Brooklyn

Geography

Brooklyn shares Long Island with Queens to the northeast, and is surrounded by water on three sides.  The borough has a total land area of about 71 square miles. Brooklyn’s southern coast includes Coney Island, Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach.

Demographics

• 2.5 million residents, or 35,000 people per square mile
• About 33% of households have children, 38% are married couples.
• Nearly 27% of residents are under 18
• 10% are 18 to 24
• 31% are 25 to 44
• 21% are 45 to 64
• 11% are 65+
• The median age is 33
• median income is $32,135 and per capita income is $16,775.
• 22% of the population lives below the poverty line
• 41% White
• 20% Hispanic of any race
• 36% Black
• Brooklyn is incredibly diverse, with people of all races and nationalities.

Culture

Brooklyn has caught the imagination of dozens of writers, from Walt Whitman to Eulalie Spence to Arthur Miller.  Park Slope is home to many writers today.  It has also been featured in dozens of movies such as, Saturday Night Fever and several Spike Lee films.  Brooklyn has a thriving art community, including the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Brooklyn Historical Society, and the BRIC Rotunda Gallery.

Brooklyn was the home of baseball’s Brooklyn Dodgers from 1883 to 1957, having left for Los Angeles only two years after their world series win against rival New York Yankees.  In 1947 Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play Major League Baseball for the Dodgers.  Brooklyn currently hosts minor league baseball’s Brooklyn Cyclones and minor league soccer’s Brooklyn Knights.

History

Brooklyn was colonized by the Dutch, beginning in 1634.  It became British territory in 1664, and part of the Province of New York in 1683.  In the early 1800s, urban centers grew dramatically along the East River and expanded southward.  The Brighton Beach line of the New York Subway system opened in 1878.  By 1896 Brooklyn had annexed all of Kings County, forming its present day boundaries.  The Brooklyn Bridge was completed in 1883.  Brooklyn voted to become one of New York’s boroughs in 1898.