Brooklyn Heights is an upper middle class residential 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 Brooklyn Community Board 2.
Brooklyn Heights stretches from Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge south to Atlantic Avenue and from the East River east to Court Street and Cadman Plaza. Adjacent neighborhoods are: Dumbo, Downtown Brooklyn, Cobble Hill and Boerum Hill. It is directly across the East River from Manhattan, and easily accessible to Downtown and multiple subway lines.
The neighborhood is largely composed of block after block of picturesque rowhouses and a few mansions. A great range of architectural styles is represented, including a few Federal-style houses from the early 19th century in the northern part of the neighborhood, brick Greek Revival and Gothic Revival houses, and Italianate brownstones. A number of houses, particularly along Pierrepont Street and Pierrepont Place are authentic mansions. Brooklyn Heights was the first neighborhood protected by the 1965 Landmarks Preservation Law of New York City.
The Promenade, cantilevered over the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE), is a favorite spot among locals, offering magnificent vistas of the Statue of Liberty, the Manhattan skyline across the East River, as well as views of the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, and spectacular fireworks displays over the East River. Robert Moses originally proposed to build the BQE through the heart of Brooklyn Heights. Opposition to this plan led to the re-routing of the expressway to the side of the bluff, allowing creation of the Promenade. The full story of the promenade’s creation is chronicled by Henrik Krogius in his book “The Brooklyn Heights Promenade.” It is a popular tourist destination, a fine termination point, with its spectacular views, after a breath-taking walk over the Brooklyn Bridge.
By the mid-1950s a new generation of property owners began moving into the Heights. They pioneered the so-called Brownstone Revival by buying and renovating pre-civil war period houses. The new population and their consolidated opposition to a Robert Moses slum clearance plan for luxury rental housing led to the development of a major middle income cooperative known as Cadman Plaza. In addition, the details of this transformative and contentious period are described in the 48-page illustrated book “Battling for Brooklyn Heights/New York’s First Historic District” which is available on the website of the Brooklyn Historical Society.
The concentration of over 600 pre-Civil War houses, one of the largest ensembles of such housing in the nation, and the human scale of the three, four- and five-story buildings creates an especially neighborly atmosphere. Brooklyn Heights has very few high-rise buildings. Among these buildings are 75 Livingston Street, Hotel St. George, and the Concord Village co-op development on Adams Street (though that is considered Downtown Brooklyn by some).
