Prospect Heights, Brooklyn: Difference between revisions
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*[[Emanuel Weiss]], member of the [[American Mafia|Mafia]] [[Death squad|hit squad]] [[Murder, Inc.]] during the 1930s. Lived at Park Place. |
*[[Emanuel Weiss]], member of the [[American Mafia|Mafia]] [[Death squad|hit squad]] [[Murder, Inc.]] during the 1930s. Lived at Park Place. |
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*[[Matt Berninger]], lead singer and lyricist for [[The National (band)|The National]] |
*[[Matt Berninger]], lead singer and lyricist for [[The National (band)|The National]] |
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*[[Tobias Wilner]], lead singer and lyricist for the band[[Blue Foundation|Blue Foundation]] |
*[[Tobias Wilner]], lead singer and lyricist for the band [[Blue Foundation|Blue Foundation]] |
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*[[Matt Bomer]], leading actor on the show [[White Collar (TV series)|White Collar]]. |
*[[Matt Bomer]], leading actor on the show [[White Collar (TV series)|White Collar]]. |
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*[[Barbara Barrie]], stage and television actress, Stephen Sondheim's [[Company (musical)|Company]]. Current resident. |
*[[Barbara Barrie]], stage and television actress, Stephen Sondheim's [[Company (musical)|Company]]. Current resident. |
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Revision as of 05:15, 24 January 2012
40°40′40″N 73°58′10″W / 40.67778°N 73.96944°W
Prospect Heights is a neighborhood in the northwest of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The traditional boundaries are Flatbush Avenue to the west, Atlantic Avenue to the north, Eastern Parkway to the south, and Washington Avenue to the east.[1][2][3][4][5] In the northern section of Prospect Heights are the Vanderbilt Railyards, which could become part of the massive and controversial Atlantic Yards project.
Compared to other Brooklyn neighborhoods, Prospect Heights is relatively small and is notable for its cultural diversity as well as its tree-lined streets. Prospect Heights has seen rapid demographic changes over the last decade, and its shifts are exemplified by a mixture of older buildings under reconstruction, rows of classic 1890s brownstones, and newly built luxury condominiums. The neighborhood is served by the New York Police Department's 77th Precinct.[6]
Geography
Along the southern boundary, Eastern Parkway, from Grand Army Plaza to Washington Avenue is reminiscent of Manhattan's Fifth Avenue "Museum Mile". Immense, opulent buildings line the north side of the parkway, and the south side features the Brooklyn Public Library, Mount Prospect Park (not to be confused with Prospect Park), the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the recently renovated Brooklyn Museum. To its north lies Fort Greene, to the south, Prospect Park, to its west, Park Slope and to its east, Crown Heights.
The interior portion of the neighborhood consists mostly of brownstone-style residential rowhouse buildings, some built as early as 1890, although some blocks, such as Lincoln and St. Johns Place between Underhill and Washington Avenues, include larger multi-unit apartment buildings. A number of new condominium complexes are under construction in many parts of the neighborhood.
Defunct bakeries and factory spaces line Pacific Street from Vanderbilt Avenue to Carlton Avenue, and some have recently been renovated and converted into lofts; still others have recently been purchased by developer Bruce Ratner in anticipation of his Atlantic Yards Project. Recently, a number of these have begun to be demolished.
Ratner's company Forest City Ratner has planned a controversial development on top of the neighborhood, the plans for which would include a basketball arena and luxury housing. An upscale, glass high-rise residential building designed by the architect Richard Meier and located off of Grand Army Plaza was completed in 2008.
As demand for housing within Prospect Heights increased, some residents of Crown Heights came to consider Franklin Avenue the western border with Prospect Heights rather than Washington Avenue.[7] However, most residents continue to consider Washington Ave the border,[8] and Washington Ave remains the eastern border of Prospect Heights as recognized by major New York City media such as The New York Times, The New York Post and the Wall Street Journal.[2][3][9][10]
The name "Prospect Heights" can be traced as far back as 1889 to a letter to the editor published in the Brooklyn Eagle, although at that time it was one of several potential names for the neighborhood that has since come to be known as Park Slope. The letter began by noting that it was "amusing to see the attempts made to fix upon a name for the rapidly growing part of Brooklyn near Prospect Park, bounded by Flatbush, Fifth and Ninth avenues, Some call it Park Slope, some Park Hill Side, some Prospect Heights and others Prospect Hill..."[11] Additionally, Prospect Heights once shared the name "Gowanus Heights" with Prospect Park, Greenwood and Bay Ridge.[12]
Culture and architecture
A widely diverse ethnic neighborhood in the 1910s through the 1950s, consisting of Italian, Irish, Jewish, German, Greek and Yankee residents, among others, Prospect Heights is currently well known for its mixed black and white culture. Every year the West Indian Day Parade, the largest annual parade in New York City, follows Eastern Parkway, beginning in Crown Heights and ending at Grand Army Plaza in Prospect Heights. During the last thirty years, the neighborhood has seen an influx of new residents, more frequently young and white than in the recent past, perhaps due to its having had slightly lower real estate prices than neighboring Park Slope. A thriving commercial zone has emerged along Vanderbilt Avenue and Washington Avenue, which in just the last few years has been the location for new bars, restaurants and specialty shops, including New York's first steampunk bar, boutique wine shop and restaurant opened by Michelin-starred chef.
Because of the area's density of Italianate and Neo-Grec rowhouses, much of the neighborhood has been designated as a New York City historic district. The Prospect Heights Historic District covers an area roughly bounded by Flatbush Avenue, Sterling Place, Washington Avenue, and St. Marks Avenue, though a section of the historic district extends as far north as Pacific Street.[13] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.[14] The district was designated by the city Landmarks Preservation Commission on June 23, 2009, and approved by the New York City Council on September 17, 2009. It is the fifth largest historic district in New York City.
Current controversy over development
Recently, controversy has erupted in the neighborhood over a massive development project proposed by developer Bruce Ratner and designed by the architect Frank Gehry for the portion of the neighborhood known as Atlantic Yards. It seeks to construct an arena which would house the Brooklyn Nets basketball team and an undetermined amount of housing and commercial space, including a cluster of high-rise buildings that would tower over most of the borough's existing low-rise architecture.
A number of community groups oppose the project, claiming, among other things, that it abuses the principles of eminent domain. They further argue that the development will change the character of the neighborhood by introducing out-of-scale architecture and increased traffic to an already very congested intersection. Community groups also dispute Ratner's suggestions that residents meaningfully participated in the development of a Community Benefit Agreement.
Supporters of the project believe in its potential for reinvigorating what is now an unused, unattractive space.
It is also favored by local unions for its potential to create construction jobs during and after its development. Residents of Prospect Heights have been leaders in opposing the project, and block associations have been uniformly active in raising funds to support the grassroots resistance to the project.
The controversy over the project and its impact on the neighborhood was a major factor in the decision to turn much of Prospect Heights into a landmark district.
Notable residents, past and current
- Clara Bow, actress, born July 29, 1905 at 697 Bergen Street. Lived at at least dozen different addresses at the Heights as she grew up. Last known address; 9 Prospect Place, 1923.[15]
- Montego Glover, leading actress of 2010 Tony's Award Best Musical "Memphis"
- MC Frontalot, Founding Father of Nerdcore
- Foxy Brown, rapper. Born Inga Marchand, continues to live in the neighborhood as of 2007.
- Tillamook Cheddar (dog), canine "artist."
- Aaron Copland, composer, grew up above the family furniture store on Washington Avenue.
- Joan Rivers, comedienne. Her father was a doctor and they used to live on Eastern Parkway.
- Mark Rudd, leader in the 1960s Weather Underground and Columbia University's 1968 protests. When he lived "underground" in the early 1970s, it was in one of the large apartment buildings on Plaza Street.
- Isa Chandra Moskowitz vegan chef, cookbook writer, and host of "The Post Punk Kitchen", which is filmed in Prospect Heights
- Keith Gessen co-editor-in-chief of n+1, novelist
- Emanuel Weiss, member of the Mafia hit squad Murder, Inc. during the 1930s. Lived at Park Place.
- Matt Berninger, lead singer and lyricist for The National
- Tobias Wilner, lead singer and lyricist for the band Blue Foundation
- Matt Bomer, leading actor on the show White Collar.
- Barbara Barrie, stage and television actress, Stephen Sondheim's Company. Current resident.
Aaron Copland, Clara Bow and Howard Cosell, all went to the old Public School 9 at the corner of Sterling and Vanderbilt.
References
- ^ Article on Prospect Heights by Judith Berck in The Encyclopedia of New York City, edited by Kenneth T. Jackson, Yale University Press and the New York Historical Society, New Haven, Connecticut, 1995, ISBN 0-300-05536-6. The Encyclopedia names Washington Ave. the Eastern border.
- ^ a b Plambeck, Joseph (2011-04-14). "Tucked Between Past and Future in Brooklyn". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-04-19.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) Cite error: The named reference "evennewerborderarticle" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page). - ^ a b Dykstra, Katherine (2009-10-15). "In the Heights; Prospect Heights could be the next Cobble Hill". The New York Post. Retrieved 2009-10-15.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Mooney, Jake (2010-06-16). "Living In-Crown Heights, Brooklyn". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ De Avila, Joseph (2010-12-11). "Prospect Heights: Slope Appeal With Edge". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2010=12=16.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ 77th Precinct, NYPD
- ^ Siwilop, Sana (2004-09-19). "LIVING IN/Crown Heights; Casting an Eye Toward Brooklyn's 'Hidden Jewel'". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ http://nostrandpark.com/2010/09/15/crown-heights-borders-and-boundaries-the-results/.
{{cite news}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Mooney, Jake (2010-06-16). "Living In-Crown Heights, Brooklyn". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ De Avila, Joseph (2010-12-11). "Prospect Heights: Slope Appeal With Edge". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "Slope, Heights or Hill". Brooklyn Eagle. March 17, 1889. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters:|trans_title=,|month=, and|coauthors=(help) - ^ Higgins, Charles Michael (1916). Brooklyn and Gowanus in History: The Battle of Long Island, August 27, 1776. Brooklyn Eagle Press. p. 6. Retrieved 2011-12-20.
- ^ Prospect Heights Historic District | phndc.org
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ Stenn, David (1988). Clara Bow:Runnin' Wild. Doubleday. p. 322. ISBN 0385241259.
