Brooklyn, New York

For other meanings, see Brooklyn(disambiguation) .

Brooklyn, coterminous with Kings County, is a borough of New York City in the U.S. State of New York . Kings County was named in honor of theKing at the time that counties were established in New York, Charles II . Brooklyn, which was originally the Village of Breuckelen on the shore of the East Rivernear Lower Manhattan was named after the town of Breukelen in the Netherlands . Brooklyn was the site of the Battle of Long Island on August 27 , 1776 during the American RevolutionaryWar .

With a current population of 2,465,326 ( 2000 census), Brooklyn is the most populous borough in New York City, and would be the fourth largest city in the USA all by itself. Borough and state government buildings are mostly found in the Brooklyn Civic Center area (including Brooklyn Borough Hall and Kings County Supreme Court ) in downtown Brooklyn, near the Brooklyn Bridge and Brooklyn Heights . Kings County isthe most populous county in New York.

History

Kings County was one of the 12 original counties created in 1683 when New York was firstdivided into counties and towns. It was originally divided into six towns:

• Brooklyn, (originally the Village of Breuckelen, named after the town now spelt Breukelen , Netherlands , it was established by the Dutch in 1646 and is the oldest municipality in what is now New York State)
• Bushwick
• Flatbush
• Flatlands
• Gravesend
• New Utrecht (named after the city of Utrecht , Netherlands)

In October 1776 , the Battle of Brooklyn is fought for control of New York Harbor duringthe American War of Independence, as the Continental Army fought to hold strategic points in what is now Brooklyn Heights.

In 1816 , the Village of Brooklyn was incorporated within the Town ofBrooklyn. In 1827 , the Village of Williamsburgh was incorporated within theTown of Bushwick.

In 1834 , the first city in Kings County wasincorporated and called Brooklyn. It contained the former Town of Brooklyn and reduced the number of towns inKings County to 5. In 1840 the Village of Williamsburgh became a separate town,seceding from the Town of Bushwick, and became the sixth town in Kings County. In 1851 , Kings County got its second city when the Town of Williamsburgh became the City ofWilliamsburgh.

In 1852 , the number of towns in Kings County was again increased to 6, as the Townof New Lots was created by secession from the Town of Flatbush.

In 1854 , the City of Brooklyn merged with the City of Williamsburghand the Town of Bushwick, forming a larger City of Brooklyn. Kings County at this point had one city (Brooklyn)and five towns (Flatbush, Flatlands, Gravesend, New Lots, and New Utrecht).

In 1886 Brooklyn annexed the Town of New Lots, reducing the number of towns inKings County to four. In 1894 , three of the remaining towns (Flatbush, Gravesend, and NewUtrecht) were annexed, leaving only one city (Brooklyn) and one town (Flatlands) in Kings County.

In 1896 , the City of Brooklyn annexed the Town of Flatlands and becamecoterminous with Kings County.

Brooklyn merges into New York City

In 1898 , Brooklyn joined with Richmond (Staten Island), Queens , New York (Manhattan), and Bronx counties to form one of the boroughs of the City of NewYork . The status of Kings County remained as one of New York State's counties.

Kings County: law and government

Like the other counties which are contained within New York City, there is no separate county government per sethough there is a Borough President's office that is part of New York City government and various Community Boards that haveauthority over specific neighborhoods. Marty Markowitz is currently Borough President. Unlike other counties outside New YorkCity County Courts do not exist there; they have been replacedby New York City Civil Court that deals with small claims, lawsuits under $25,000 and housing cases. Other state offices such asthe district attorney (public prosecutor) are organized as in other non-New York City counties.

Geography

As a part of New York City, Kings County/Brooklyn contains no other political subdivisions. It occupies the western part of Long Island , and together with Queens County they form the part of Long Island within New York City. (Long Island containstwo other counties, Nassau and Suffolk County .) The highest point of Kings County is thearea around Prospect Park and Green-Wood Cemetery, rising approximately 200 feet above sea level. There is also a minor elevationin downtown Brooklyn known as Brooklyn Heights.

The Brooklyn Bridge , completed in 1883 , connected Brooklyn with the island of Manhattan ; subsequentbridges include the Williamsburg Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge . Brooklyn is connected with Staten Island by the Verrazano Narrows Bridge which opened in 1964 .

According to the United States CensusBureau , the County has a total area of 251.0 km² (96.9 mi² ). 182.9 km² (70.6 mi²) of it is land and 68.1 km² (26.3 mi²) of it is water. Thetotal area is 27.13% water.

Demographics

As of the census ² of 2000 , there are 2,465,326 people, 880,727households, and 583,922 families residing in the County. The population density is 13,480.6/km² (34,916.6/mi²). There are 930,866 housing units at an average densityof 5,090.1/km² (13,183.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the County is 41.20% White , 36.44% Black or African American , 0.41% Native American , 7.54% Asian , 0.06% Pacific Islander , 10.08% from other races , and 4.27% from two or more races. 19.79% of the populationare Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 880,727 households out of which 33.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.6% are married couplesliving together, 22.3% have a female householder with no husband present, and 33.7% are non-families. 27.8% of all households aremade up of individuals and 9.8% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.75 andthe average family size is 3.41.

In the County the population is spread out with 26.9% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 20.6%from 45 to 64, and 11.5% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 33 years. For every 100 females there are 88.4males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 83.1 males.

The median income for a household in the County is $32,135, and the median income for a family is $36,188. Males have a medianincome of $34,317 versus $30,516 for females. The per capita income for the County is $16,775. 25.1% of the population and 22.0%of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 34.0% are under the age of 18 and 21.5% are 65or older.

Cultural destinations in Brooklyn

• Brooklyn Museum
• Brooklyn Academy of Music

Parks and historic sites

• Prospect Park
• Prospect ParkZoo
• Brooklyn Botanic Garden
• Brooklyn Bridge
• Grand Army Plaza
• Atlantic Avenue Tunnel (closed)
• Old Stone House
• New YorkAquarium
• Fort HamiltonMuseum
• Fort Greene Park
• Plymouth Church
• Green-Wood Cemetery
• BrooklynBorough Hall

Sports and Recreation

Baseball

Brooklyn has been a hotbed of baseball going back to the sport's infancy. A boxscore from October 21 , 1845 , lists a gamebetween the New York Base Ball Club and "Brooklyn Players". The New York Base Ball Club was one of the first to play under rulescodified by Alexander Cartwright .

With the advent of professional baseball in 1871 , Brooklyn hosted three teams in thefirst pro league, the National Association : the New York Mutuals , the Brooklyn Eckfords , and the Brooklyn Atlantics .All three played at Union Grounds in Williamsburg. The Mutuals also used the field in 1876 ,the first year of the new National League ; so did the Hartfords of Brooklyn in 1877 .

Brooklyn's most famous team, the Dodgers , got its start in1884 in the American Association ,calling themselves the Bridegrooms and playing at the first of three venues called Washington Park. The team moved to theNational League in 1890 and relocated to Ebbets Field in 1913 . In the years prior to 1932, they were also knownas the Superbas and the Robins, the last an informal name taken from their manager, Wilbert Robinson . The Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, California , after the 1957 season.

In addition, the Brooklyn Wonders of the Players League in 1890 andthe Brook-Feds of the Federal League in 1914 and 1915 called the borough home.

After a 43-year hiatus, baseball returned to the borough in the form of the Brooklyn Cyclones , a minor league team that began playing on Coney Island in 2001 . The Cyclones is a farm team for the New York Mets Major League Baseball team.

Football

Several professional football teams have called Brooklyn home,including two in 1926 . The Brooklyn Horsemen of the original American Football League and the BrooklynLions of the National Football League competedfor a time before merging in November and folding at season's end.

In 1930 , the Brooklyn Dodgers began play at Ebbets Field. The team lasted until 1944 , calling themselves the Brooklyn Tigers that last season but going winless and leaving the NFL.

The second AFL also had a Brooklyn Tigers club in 1936 ; it played seven games beforefolding.

In 1946 , the new All-America Football Conference had yet another Brooklyn Dodgers team. This club lasteduntil 1948 , after which it merged with the New York Yankees football team.

Finally, there was an independent minor league team called the Brooklyn Dodgers in the Continental Football League in 1966 . They played a 14-game schedule and then folded as well.

Hockey

The Brooklyn Americans played one season in the National Hockey League , in 1941 - 1942 . They had been the New York Americans from 1925 to 1941. However, they were neverreally a Brooklyn team; their home ice the whole time was Madison Square Garden in Manhattan . The teamdisbanded after the one season using the Brooklyn name.

Basketball

On January 23 , 2004 , developer Bruce Ratner announced that hehad purchased the New Jersey Nets of the National Basketball Association . He plays tomove the Nets to a new, 20,000-seat arena as part of a development called Brooklyn Atlantic Yards at Flatbush andAtlantic Avenues.

Brooklyn based organizations

• Brooklyn Historic RailwayAssociation
• Brooklyn Historical Society
• Brooklyn Public Library
• Brooklyn Children's Museum
• New YorkTransit Museum

Neighborhoods of Brooklyn

As stated above, before Brooklyn became the city (or borough) that we know today it was a collection of towns. Many of thesetown names remain the names of some neighorhoods in Brooklyn. See: List of Brooklyn, New York neighborhoods

External links

• The official web site of theBrooklyn Borough President
• The Brooklyn Eagle, 1842-1901 (from the Brooklyn Public Library)
• Brooklyn Statistics from the Brooklyn Economic Development Council.
• Brooklynx : Information and Culture
• Brooklyn Live Work , protecting the rights of live/work tenants in Brooklynand beyond.
• Fort Greene ParkConservancy
• NYC MTA Transit Bus Map of Brooklyn ( pdf file)