Boerum Hill
Encyclopedia
Boerum Hill is a small neighborhood in the northwestern portion of the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
borough
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
that occupies 36 blocks bounded by State Street to the north, 4th Avenue to the east, Smith Street to the west, and Warren Street to the south. Commercial strips line Smith Street
Smith Street
Smith Street is a road which may refer to*Smith Street Motorway, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia*Smith Street, Melbourne, Australia*Smith Street, Darwin, Australia*Smith Street, Singapore*Smith Street, Pennsylvania, United States of America...
and Atlantic Avenue
Atlantic Avenue (New York City)
Atlantic Avenue is an important street in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. It stretches from the Brooklyn waterfront on the East River all the way to Jamaica, Queens...
. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community District 2, served by Brooklyn Community Board 2
Brooklyn Community Board 2
Brooklyn Community Board 2 is a local governmental body in the New York City borough of Brooklyn that encompasses the neighborhoods of Downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO, Vinegar Hill, Fulton Mall, Boerum Hill, Fort Greene, Brooklyn Navy Yard, Fulton Ferry, and Clinton Hill...
. The Brooklyn High School of the Arts
Brooklyn High School of the Arts
Brooklyn High School of the Arts, is a New York City Public High School located in Boerum Hill in Brooklyn. It was the first and, the only high school in the United States to offer a major in Historic Preservation, otherwise known as Preservation Arts...
is located in the neighborhood on Dean Street and 3rd Avenue. The neighborhood is served by the NYPD's 84th Precinct.
History
Boerum Hill is named for the colonial farm of the Boerum family, which occupied most of the area during early European-American settlement. Most of the housing consists of three-story row houses built between 1840 and 1870. In the early twentieth century, many of the buildings were run as boarding houses. Nearby was the union hall for ironworkers, attracted to the city to work on bridges and skyscrapers. The population today is middle and upper-middle class. Despite the name, this area, formerly "North Gowanus" and built on landfill in the former Gowanus SwampGowanus Canal
The Gowanus Canal, also known as the Gowanus Creek Canal, is a canal in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, geographically on the westernmost portion of Long Island...
, is of lower elevation than most nearby land.
In the 1950s, all the neighborhoods south of Atlantic Avenue and west of Hoyt Street were called South Brooklyn
South Brooklyn
South Brooklyn is a region or composite neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, encompassing areas of Cobble Hill, Red Hook, Gowanus, Park Slope, and Boerum Hill. Thus it is roughly encompassed by Brooklyn Community Board 6, which in turn approximates the southern half of the 18th...
. The area derived its name from being south of the original town of Brooklyn
History of Brooklyn
The history of Brooklyn, a present-day borough of New York City, spans more than 350 years. The settlement began in the 17th century as the small Dutch-founded town of "Breuckelen" on the East River shore of Long Island, grew to be a sizable city in the 19th century, and was consolidated in 1898...
(now Brooklyn Heights
Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn
Brooklyn Heights is a culturally diverse neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Originally referred to as 'Brooklyn Village', it has been a prominent area of Brooklyn since 1834. As of 2000, Brooklyn Heights sustained a population of 22,594 people. The neighborhood is part of...
) settled by the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
The north end of Smith Street was the center of New York City's Mohawk
Mohawk nation
Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...
community, who came mostly from Akwesasne
Akwesasne
The Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne is a Mohawk Nation territory that straddles the intersection of international and provincial borders on both banks of the Saint Lawrence River. Most of the land is in what is otherwise the United States...
and Kahnawake, Mohawk reserves in Quebec, Canada. (Akewesasne straddles the boundary of New York and Canada.) Many of the Mohawk men were ironworkers. The women worked at a variety of jobs and created the community for their families. For 50 years, the Mohawk families called their neighborhood "Little Caughnawaga," after the homeland of Kahnawake.
The Brooklyn House of Detention for Men is located at Boerum Place (Adams Street and Atlantic Avenue). Constructed in 1957, it was closed in 2003 and used only as a holding area, because of the need for renovations of the outdated facility, a city effort to revitalize retail and other uses in the area, and community concerns. In 2008 the city re-opened the facility amid controversy over future uses, to allow the beginning of work to upgrade it. The city plans expansion and renovation of the facility to allow the demolition of outdated facilities at Riker's Island.
The neighborhood also includes NYCHA-run housing, the Gowanus Houses, constructed in 1949, and Wyckoff Gardens, completed in 1966. Gowanus Houses includes 14 buildings, of 4-, 6-, 9-, 13 and 14-stories high. Wyckoff Gardens has three tall, multi-story buildings. During the early twentieth century, some of the Boerum Hill area was developed into light-industrial spaces. With increasing gentrification, a variety of retail stores and restaurants have opened in the area along the commercial streets.
The neighborhood has been featured in several contemporary creative works. It is the setting of Spike Lee
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....
's movie, Clockers (1995), which was filmed in the Gowanus Houses. It is also featured in two of Jonathan Lethem
Jonathan Lethem
Jonathan Allen Lethem is an American novelist, essayist and short story writer. His first novel, Gun, with Occasional Music, a genre work that mixed elements of science fiction and detective fiction, was published in 1994. It was followed by three more science fiction novels...
's books: Motherless Brooklyn
Motherless Brooklyn
Motherless Brooklyn is a Jonathan Lethem detective story set in Brooklyn and published in 1999. Lethem's protagonist, Lionel Essrog, has Tourette syndrome, a disorder marked by involuntary tics...
(1999), a crime mystery set on Bergen Street between Smith and Hoyt streets, and The Fortress of Solitude
The Fortress of Solitude (novel)
The Fortress of Solitude is a 2003 semi-autobiographical novel by Jonathan Lethem set in Brooklyn and spanning the 1970s, '80s, and '90s. It follows two teenage friends, Dylan Ebdus and Mingus Rude, one white and one black, who discover a magic ring...
(2002), set primarily on one block in Boerum Hill (Dean Street between Nevins and Bond streets). In the latter novel, Lethem suggests that the neighborhood was renamed from North Gowanus in the wake of gentrification
Gentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
beginning in the early 1970s, the period for his lead characters' childhoods.
It is unclear whether this is accurate; a 2003 profile of the community The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
confirms it, but a 2005 article in the "Close Up On" column disputes the renaming story.
The Boerum Hill Historic District
Boerum Hill Historic District
Boerum Hill Historic District is a national historic district in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, New York, New York. It consists of 238 contributing residential rowhouses and a few commercial buildings built between 1845 and 1890...
was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1983.
Culture and the arts
Boerum Hill is known for its independent boutiques, restaurants and rows of brownstones. Boerum Hill is considered to be the home of many "hipsters" and artists, who own art galleries in the neighborhood, including the "invisible dog" exhibition. Boerum Hill is home to many young families, and bikingCycling in New York City
New York City offers a mix of favorable cycling conditions — dense urban proximities, short distances and relatively flat terrain — along with significant cycling challenges: congested roadways with stop and go traffic, a sometimes unsympathetic regulatory environment, and streets with...
is popular in the neighborhood and nearby Prospect Park
Prospect Park
Prospect Park may refer to:* Prospect Park , a park in Brooklyn, New York, United States* Prospect Park , a park in Troy, New York, United States...
.
Notable natives and residents
- Richard Brown Lethem, avant-garde artist, lived in a commune in pre-gentrified North Gowanus with his wife Judith, son Jonathan Lethem and two younger children
- Jonathan LethemJonathan LethemJonathan Allen Lethem is an American novelist, essayist and short story writer. His first novel, Gun, with Occasional Music, a genre work that mixed elements of science fiction and detective fiction, was published in 1994. It was followed by three more science fiction novels...
, writer, lived here as a child - Heath LedgerHeath LedgerHeath Andrew Ledger was an Australian television and film actor. After performing roles in Australian television and film during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to develop his film career...
, actor - Michelle WilliamsMichelle Williams (actress)Michelle Ingrid Williams is an American actress. After starting her career with television guest appearances in the early 1990s, Williams achieved recognition for her role as Jen Lindley on the WB television teen drama Dawson's Creek, which she played from 1998 to 2003...
, actress - Sandra OhSandra OhSandra Oh is a Canadian actress. She is best known for the role of Dr. Cristina Yang on ABC's Grey's Anatomy, for which she has won a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award. She also played notable roles in the feature films Under the Tuscan Sun and Sideways, and had a supporting role on the...
, actress - Keri RussellKeri RussellKeri Lynn Russell is an American actress and dancer. After appearing in a number of made-for-television films and series during the mid-1990s, she came to fame for portraying the title role of Felicity Porter on the series Felicity, which ran from 1998 to 2002, and for which she won a Golden Globe...
, actress
| Northwest: Brooklyn Heights | North: Downtown Brooklyn Downtown Brooklyn Downtown Brooklyn is the third largest central business district in New York City , and is located in the northwestern section of the borough of Brooklyn... | Northeast: Fort Greene Fort Greene, Brooklyn Fort Greene is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Part of Brooklyn Community Board 2, Fort Greene is listed on the New York State Registry and on the National Register of Historic Places, and is a New York City-designated Historic District... |
| West: Cobble Hill Cobble Hill, Brooklyn Cobble Hill is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, USA. Bordered by Atlantic Avenue on the north, Hicks Street to the west, Smith Street on the east and Degraw Street to the south, Cobble Hill sits adjacent to Boerum Hill and Brooklyn Heights with Carroll Gardens to the south... | Boerum Hill | East: Prospect Heights Prospect Heights, Brooklyn 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... |
| Southwest: Carroll Gardens Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn Carroll Gardens is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, USA. The area is named for Charles Carroll, a revolutionary war veteran who was also the only Roman Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence... | South: Gowanus | Southeast: Park Slope Park Slope, Brooklyn Park Slope is a neighborhood in western Brooklyn, New York City's most populous borough. Park Slope is roughly bounded by Prospect Park West to the east, Fourth Avenue to the west, Flatbush Avenue to the north, and 15th Street to the south, though other definitions are sometimes offered. Generally... |
External links
- Boerum Hill Association
- Article about Reaghan Tarbell, To Brooklyn and Back: A Mohawk Journey, PBS, 2 November 2009, documentary about Kahnawake Mohawk families in Brooklyn