 2008^[update], the borough's unemployment rate was 5.9%.^[123]

Brooklyn is also home to many banks andcredit unions. According to theFederal Deposit Insurance Corporation, there were 37 banks and 26 credit unions operating in the borough in 2010.^[124][125]

TherezoningofDowntown Brooklynhas generated over US$10 billion of private investment and $300 million in public improvements since 2004. Brooklyn is also attracting numeroushigh technologystart-up companies, asSilicon Alley, themetonymfor New York City'sentrepreneurship ecosystem, has expanded fromLower Manhattaninto Brooklyn.^[126]

• Brooklyn Botanic Garden: adjacent to Prospect Park is the 52-acre (21 ha) botanical garden, which includes a cherry tree esplanade, a one-acre (0.4 ha) rose garden, a Japanese hill, and pond garden, a fragrance garden, a water lily pond esplanade, several conservatories, a rock garden, a native flora garden, abonsaitree collection, and children's gardens and discovery exhibits.
• Coney Islanddeveloped as a playground for the rich in the early 1900s, but it grew as one of America's first amusement grounds and attracted crowds from all over New York. TheCyclone rollercoaster, built-in 1927, is on theNational Register of Historic Places. The 1920 Wonder Wheel and other rides are still operational. Coney Island went into decline in the 1970s but has undergone a renaissance.^[127]
• Floyd Bennett Field: the first municipal airport in New York City and long-closed for operations, is now part of theNational Park System. Many of the historic hangars and runways are still extant. Nature trails and diverse habitats are found within the park, includingsalt marshand a restored area ofshortgrass prairiethat was once widespread on theHempstead Plains.
• Green-Wood Cemetery, founded by the social reformer Henry Evelyn Pierrepont in 1838, is an earlyRural cemetery. It is the burial ground of many notable New Yorkers.
• Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge: a unique Federal wildlife refuge straddling the Brooklyn-Queens border, part ofGateway National Recreation Area
• New York Transit Museumdisplays historical artifacts of Greater New York's subway, commuter rail, and bus systems; it is at Court Street, a formerIndependent Subway Systemstation inBrooklyn Heightson theFulton Street Line.
• Prospect Parkis a public park in central Brooklyn encompassing 585 acres (2.37 km²).^[128]The park was designed byFrederick Law OlmstedandCalvert Vaux, who created Manhattan'sCentral Park. Attractions include the Long Meadow, a 90-acre (36 ha) meadow, the Picnic House, which houses offices and a hall that can accommodate parties with up to 175 guests;Litchfield Villa,Prospect Park Zoo, theBoathouse, housing a visitors center and the first urbanAudubon Center;^[129]Brooklyn's only lake, covering 60 acres (24 ha); the Prospect Park Bandshell that hosts free outdoor concerts in the summertime; and various sports and fitness activities including seven baseball fields. Prospect Park hosts a popular annual Halloween Parade.
• Fort Greene Parkis a public park in theFort GreeneNeighborhood. The park contains thePrison Ship Martyrs' Monument, a monument to American prisoners during the Revolutionary War.

Brooklyn's major professional sports team is theNBA'sBrooklyn Nets. The Nets moved into the borough in 2012, and play their home games atBarclays Centerin Prospect Heights. Previously, the Nets had played inUniondale, New Yorkand inNew Jersey.^[130]In April 2020, theNew York Libertyof theWNBAwere sold to the Nets' owners and moved their home venue fromMadison Square Gardento the Barclays Center.

Barclays Center was also the home arena for theNHL'sNew York Islandersfull-time from 2015 to 2018, then part-time from 2018 to 2020 (alternating withNassau Coliseumin Uniondale). The Islanders had originally played at Nassau Coliseum full-time since their inception until 2015 when their lease at the venue expired and the team moved to Barclays Center. In 2020, the team returned to Nassau Coliseum full-time for one season before moving to theUBS Arenain Elmont, New York in 2021.

Brooklyn also has a storied sports history. It has been home to many famous sports figures such asJoe Paterno,Vince Lombardi,Mike Tyson,Joe Torre,Sandy Koufax,Billy CunninghamandVitas Gerulaitis. Basketball legendMichael Jordanwas born in Brooklyn though he grew up inWilmington, North Carolina.

In the earliest days of organized baseball, Brooklyn teams dominated the new game. The second recorded game of baseball was played near what is todayFort Greene Parkon October 24, 1845. Brooklyn'sExcelsiors,AtlanticsandEckfordswere the leading teams from the mid-1850s through theCivil War, and there were dozens of local teams with neighborhood league play, such as atMapleton Oval.^[131]During this "Brooklyn era", baseball evolved into the modern game: the firstfastball, firstchangeup, firstbatting average, firsttriple play,first pro baseball player, firstenclosed ballpark, firstscorecard, first known African-American team, first black championship game, first road trip, first gambling scandal, and first eight pennant winners were all in or from Brooklyn.^[132]

Brooklyn's most famous historical team, theBrooklyn Dodgers, named for "trolley dodgers" played atEbbets Field.^[133]In 1947Jackie Robinsonwas hired by the Dodgers as the first African-American player in Major League Baseball in the modern era. In 1955, the Dodgers, perennial National League pennant winners, won the onlyWorld Seriesfor Brooklyn against their rivalNew York Yankees. The event was marked by mass euphoria and celebrations. Just two years later, the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles.Walter O'Malley, the team's owner at the time, is still vilified, even by Brooklynites too young to remember the Dodgers as Brooklyn's ball club.

After a 43-year hiatus, professional baseball returned to the borough in 2001 with theBrooklyn Cyclones, aminor leagueteam that plays inMCU ParkinConey Island. They are an affiliate of theNew York Mets.

The minor-leagueNew York Cosmossoccer club played its home games at MCU Park in 2017.^[134]A newBrooklyn FCwill begin play in 2024, fielding a women's team in the first-divisionUSL Super Leagueand a men's team in the second-divisionUSL Championshipbeginning in 2025.^[135][136]

Brooklyn once had aNational Football Leagueteam named theBrooklyn Lionsin 1926, who played atEbbets Field.^[137]

Inrugby union,Rugby United New YorkjoinedMajor League Rugbyin 2019 and played their home games at MCU Park through the 2021 season.

Brooklyn has one of the most active recreational fishing fleets in the United States. In addition to a large private fleet along Jamaica Bay, there is a substantial public fleet within Sheepshead Bay. Species caught include Black Fish, Porgy, Striped Bass, Black Sea Bass, Fluke, and Flounder.^{[138][139][140]}

Each of New York City's five counties (coterminous with eachborough) has its own criminal court system andDistrict Attorney, the chief public prosecutor who is directly elected by popular vote.Charles J. Hynes, a Democrat, was the District Attorney of Kings County from 1990 to 2013. Brooklyn has 16 City Council members, the largest number of any of the five boroughs. The Brooklyn Borough Government includes a borough government president as well as a court, library, borough government board, head of borough government, deputy head of borough government and deputy borough government president.

Brooklyn has 18 of the city's 59 community districts, each served by an unpaidcommunity boardwith advisory powers under the city'sUniform Land Use Review Procedure. Each board has a paid district manager who acts as an interlocutor with city agencies. TheKings County Democratic County Committee(aka the Brooklyn Democratic Party) is the county committee of the Democratic Party in Brooklyn.

TheUnited States Postal Serviceoperates post offices in Brooklyn. TheBrooklyn Main Post Officeis located at 271Cadman PlazaEast inDowntown Brooklyn.^[141]

United States presidential election results for
Kings County, New York ^{[142] [143] [144]}

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	202,772	22.14%	703,310	76.78%	9,927	1.08%
2016	141,044	17.51%	640,553	79.51%	24,008	2.98%
2012	124,551	16.90%	604,443	82.02%	7,988	1.08%
2008	151,872	19.99%	603,525	79.43%	4,451	0.59%
2004	167,149	24.30%	514,973	74.86%	5,762	0.84%
2000	96,609	15.65%	497,513	80.60%	23,115	3.74%
1996	81,406	15.08%	432,232	80.07%	26,195	4.85%
1992	133,344	22.93%	411,183	70.70%	37,067	6.37%
1988	178,961	32.60%	363,916	66.28%	6,142	1.12%
1984	230,064	38.29%	368,518	61.34%	2,189	0.36%
1980	200,306	38.44%	288,893	55.44%	31,893	6.12%
1976	190,728	31.08%	419,382	68.34%	3,533	0.58%
1972	373,903	48.96%	387,768	50.78%	1,949	0.26%
1968	247,936	31.99%	489,174	63.12%	37,859	4.89%
1964	229,291	25.05%	684,839	74.80%	1,373	0.15%
1960	327,497	33.51%	646,582	66.16%	3,227	0.33%
1956	460,456	45.23%	557,655	54.77%	0	0.00%
1952	446,708	39.82%	656,229	58.50%	18,765	1.67%
1948	330,494	30.49%	579,922	53.51%	173,401	16.00%
1944	393,926	34.01%	758,270	65.46%	6,168	0.53%
1940	394,534	34.44%	742,668	64.83%	8,365	0.73%
1936	212,852	21.85%	738,306	75.78%	23,143	2.38%
1932	192,536	25.04%	514,172	66.86%	62,300	8.10%
1928	245,622	36.13%	404,393	59.48%	29,822	4.39%
1924	236,877	47.50%	158,907	31.87%	102,903	20.63%
1920	292,692	63.32%	119,612	25.88%	49,944	10.80%
1916	120,752	46.90%	125,625	48.79%	11,080	4.30%
1912	51,239	20.94%	109,748	44.86%	83,676	34.20%
1908	119,789	50.64%	96,756	40.90%	20,025	8.46%
1904	113,246	48.12%	111,855	47.53%	10,216	4.34%
1900	108,977	49.57%	106,232	48.32%	4,639	2.11%
1896	109,135	56.35%	76,882	39.70%	7,659	3.95%
1892	70,505	39.97%	100,160	56.78%	5,720	3.24%
1888	70,052	45.49%	82,507	53.58%	1,430	0.93%
1884	53,516	42.37%	69,264	54.83%	3,541	2.80%
1880	51,751	45.66%	61,062	53.88%	516	0.46%
1876	39,066	40.41%	57,556	59.53%	62	0.06%
1872	33,369	46.68%	38,108	53.31%	10	0.01%
1868	27,707	41.02%	39,838	58.98%	0	0.00%
1864	20,838	44.75%	25,726	55.25%	0	0.00%
1860	15,883	43.56%	20,583	56.44%	0	0.00%
1856	7,846	25.58%	14,174	46.22%	8,647	28.20%
1852	8,496	43.97%	10,628	55.00%	199	1.03%
1848	7,511	56.59%	4,882	36.78%	879	6.62%
1844	5,107	51.94%	4,648	47.27%	77	0.78%
1840	3,293	50.86%	3,157	48.76%	24	0.37%
1836	1,868	44.59%	2,321	55.41%	0	0.00%
1832	1,264	42.06%	1,741	57.94%	0	0.00%
1828	1,053	43.84%	1,349	56.16%	0	0.00%

As is the case with sister boroughs Manhattan and the Bronx, Brooklyn has not voted for aRepublicanin a nationalpresidential electionsinceCalvin Coolidgein1924. In the2008 presidential election, DemocratBarack Obamareceived 79.4% of the vote in Brooklyn while RepublicanJohn McCainreceived 20.0%. In2012, Barack Obama increased his Democratic margin of victory in the borough, dominating Brooklyn with 82.0% of the vote to RepublicanMitt Romney's 16.9%.

As of 2023, four Democrats and one Republican represented Brooklyn in theUnited States House of Representatives. One congressional district lies entirely within the borough.^[145]

• Nydia Velázquez(first elected in 1992) representsNew York's 7th congressional district, which includes the central-west Brooklyn neighborhoods ofBoerum Hill,Brooklyn Heights,Bushwick,Carroll Gardens,Cobble Hill,Dumbo,East New York,East Williamsburg,Greenpoint,Gowanus,Red Hook,Sunset Park, andWilliamsburg. The district also covers a small portion ofQueens.^[145]
• Hakeem Jeffries(first elected in 2012) representsNew York's 8th congressional district, which includes the southern Brooklyn neighborhoods ofBedford-Stuyvesant,Bergen Beach,Brighton Beach,Brownsville,Canarsie,Clinton Hill,Coney Island,East Flatbush,East New York,Fort Greene,Gerritsen Beach,Marine Park,Mill Basin,Ocean Hill,Sheepshead Bay, andSpring Creek. The district also covers a small portion of Queens.^[145]
• Yvette Clarke(first elected in 2006) representsNew York's 9th congressional district, which includes the central and southern Brooklyn neighborhoods ofCrown Heights,East Flatbush,Flatbush,Midwood,Park Slope,Prospect Heights,Prospect Lefferts Gardens, andWindsor Terrace.^[145]
• Dan Goldman(first elected in 2022) representsNew York's 10th congressional district, which includes the southwestern Brooklyn neighborhoods of Midwood, Red Hook, Sunset Park,Bensonhurst,Borough Park,Gravesend,Kensington, andMapleton. The district also covers theWest SideofManhattan.^[145]
• Nicole Malliotakis(first elected in 2020) representsNew York's 11th congressional district, which includes the southwestern Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bensonhurst, Gravesend,Bath Beach,Bay Ridge, andDyker Heights. The district also covers all ofStaten Island.^[145]

Party affiliation of Brooklyn registered voters
(relative percentages)

Party	2005	2004	2003	2002	2001	2000	1999	1998	1997	1996
Democratic	69.7	69.2	70.0	70.1	70.6	70.3	70.7	70.8	70.8	71.0
Republican	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.2	10.5	10.9	11.1	11.3	11.5
Other	3.7	3.9	3.8	3.6	2.9	2.8	2.5	2.8	2.3	2.3
No affiliation	16.5	16.9	16.1	16.2	16.3	16.5	15.9	15.5	15.4	15.2

Brooklyn offers a wide array of private housing, as well as public housing, which is administered by theNew York City Housing Authority(NYCHA). Affordable rental and co-operative housing units throughout the borough were created under theMitchell–Lama Housing Program.^[146]There were 1,101,441 housing units in 2022^[88]at an average density of 15,876 units per square mile (6,130/km²). Public housing administered by NYCHA accounts for more than 100,000 residents in nearly 50,000 units in 2023.^[147]

Education in Brooklyn is provided by a vast number of public and private institutions. Non-charter public schools in the borough are managed by theNew York City Department of Education,^[148]the largest public school system in the United States.

Brooklyn Technical High School(commonly called Brooklyn Tech), a New York City public high school, is the largest specialized high school for science, mathematics, and technology in the United States.^[149]Brooklyn Tech opened in 1922. Brooklyn Tech is across the street fromFort Greene Park. This high school was built from 1930 to 1933 at a cost of about $6 million and is 12 stories high. It covers about half of a city block.^[150]Brooklyn Tech is noted for its famous alumni^[151](including two Nobel Laureates), its academics, and a large number of graduates attending prestigious universities.

Brooklyn Collegeis a senior college of theCity University of New York, and was the first public coeducationalliberal arts collegein New York City. The college ranked in the top 10 nationally for the second consecutive year inPrinceton Review's 2006 guidebook,America's Best Value Colleges. Many of its students are first and second-generation Americans. Founded in 1970,Medgar Evers Collegeis a senior college of theCity University of New York. The college offers programs at the baccalaureate and associate degree levels, as well as adult and continuing education classes for central Brooklyn residents, corporations, government agencies, and community organizations. Medgar Evers College is a few blocks east ofProspect ParkinCrown Heights.

CUNY'sNew York City College of Technology(City Tech) of The City University of New York (CUNY) (Downtown Brooklyn/Brooklyn Heights) is the largest public college of technology in New York State and a national model for technological education. Established in 1946, City Tech can trace its roots to 1881 when the Technical Schools of the Metropolitan Museum of Art were renamed the New York Trade School. That institution—which became the Voorhees Technical Institute many decades later—was soon a model for the development of technical and vocational schools worldwide. In 1971, Voorhees was incorporated into City Tech.

SUNY Downstate College of Medicine, founded as the Long Island College Hospital in 1860, is the oldest hospital-based medical school in the United States. The Medical Center comprises the College of Medicine, College of Health Related Professions, College of Nursing, School of Public Health, School of Graduate Studies, and University Hospital of Brooklyn. The Nobel Prize winnerRobert F. Furchgottwas a member of its faculty. Half of the Medical Center's students are minorities or immigrants. The College of Medicine has the highest percentage of minority students of any medical school in New York State.

Adelphi University, based inGarden City, moved its Manhattan Campus in 2023 to a new location on Livingston Street inDowntown Brooklyn. The move marks a return to Brooklyn for the university, which originated on Adelphi Street with the Adelphi Academy. The facility is shared withSt. Francis College, which has created a new campus at 179 Livingston Street.^[152]

Brooklyn Law Schoolwas founded in 1901 and is notable for its diverse student body. Women and African Americans were enrolled in 1909. According to the Leiter Report, a compendium of law school rankings published byBrian Leiter, Brooklyn Law School places 31st nationally for the quality of students.^[153]

Long Island Universityis a private university headquartered inBrookvilleonLong Island, with a campus inDowntown Brooklynwith 6,417 undergraduate students. The Brooklyn campus has strong science and medical technology programs, at the graduate and undergraduate levels.

Pratt Institute, inClinton Hill, is a private college founded in 1887 with programs in engineering, architecture, and the arts. Some buildings in the school's Brooklyn campus areofficial landmarks. Pratt has over 4700 students, with most at its Brooklyn campus. Graduate programs include a library and information science, architecture, and urban planning. Undergraduate programs include architecture, construction management, writing, critical and visual studies, industrial design and fine arts, totaling over 25 programs in all.

TheNew York University Tandon School of Engineering, the United States' second oldest privateinstitute of technology, founded in 1854, has its main campus in Downtown'sMetroTech Center, a commercial, civic and educational redevelopment project of which it was a key sponsor. NYU-Tandon is one of the 18 schools and colleges that compriseNew York University(NYU).^{[154][155][156][157]}

St. Francis Collegeis a Catholic college inDowntown Brooklynfounded in 1859 by Franciscan friars. Today, over 2,400 students attend the small liberal arts college. St. Francis is considered byThe New York Timesas one of the more diverse colleges, and was ranked one of the best baccalaureate colleges byForbesmagazine andU.S. News & World Report.^{[158][159][160]}

Brooklyn also has smaller liberal arts institutions, such asSaint Joseph's Collegein Clinton Hill andBoricua CollegeinWilliamsburg.

Kingsborough Community Collegeis a junior college in theCity University of New Yorksystem inManhattan Beach.

As an independent system, separate from the New York and Queens public library systems, theBrooklyn Public Library^[161]offers thousands of public programs, millions of books, and use of more than 850 free Internet-accessible computers. It also has books and periodicals in all the major languages spoken in Brooklyn, including English, Russian, Chinese, Spanish, Hebrew, andHaitian Creole, as well as French, Yiddish, Hindi, Bengali, Polish, Italian, and Arabic. The Central Library is a landmarked building facingGrand Army Plaza.

There are 58 library branches, placing one within a half-mile of each Brooklyn resident. In addition to its specialized Business Library in Brooklyn Heights, the Library is preparing to construct its new Visual & Performing Arts Library (VPA) in the BAM Cultural District, which will focus on the link between new and emerging arts and technology and house traditional and digital collections. It will provide access and training to arts applications and technologies not widely available to the public. The collections will include the subjects of art, theater, dance, music, film, photography, and architecture. A special archive will house the records and history of Brooklyn's arts communities.

About 57 percent of all households in Brooklyn were households withoutautomobiles. The citywide rate is 55 percent in New York City.^[162]

Brooklyn features extensivepublic transit. NineteenNew York City Subwayservices, including theFranklin Avenue Shuttle, traverse the borough. Approximately 92.8% of Brooklyn residents traveling to Manhattan use the subway, despite the fact some neighborhoods likeFlatlandsandMarine Parkare poorly served by subway service. Major stations, out of the170 currently in Brooklyn, include:

• Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center
• Broadway Junction
• DeKalb Avenue
• Jay Street–MetroTech
• Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue^[163]

Proposed New York City Subway lines never built include a line along Nostrand or Utica Avenues to Marine Park,^[164]as well as a subway line toSpring Creek.^[165][166]

Brooklyn was once served byan extensive network of streetcars, but many were replaced by thepublic bus networkthat covers the entire borough. There is also daily express bus service into Manhattan.^[167]New York's famous yellow cabs also provide transportation in Brooklyn, although they are less numerous in the borough. There are three commuter rail stations in Brooklyn:East New York,Nostrand Avenue, andAtlantic Terminal, the terminus of theAtlantic Branchof theLong Island Rail Road. The terminal is near theAtlantic Avenue – Barclays Centersubway station, with ten connecting subway services.

In February 2015, MayorBill de Blasioannounced that the city government would begin a citywide ferry service calledNYC Ferryto extend ferry transportation to communities in the city that have been traditionally underserved by public transit.^[168][169]The ferry opened in May 2017,^[170][171]with the Bay Ridge ferry serving southwestern Brooklyn and theEast River Ferryserving northwestern Brooklyn. A third route, the Rockaway ferry, makes one stop in the borough atBrooklyn Army Terminal.^[172]

Astreetcarline, theBrooklyn–Queens Connector, was proposed by the city in February 2016,^[173]with the planned timeline calling for service to begin around 2024.^[174]

Most of thelimited-access expressways and parkwaysare in the western and southern sections of Brooklyn, where the borough's twointerstate highwaysare located;Interstate 278, which uses theGowanus Expresswayand theBrooklyn-Queens Expressway, traversesSunset ParkandBrooklyn Heights, whileInterstate 478is an unsigned route designation for theBrooklyn–Battery Tunnel, which connects to Manhattan.^[175]Other prominent roadways are theProspect Expressway(New York State Route 27), theBelt Parkway, and theJackie Robinson Parkway(formerly the Interborough Parkway). Planned expressways that were never built include the Bushwick Expressway, an extension ofI-78^[176]and the Cross-Brooklyn Expressway, I-878.^[177]Major thoroughfares includeAtlantic Avenue,Fourth Avenue, 86th Street,Kings Highway,Bay Parkway,Ocean Parkway,Eastern Parkway,Linden Boulevard,McGuinness Boulevard,Flatbush Avenue,Pennsylvania Avenue, andNostrand Avenue.

Much of Brooklyn has only named streets, butPark Slope,Bay Ridge,Sunset Park,Bensonhurst, andBorough Parkand the other western sections havenumbered streetsrunning approximately northwest to southeast, and numbered avenues going approximately northeast to southwest. East of Dahill Road, lettered avenues (like Avenue M) run east and west, and numbered streets have the prefix "East". South of Avenue O, related numbered streets west of Dahill Road use the "West" designation. This set of numbered streets ranges from West 37th Street to East 108 Street, and the avenues range from A–Z with names substituted for some of them in some neighborhoods (notably Albemarle, Beverley, Cortelyou, Dorchester, Ditmas, Foster, Farragut, Glenwood, Quentin). Numbered streets prefixed by "North" and "South" in Williamsburg, and "Bay", "Beach", "Brighton", "Plumb", "Paerdegat" or "Flatlands" along the southern and southwestern waterfront are loosely based on the old grids of the original towns of Kings County that eventually consolidated to form Brooklyn. These names often reflect the bodies of water or beaches around them, such asPlumb BeachorPaerdegat Basin.

Brooklyn is connected to Manhattan by three bridges, theBrooklyn,Manhattan, andWilliamsburg Bridge; a vehicular tunnel, theBrooklyn–Battery Tunnel(also known as the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel); and several subway tunnels. TheVerrazzano-Narrows Bridgelinks Brooklyn with the more suburban borough ofStaten Island. Though much of its border is on land, Brooklyn shares several water crossings withQueens, including thePulaski Bridge, theGreenpoint Avenue Bridge, theKosciuszko Bridge(part of theBrooklyn-Queens Expressway), and theGrand Street Bridge, all of which carry traffic overNewtown Creek, and theMarine Parkway Bridgeconnecting Brooklyn to theRockaway Peninsula.

Brooklyn was long a major shipping port, especially at theBrooklyn Army TerminalandBush TerminalinSunset Park. Most container ship cargo operations have shifted to the New Jersey side of New York Harbor, while theBrooklyn Cruise TerminalinRed Hookis a focal point for New York's growing cruise industry. TheQueen Mary 2, one of theworld's largest ocean liners, was designed specifically to fit under the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the United States. She makes regular ports of call at the Red Hook terminal on her transatlantic crossings fromSouthampton, England.^[172]The Brooklyn waterfront formerly employed tens of thousands of borough residents and acted as an incubator for industries across the entire city, and the decline of the port exacerbated Brooklyn's decline in the second half of the 20th century.

In February 2015, MayorBill de Blasioannounced that the city government would beginNYC Ferryto extend ferry transportation to traditionally underserved communities in the city.^[168][169]The ferry opened in May 2017,^[170][171]offering commuter services from the western shore of Brooklyn to Manhattan via three routes. TheEast River Ferryserves points inLower Manhattan,Midtown,Long Island City, and northwestern Brooklyn via its East River route. The South Brooklyn and Rockaway routes serve southwestern Brooklyn before terminating in lower Manhattan. Ferries to Coney Island are also planned.^[172]NY Waterwayoffers tours and charters.SeaStreakalso offers a weekday ferry service between theBrooklyn Army Terminaland the Manhattan ferry slips atPier 11/Wall Streetdowntown andEast 34th Street Ferry Landingin midtown. ACross-Harbor Rail Tunnel, originally proposed in the 1920s as a core project for the then-newPort Authority of New Yorkis again being studied and discussed as a way to ease freight movements across a large swath of the metropolitan area.

• Anzio, Lazio, Italy (since 1990)
• Huế, Vietnam
• Gdynia, Poland (since 1991)^[178]
• Beşiktaş, Istanbul Province, Turkey (since 2005)^[179]
• Leopoldstadt, Vienna, Austria (since 2007)^{[180][181][182]}
• London Borough of Lambeth, United Kingdom^[183]
• Bnei Brak, Israel^[184]
• Konak, İzmir, Turkey (since 2010)^[185]
• Chaoyang District, Beijing, China (since 2014)^[186]
• Yiwu, China (since 2014)^[186]
• Üsküdar, Istanbul, Turkey (since 2015)^[187]

• Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center^[188]
• 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

• Official website of the Brooklyn Borough President

• Digital Public Library of America.Items related to Brooklyn, various dates.
• The Brooklyn Daily Eagle Online, 1841–1902(from the Brooklyn Public Library)
• Crossing Brooklyn Ferryby Walt Whitman
• Notes Geographical and Historical, relating to the Town of Brooklyn, in Kings County on Long-Island.(1824) An Online Electronic Text Edition.by Gabriel Furman
• "Becoming Wards One By One"The Brooklyn Daily Eagle(May 4, 1894). p. 12.