Brooklyn is the most populous of the five boroughs in New York City. It is located in Kings County, which is part of the U.S. state of New York. Brooklyn is at the western end of Long Island and was once an independent city. It shares a land border with Queens, another borough and county. Brooklyn connects to Manhattan across the East River through several bridges and tunnels, including the Brooklyn Bridge, which is known for its design. It also connects to Staten Island via the Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge.

As Kings County, Brooklyn has a population density of about 37,340 people per square mile, making it the second most densely populated county in the U.S. after Manhattan (New York County). It is also the most populous county in New York state. In the 2020 census, Brooklyn had a population of 2,736,074. If Brooklyn had remained an independent city, it would now be the fourth most populous city in the United States, after New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Kings County covers 69.38 square miles of land and 27.48 square miles of water. It is one of the original counties established in 1683 under British rule in the province of New York. Kings County is the fourth smallest county in New York by land area and the third smallest by total area.

Brooklyn was named after the Dutch town of Breukelen in the Netherlands. It was founded by the Dutch in the 17th century and became a busy port city on New York Harbor by the 19th century. On January 1, 1898, Brooklyn was joined with other areas to form the current five-borough structure of New York City, following a new city charter. This decision followed a long political campaign and public relations efforts, despite some residents’ opposition. Brooklyn continues to have a unique culture, with many neighborhoods serving as ethnic enclaves. Jews make up about one-fifth of Brooklyn’s population, and the borough is considered a major global center for Jewish culture. Brooklyn’s official motto, "Een Draght Mackt Maght," means "In unity there is strength" in early modern Dutch.

Brooklyn has several educational institutions, including Brooklyn College, Medgar Evers College, and the College of Technology from the City University of New York, as well as Pratt Institute, Long Island University, and the New York University Tandon School of Engineering. In sports, the Brooklyn Nets (basketball) and New York Liberty (basketball) play at the Barclays Center. In the early 2000s, Brooklyn saw a rise in popularity among hipsters, leading to gentrification, large increases in home prices, and fewer homes being affordable. Some new developments now require affordable housing units. Since the 2010s, parts of Brooklyn have become a hub for entrepreneurship, high-tech startups, postmodern art, and design.

Toponymy

The name Brooklyn comes from the original Dutch town of Breukelen. This name is made up of two Dutch words: broeck, which means a wet, muddy area, and lede, which means a small stream of water in areas with peat. The town of Breuckelen in America was founded in 1646, and the name first appeared in writing in 1663.

For more than 2,000 years, the name of the ancient town in Holland changed many times. It was called Bracola, Broccke, Brocckede, Broiclede, Brocklandia, Broekclen, Broikelen, Breuckelen, and finally Breukelen. The New Amsterdam settlement of Breuckelen also had many different spellings, such as Breucklyn, Breuckland, Brucklyn, Broucklyn, Brookland, Brockland, Brocklin, and Brookline/Brook-line. Because there were so many different spellings, some people have guessed that Breuckelen might mean "broken land." However, the current name best shows its true meaning.

The county’s name, Kings County, was given in honor of King Charles II of England, who ruled from 1660 to 1685.

History

The history of European settlement in Brooklyn began more than 350 years ago. In the 17th century, the Dutch founded a small town called "Breuckelen" on the East River shore of Long Island. Over time, this town grew into a large city by the 19th century. In 1898, Brooklyn was combined with New York City (which at that time included only Manhattan and the Bronx), the rural areas of Kings County, and parts of Queens and Staten Island to create the modern City of New York.

The Dutch were the first Europeans to settle the western edge of Long Island, which was then home to the Lenape, an Algonquian-speaking Native American tribe often called "Canarsie" in European records. The Breuckelen settlement was named after a town in the Netherlands called Breukelen and was part of the Dutch colony of New Netherland. The Dutch West India Company created six original parishes, which were later known by their English names:

• Gravesend: founded in 1645 by English followers of Anabaptist Deborah Moody, named after a Dutch town or an English location.
• Brooklyn Heights: chartered as Breuckelen in 1646, named after the Dutch town Breukelen. This area became the village of Brooklyn in 1816.
• Flatlands: chartered as Nieuw Amersfoort in 1647.
• Flatbush: chartered as Midwout in 1652.
• Nieuw Utrecht: chartered in 1652, named after the Dutch city of Utrecht.
• Bushwick: chartered as Boswijck in 1661.

New Amsterdam, the capital of New Netherland across the East River, received its charter in 1653. The Marine Park area once had North America’s first tide mill, built by the Dutch. This structure’s foundation can still be seen today. However, the area was not officially settled as a town. Many records from this time are in Gabriel Furman’s 1824 collection.

Brooklyn became part of England after the 1664 conquest of New Netherland, which led to the Second Anglo-Dutch War. The English renamed the area after James, Duke of York, who later became King James II. Brooklyn was then part of the West Riding of York Shire in the Province of New York, one of the Middle Colonies.

On November 1, 1683, Kings County was separated from the West Riding of York Shire. This area, which included six Dutch towns on Long Island, became one of the "original twelve counties" and was recognized as a political entity for the first time.

Unlike areas along the Hudson River Valley, Kings County had a high percentage of enslaved people among its population in the "Original Thirteen Colonies."

On August 27, 1776, the Battle of Long Island (also called the Battle of Brooklyn) took place. This was the first major battle of the American Revolutionary War and the largest battle of the war. British forces forced General George Washington’s Continental Army to retreat from areas near Green-Wood Cemetery, Prospect Park, and Grand Army Plaza.

Washington reportedly said, "What brave men I must this day lose!" after witnessing intense fighting near the Gowanus Creek and Old Stone House. The American positions at Brooklyn Heights became too dangerous, and Washington’s troops evacuated across the East River in a single night. This move is now considered one of his greatest military successes.

The British controlled the region for the rest of the war, as New York City became their base of operations. Many residents fled or supported the British, while others helped the Patriot cause. The British also used Wallabout Bay near Brooklyn to hold American prisoners of war on prison ships, where more soldiers died than in all battlefield fights combined. The Treaty of Paris in 1783 led to the British leaving New York City, an event celebrated by New Yorkers for many years.

In the early 1800s, urban areas began to develop along the East River in Kings County, facing New York City, which was then limited to Manhattan. The New York Navy Yard operated in Wallabout Bay during the 19th and 20th centuries.

The first urban center in Brooklyn was the Town of Brooklyn, directly across from Lower Manhattan. The Village of Brooklyn was incorporated in 1816. Steam ferry service to Fulton Landing made Brooklyn Heights a commuter town for Wall Street workers. In 1834, the town and village merged to form the first version of the City of Brooklyn.

Meanwhile, the Town of Bushwick saw the incorporation of the Village of Williamsburgh in 1827. This village became a separate town in 1840 and briefly formed the City of Williamsburgh in 1851. As industries moved north, Williamsburgh and Bushwick were later absorbed into Brooklyn in 1855.

By 1841, Brooklyn had its own newspaper, The Brooklyn Eagle, published by Alfred G. Stevens. The paper later became the most popular afternoon newspaper in America. It was renamed The Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1846 and shortened to Brooklyn Eagle in 1938. The newspaper helped Brooklyn develop its own identity. The Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team also contributed to this identity. Both the newspaper and the team ended in the 1950s: the paper closed in 1955, and the team moved to Los Angeles in 1958.

Geography

Brooklyn covers an area of 97 square miles (250 km²), with 71 square miles (180 km²) being land (73%) and 26 square miles (67 km²) being water (27%). It is the second-largest borough in New York City by land area. Kings County, which shares the same boundaries as Brooklyn, is the fourth-smallest county in New York State by land area and the third-smallest by total area. Brooklyn is located at the southwestern end of Long Island, and its western border marks the westernmost point of the island.

Brooklyn has many water borders, including Jamaica Bay, the Atlantic Ocean, The Narrows (which separates Brooklyn from Staten Island and is crossed by the Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge), Upper New York Bay (which separates Brooklyn from Jersey City and Bayonne, New Jersey), and the East River (which separates Brooklyn from Manhattan and is crossed by the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge, and subway routes). To the east of Brooklyn is Queens, which includes John F. Kennedy International Airport in its Jamaica neighborhood, about two miles from Brooklyn’s East New York neighborhood.

Brooklyn has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa), influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and partially protected by the Appalachian Mountains. It receives about 50 inches (1,300 mm) of rain each year. On average, Brooklyn has 234 days with some sunshine annually, with 57% of possible sunshine, totaling 2,535 hours of sunlight per year. Brooklyn is in USDA plant hardiness zone 7b.

Neighborhoods

Brooklyn’s neighborhoods have changed over time in terms of the people who live there. For example, in the early to mid-20th century, Brownsville had mostly Jewish residents, but since the 1970s, it has mostly African American residents. Midwood had mostly Irish people in the early 20th century, then mostly Jewish people for nearly 50 years, and now it is slowly becoming a place where many people from Pakistan live. The largest racial group in Brooklyn, white people, decreased from 97.2% in 1930 to 46.9% by 1990.

Brooklyn has attracted people who previously lived in other cities in the United States, including Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, Cincinnati, and Seattle.

Because New York City is a place where people from around the world come to live, Brooklyn has become a place with many different cultures, religions, and backgrounds. In 2010, 51.6% of Brooklyn’s population was part of religious groups. In 2014, there were 914 religious organizations in Brooklyn, the 10th most in the country. Brooklyn has many neighborhoods that represent different groups found in New York City. Some of the most notable groups include:

Over 600,000 Jews, especially Orthodox and Hasidic Jews, live in areas like Borough Park, Williamsburg, and Midwood. These neighborhoods have many Jewish schools, synagogues, and restaurants that follow Jewish dietary laws, as well as Jewish-owned businesses. Near Borough Park, the Kensington area once had many Conservative Jews, but many of their old buildings are now used by the Hasidic community in Borough Park. Other Jewish neighborhoods with long histories include Canarsie, Sea Gate, and Crown Heights, where the Chabad headquarters is located. Areas like central Flatbush, East Flatbush, Brownsville, East New York, Bensonhurst, and Sheepshead Bay had large Jewish populations in the past, though many of these groups are no longer as large. Many hospitals in Brooklyn, such as Maimonides Medical Center in Borough Park and Brookdale Hospital in East Flatbush, were started by Jewish organizations.

According to a 2020 study, Brooklyn had over 480,000 Jews. In 2023, an estimate said there were 462,000 Jews in Brooklyn, which is fewer than the 561,000 estimated in 2011.

For many years, the Crown Heights-based Madison Democratic Club was the main political meeting place in Brooklyn. However, in the 1960s and 1970s, the Canarsie-based Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club became more influential. These groups helped important people like Irwin Steingut, Stanley Steingut, Abraham Beame, Fred Trump, Beadie Markowitz, and Abraham "Bunny" Lindenbaum rise in politics.

Many non-Orthodox Jews, including those who follow other Jewish traditions or have no religious beliefs, live in neighborhoods like Ditmas Park and Park Slope. Smaller Jewish communities can also be found in Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Brighton Beach, and Coney Island.

Over 200,000 Chinese Americans live in southern Brooklyn, especially in areas like Sunset Park, Bensonhurst, Gravesend, and Homecrest. Brooklyn has more Chinatowns than any other borough in New York City. The largest Chinatown is in Sunset Park along 8th Avenue, which became known for its Chinese culture after a supermarket opened there in 1986. In the late 1980s and 1990s, most Chinese people in the area spoke Cantonese, but since the 2000s, the population has shifted to mostly Fuzhounese Americans. This change led to the area being called "Brooklyn's Little Fuzhou." Many Chinese restaurants are in Sunset Park, and the area holds a popular Chinese New Year celebration. In recent years, the Cantonese-speaking population has grown in Bensonhurst, Gravesend, and Homecrest, creating new Chinatowns known as "Brooklyn's Little Hong Kong/Guangdong."

Brooklyn’s African American and Caribbean communities live in many parts of the borough. West Indian communities are concentrated in Crown Heights, Flatbush, East Flatbush, Kensington, and Canarsie. Brooklyn has the largest West Indian population outside the Caribbean. The largest groups include Jamaicans, Guyanese, and Haitians, but people from many other Caribbean countries also live there. Crown Heights and Flatbush have many West Indian restaurants and bakeries. Brooklyn holds an annual Carnival celebration inspired by traditions in the Caribbean. A parade started by people from Trinidad and Tobago takes place every Labor Day on Eastern Parkway. The Brooklyn Academy of Music also hosts the DanceAfrica festival in May, which features African food and dance performances. Since the 1930s, Bedford-Stuyvesant has been home to one of the most famous African American communities in the United States. Working-class communities are still common in Brownsville, East New York, and Coney Island, while areas like Prospect Heights, Fort Greene, and Clinton Hill have seen changes due to gentrification.

After World War II, many Puerto Rican migrants moved to Brooklyn’s industrial areas, such as Sunset Park, Red Hook, and Gowanus, where they worked in shipyards and factories. After 1965, when immigration laws changed, Brooklyn’s Hispanic population became more diverse, including people from Latin America.

Bushwick is now the largest area in Brooklyn for Hispanic Americans. It has a strong Puerto Rican presence, as well as growing numbers of Dominicans, South Americans, Central Americans, and Mexicans. About 80% of Bushwick’s population is Hispanic, and many businesses support their traditions. Sunset Park has 42% Hispanic residents, including these groups. The main Hispanic groups in Brooklyn are Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Dominicans, and Ecuadorians, who live throughout the borough. Puerto Ricans and Dominicans are most common in Bushwick, Williamsburg’s South Side, and East New York. Mexicans, especially from the state of Puebla, are now the largest group in Sunset Park, along with Chinese immigrants, though Puerto Rican communities there have decreased.

Demographics

In 2020, the United States Census Bureau reported that 2,736,074 people lived in Brooklyn. Between 2010 and 2019, Brooklyn’s population was estimated to increase by 2.2%, reaching 2,559,903 people. This number represented 30.7% of New York City’s estimated population of 8,336,817 people, 33.5% of Long Island’s population of 7,701,172 people, and 13.2% of New York State’s population of 19,542,209 people. In 2020, New York City projected Brooklyn’s population to be 2,648,403 people. In 2019, there were 958,567 households in Brooklyn, with an average of 2.66 people per household. That year, there were 1,065,399 housing units, and the average rent was $1,426. According to 2019 data, Brooklyn received 9,696 new building permits.

The 2020 American Community Survey showed that Brooklyn’s population included 35.4% non-Hispanic white people, 26.7% Black or African American people, 0.9% American Indian or Alaska Native people, 13.6% Asian people, 0.1% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander people, 4.1% people of two or more races, and 18.9% Hispanic or Latin American people of any race. The 2020 census also found that 43.3% of Brooklyn’s population was white (including 35.4% non-Hispanic white), 31.9% was Black (including 26.7% non-Hispanic Black), 15.3% was Asian, 1.6% was Native American, 0.2% was Pacific Islander, 8.7% identified as two or more races, and 16.9% belonged to other races. Hispanics and Latinos made up 18.9% of Brooklyn’s population. In 2010, some neighborhoods in Brooklyn were segregated by race, ethnicity, and religion. The southwest part of Brooklyn was racially mixed but had few Black residents, while the northeast section was mostly Black and Hispanic/Latino.

Brooklyn has a high level of linguistic diversity. In 2010, 54.1% (1,240,416 people) of Brooklyn residents aged 5 and older spoke only English at home. Other languages included Spanish (17.2%, or 393,340 people), Chinese (6.5%, or 148,012 people), Russian (5.3%, or 121,607 people), Yiddish (3.5%, or 79,469 people), French Creole (2.8%, or 63,019 people), Italian (1.4%, or 31,004 people), Hebrew (1.2%, or 27,440 people), Polish (1.0%, or 23,207 people), French (1.0%, or 22,763 people), Arabic (1.0%, or 21,773 people), various Indic languages (0.9%, or 19,388 people), Urdu (0.7%, or 15,936 people), and African languages (0.5%, or 12,305 people). In total, 45.9% (1,051,456 people) of Brooklyn residents aged 5 and older spoke a language other than English at home.

Culture

Brooklyn has been important in many areas of American culture, including literature, movies, and theater. The way people from Brooklyn speak is often shown in American media as the "typical New Yorker accent," though this image is becoming less common. Brooklyn's official colors are blue and gold.

Brooklyn is home to the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, and the second-largest public art collection in the United States, which is kept at the Brooklyn Museum. The Brooklyn Museum opened in 1897 and is New York City's second-largest public art museum. It has more than 1.5 million items in its collection, including ancient Egyptian art and modern works. The Brooklyn Children's Museum, the first museum in the world made for children, opened in December 1899. It is one of the few museums in New York State recognized by the American Alliance of Museums and holds over 30,000 cultural and natural history items.

The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) includes a large opera house, a theater, and a movie theater called BAM Rose Cinemas. Nearby, in the DUMBO arts district, are Bargemusic and St. Ann's Warehouse. Brooklyn Technical High School has the second-largest auditorium in New York City (after Radio City Music Hall), with seating for more than 3,000 people.

Brooklyn has several local newspapers, including The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Bay Currents, Brooklyn View, The Brooklyn Paper, and Courier-Life Publications. Courier-Life Publications, owned by News Corporation, is Brooklyn's largest newspaper chain. Major New York newspapers, such as The New York Times, the New York Daily News, and the New York Post, also serve Brooklyn. Some older newspapers, like the Brooklyn Union and the Brooklyn Times, are no longer published.

The borough is home to the arts and politics monthly magazine Brooklyn Rail and the arts and culture quarterly Cabinet. Another magazine, Hello Mr., is also published in Brooklyn. Brooklyn Magazine is one of the few glossy magazines focused on Brooklyn. Other magazines, such as BKLYN Magazine, Brooklyn Bridge Magazine, The Brooklynite, and NRG, are no longer in print.

Brooklyn has many newspapers in different languages. El Diario La Prensa, the largest and oldest Spanish-language newspaper in the United States, has its headquarters in Downtown Brooklyn. Other major publications include The Tablet (a Catholic newspaper), Hamodia (an Orthodox Jewish newspaper), and The Jewish Press (an Orthodox Jewish weekly). Over 60 ethnic groups in New York City publish more than 300 newspapers and magazines in 42 languages. One example is L'Idea, a bilingual magazine printed in Italian and English since 1974. Some international newspapers, like The Daily Gleaner and The Star of Jamaica, are also available in Brooklyn. Our Time Press, published weekly by DBG Media, covers Brooklyn with the motto "The Local Paper with the Global View."

New York City has an official television station, managed by NYC Media, that includes programming from Brooklyn. Brooklyn Community Access Television is the borough's public access channel, with studios at BRIC House in Fort Greene.

Events in Brooklyn include:
– The annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade (mid-to-late June), a costume and float parade.
– The annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest (July 4) in Coney Island.
– The annual Labor Day Carnival (also called the Labor Day Parade or West Indian Day Parade) along Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights.
– The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival, held each year around the second week of June.

Economy

Brooklyn's job market is influenced by three main factors: the health of the national and city economies, changes in where people live, and Brooklyn's role as a convenient location for support services for New York's businesses.

Forty-four percent of Brooklyn's employed population, or 410,000 people, work in the borough. More than half of Brooklyn's residents work outside the borough. Because of this, job conditions in Manhattan affect Brooklyn's jobseekers. Strong international immigration to Brooklyn creates jobs in services, retail, and construction.

Since the late 1900s, Brooklyn has seen steady growth in financial support services moving from Manhattan to the borough. The area known as DUMBO has grown quickly as a hub for high-tech and entertainment industries. Support services, such as accounting, personal supply agencies, and computer services, have also expanded.

Traditionally, jobs in Brooklyn focused on manufacturing. However, since 1975, Brooklyn has shifted from a manufacturing-based economy to a service-based economy. In 2004, 215,000 Brooklyn residents worked in the services sector, while 27,500 worked in manufacturing. Although manufacturing has declined, some industries remain, such as apparel and niche manufacturing, including furniture, fabricated metals, and food products. The pharmaceutical company Pfizer was founded in Brooklyn in 1869 and operated a manufacturing plant in the borough for many years. The plant closed in 2008, but new light-manufacturing businesses, such as those producing organic and high-end food packaging, have opened in the old plant.

Established as a shipbuilding facility in 1801, the Brooklyn Navy Yard employed 70,000 people at its peak during World War II, making it the largest employer in the borough. The ship Missouri, where Japan formally surrendered, and the ship Maine, whose sinking led to the Spanish–American War, were built there. The Civil War vessel Monitor was built in Greenpoint. From 1968 to 1979, Seatrain Shipbuilding was the major employer. Later tenants included industrial design firms, food processing businesses, artisans, and film and television production companies. About 230 private-sector firms provide 4,000 jobs at the Yard.

Construction and services are the fastest-growing job sectors in Brooklyn. Most employers in Brooklyn are small businesses. In 2000, 91% of the approximately 38,704 business establishments in Brooklyn had fewer than 20 employees. As of August 2008, the borough's unemployment rate was 5.9%.

Brooklyn is also home to many banks and credit unions. According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, there were 37 banks and 26 credit unions operating in the borough in 2010.

The rezoning of Downtown Brooklyn has brought over US$10 billion in private investment and $300 million in public improvements since 2004. Brooklyn is also attracting many high technology start-up companies. Silicon Alley, a nickname for New York City's entrepreneurship ecosystem, has expanded from Lower Manhattan into Brooklyn.

Parks and other attractions

• Brooklyn Botanic Garden: Next to Prospect Park is a 52-acre (21 ha) botanical garden. It has a cherry tree walkway, a 1-acre (0.4 ha) rose garden, a Japanese hill and pond garden, a fragrance garden, a water lily pond walkway, several conservatories, a rock garden, a native plant garden, a bonsai tree collection, and areas for children to explore and learn.
• Coney Island became a place for wealthy people to have fun in the early 1900s. It later became one of America’s first amusement areas, drawing visitors from all over New York. The Cyclone rollercoaster, built in 1927, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The 1920 Wonder Wheel and other rides are still in use. Coney Island declined in the 1970s but has improved since then.
• Floyd Bennett Field: Once the first public airport in New York City, it is now part of the National Park System. Many old hangars and runways remain. The park includes nature trails and different habitats, such as salt marshes and a restored shortgrass prairie that was once common on the Hempstead Plains.
• Green-Wood Cemetery: Founded in 1838 by Henry Evelyn Pierrepont, a social reformer, it is one of the earliest rural cemeteries. It is the burial place of many important New Yorkers.
• Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge: A special federal wildlife area that spans the Brooklyn–Queens border. It is part of the Gateway National Recreation Area.
• New York Transit Museum: Displays historical items from New York’s subway, commuter rail, and bus systems. It is located at Court Street, a former subway station in Brooklyn Heights on the Fulton Street Line.
• Prospect Park: A public park in central Brooklyn covering 585 acres (2.37 km²). Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, who also created Manhattan’s Central Park. Features include a 90-acre (36 ha) meadow, a building for events, a villa, a zoo, a boathouse with a visitor center and an Audubon Center, Brooklyn’s only lake (60 acres or 24 ha), a music venue for free summer concerts, and sports facilities like seven baseball fields. The park hosts an annual Halloween Parade.
• Fort Greene Park: A public park in the Fort Greene neighborhood. It includes the Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument, honoring American prisoners during the Revolutionary War.

Brooklyn’s major professional sports team is the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets. The Nets moved to Brooklyn in 2012 and play at Barclays Center in Prospect Heights. Before that, they played in Uniondale, New York, and New Jersey. In April 2020, the New York Liberty of the WNBA were bought by the Nets’ owners and moved their home games from Madison Square Garden to Barclays Center.

Barclays Center was the home arena for the NHL’s New York Islanders from 2015 to 2018, then shared with Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale until 2020. The Islanders originally played at Nassau Coliseum until 2015, when they moved to Barclays Center. In 2020, the team returned to Nassau Coliseum for one season before moving to the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, in 2021.

Brooklyn has a long history in sports. It has been home to many famous athletes, including Joe Paterno, Vince Lombardi, Mike Tyson, Zab Judah, Joe Torre, Sandy Koufax, Billy Cunningham, and Vitas Gerulaitis. Basketball legend Michael Jordan was born in Brooklyn, though he grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina.

In the early days of organized baseball, Brooklyn teams led the game. The second recorded baseball game took place near what is now Fort Greene Park on October 24, 1845. Teams like the Excelsiors, Atlantics, and Eckfords were top teams from the mid-1850s through the Civil War. Many local teams played in neighborhood leagues, such as at Mapleton Oval. During this time, baseball developed into the modern game, with firsts like the fastball, batting average, and first professional player all originating in Brooklyn.

Brooklyn’s most famous historical team, the Brooklyn Dodgers, played at Ebbets Field. In 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first African-American player in Major League Baseball in the modern era. In 1955, the Dodgers won the World Series against the New York Yankees, a moment celebrated by Brooklyn residents. Two years later, the team moved to Los Angeles. Walter O’Malley, the team’s owner at the time, is still criticized by many Brooklynites.

Professional baseball returned to Brooklyn in 2001 with the Brooklyn Cyclones, a minor league team that plays at MCU Park in Coney Island. They are affiliated with the New York Mets.

The minor-league New York Cosmos soccer club played at MCU Park in 2017. A new team, Brooklyn FC, will begin in 2024, with a women’s team in the USL Super League and a men’s team in the USL Championship starting in 2025.

Brooklyn once had an NFL team called the Brooklyn Lions in 1926, which played at Ebbets Field.

In rugby union, Rugby United New York joined Major League Rugby in 2019 and played at MCU Park through the 2021 season.

Brooklyn has one of the most active recreational fishing fleets in the United States. In addition to private boats along Jamaica Bay, there are public boats in Sheepshead Bay. Fish caught include Black Fish, Porgy, Striped Bass, Black Sea Bass, Fluke, and Flounder.

Government and politics

New York City has five counties, each matching one of the city's five boroughs. Each county has its own criminal court system and a District Attorney, who is the main prosecutor in the area and is chosen directly by voters. Brooklyn has 16 members in the City Council, the most of any borough. The Brooklyn Borough Government includes a borough president, a court, a library, a government board, a head of government, a deputy head of government, and a deputy borough president.

Brooklyn has 18 of the city's 59 community districts. Each district is managed by an unpaid community board that gives advice on land use decisions. Each board has a paid manager who communicates with city agencies. The Kings County Democratic County Committee, also known as the Brooklyn Democratic Party, is the local group of the Democratic Party in Brooklyn.

The United States Postal Service operates post offices in Brooklyn. The main post office is located at 271 Cadman Plaza East in Downtown Brooklyn.

Like Manhattan and the Bronx, Brooklyn has not voted for a Republican in a national presidential election since 1924, when Calvin Coolidge won. In the 2008 election, Democrat Barack Obama received 79.4% of the vote in Brooklyn, while Republican John McCain received 20.0%. In 2012, Barack Obama increased his share of the vote to 82.0%, compared to Republican Mitt Romney's 16.9%.

In 2024, Republican Donald Trump received 27% of the vote in Brooklyn, and Democrat Kamala Harris received just over 70%. This was a big change from Joe Biden's 76% in 2020. While Democrats still won, this was the strongest support for Republicans in Brooklyn since 1988 and the highest number of Republican votes since 1972.

As of 2023, four Democrats and one Republican represent Brooklyn in the United States House of Representatives. One congressional district is entirely within Brooklyn.

• Nydia Velázquez (first elected in 1992) represents New York's 7th congressional district, which includes areas in central-west Brooklyn such as Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Bushwick, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Dumbo, East New York, East Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Gowanus, Red Hook, Sunset Park, and Williamsburg. The district also includes a small part of Queens.
• Hakeem Jeffries (first elected in 2012) represents New York's 8th congressional district, which includes areas in southern Brooklyn such as Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bergen Beach, Brighton Beach, Brownsville, Canarsie, Clinton Hill, Coney Island, East Flatbush, East New York, Fort Greene, Gerritsen Beach, Marine Park, Mill Basin, Ocean Hill, Sheepshead Bay, and Spring Creek. The district also includes a small part of Queens.
• Yvette Clarke (first elected in 2006) represents New York's 9th congressional district, which includes areas in central and southern Brooklyn such as Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Midwood, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, and Windsor Terrace.
• Dan Goldman (first elected in 2022) represents New York's 10th congressional district, which includes areas in southwestern Brooklyn such as Midwood, Red Hook, Sunset Park, Bensonhurst, Borough Park, Gravesend, Kensington, and Mapleton. The district also includes the West Side of Manhattan.
• Nicole Malliotakis (first elected in 2020) represents New York's 11th congressional district, which includes areas in southwestern Brooklyn such as Bensonhurst, Gravesend, Bath Beach, Bay Ridge, and Dyker Heights. The district also includes all of Staten Island.

Housing

Brooklyn has many types of housing, including private homes and public housing managed by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). Affordable rental and co-op housing units across the borough were developed through the Mitchell–Lama Housing Program.

In 2022, there were 1,101,441 housing units in Brooklyn, with an average density of 15,876 units per square mile (6,130/km²). Public housing managed by NYCHA provided homes for more than 100,000 residents in nearly 50,000 units by 2023.

Education

Education in Brooklyn is provided by many public and private schools. Non-charter public schools in the borough are run by the New York City Department of Education, the largest public school system in the United States.

Brooklyn Technical High School, often called Brooklyn Tech, is a public high school in New York City. It is the largest specialized high school for science, math, and technology in the United States. Brooklyn Tech opened in 1922. The school is located across the street from Fort Greene Park. It was built from 1930 to 1933 at a cost of about $6 million and has 12 floors. The school covers about half of a city block. Brooklyn Tech is known for its famous graduates, including two Nobel Prize winners, its strong academic programs, and the number of students who attend top universities.

Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY) and was the first public coeducational liberal arts college in New York City. It ranked in the top 10 nationally for two years in a row in Princeton Review's 2006 guidebook, America's Best Value Colleges. Many students are first or second-generation Americans. Medgar Evers College, founded in 1970, is also a senior college of CUNY. It offers programs for undergraduate and associate degrees, as well as adult and continuing education classes for people in central Brooklyn, businesses, government groups, and community organizations. Medgar Evers College is a few blocks east of Prospect Park in Crown Heights.

CUNY's New York City College of Technology (City Tech) is the largest public college of technology in New York State and a national example for technological education. Established in 1946, City Tech can trace its history to 1881 when the Technical Schools of the Metropolitan Museum of Art were renamed the New York Trade School. That school, later called Voorhees Technical Institute, became a model for technical and vocational schools worldwide. In 1971, Voorhees was added to City Tech.

SUNY Downstate College of Medicine was founded as the Long Island College Hospital in 1860. It is the oldest hospital-based medical school in the United States. The Medical Center includes the College of Medicine, College of Health Related Professions, College of Nursing, School of Public Health, School of Graduate Studies, and University Hospital of Brooklyn. Nobel Prize winner Robert F. Furchgott was a teacher there. Half of the Medical Center's students are minorities or immigrants. The College of Medicine has the highest percentage of minority students of any medical school in New York State.

Adelphi University, based in Garden City, moved its Manhattan Campus in 2023 to a new location on Livingston Street in Downtown Brooklyn. This move brings the university back to Brooklyn, where it began on Adelphi Street with the Adelphi Academy. The new facility is shared with St. Francis College, which created a new campus at 179 Livingston Street.

Brooklyn Law School was founded in 1901 and is known for its diverse student body. Women and African Americans were enrolled in 1909. According to the Leiter Report, a law school ranking guide by Brian Leiter, Brooklyn Law School is ranked 31st nationally for the quality of its students.

Long Island University is a private university based in Brookville on Long Island, with a campus in Downtown Brooklyn that has 6,417 undergraduate students. The Brooklyn campus offers strong science and medical technology programs at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.

Pratt Institute, in Clinton Hill, is a private college founded in 1887. It offers programs in engineering, architecture, and the arts. Some buildings on its Brooklyn campus are official landmarks. Pratt has over 4,700 students, most of whom are at the Brooklyn campus. Graduate programs include library and information science, architecture, and urban planning. Undergraduate programs include architecture, construction management, writing, critical and visual studies, industrial design, and fine arts, totaling over 25 programs.

The New York University Tandon School of Engineering, the second oldest private technology school in the United States, was founded in 1854. Its main campus is in Downtown's MetroTech Center, a commercial and educational development project it helped create. NYU-Tandon is one of the 18 schools that make up New York University (NYU).

St. Francis College is a Catholic college in Downtown Brooklyn, founded in 1859 by Franciscan friars. Over 2,400 students attend the small liberal arts college. St. Francis is considered one of the most diverse colleges by The New York Times and was ranked among the best baccalaureate colleges by Forbes magazine and U.S. News & World Report.

Brooklyn also has smaller liberal arts colleges, such as Saint Joseph's College in Clinton Hill and Boricua College in Williamsburg.

Kingsborough Community College is a junior college in the City University of New York system, located in Manhattan Beach.

New York City College of Technology (City Tech) is a public college in New York City. Founded in 1946, it is the technology college of the City University of New York. Its main campus is in Downtown Brooklyn.

Brooklyn Public Library

The Brooklyn Public Library operates as a separate system from the New York and Queens public library systems. It provides thousands of public programs, millions of books, and access to over 850 free computers with Internet. The library offers books and magazines in many languages spoken in Brooklyn, such as English, Russian, Chinese, Spanish, Hebrew, Haitian Creole, French, Yiddish, Hindi, Bengali, Polish, Italian, and Arabic. The Central Library is a historic building located across from Grand Army Plaza.

There are 58 library branches in Brooklyn, ensuring that one is within a half-mile of every resident. In addition to the specialized Business Library in Brooklyn Heights, the library is planning to build a new Visual & Performing Arts Library (VPA) in the BAM Cultural District. This library will focus on connecting new and emerging arts with technology and will include both traditional and digital collections. It will offer access and training to arts-related technologies that are not widely available to the public. The collections will cover subjects such as art, theater, dance, music, film, photography, and architecture. A special archive will store records and history related to Brooklyn's arts communities.

Transportation

In 2015, about 57 percent of all households in Brooklyn did not own a car. In New York City overall, about 55 percent of households did not own a car.

Brooklyn has a lot of public transportation. Nineteen subway lines, including the Franklin Avenue Shuttle, run through the borough. About 92.8% of Brooklyn residents who travel to Manhattan use the subway. However, some areas, such as Flatlands and Marine Park, have limited subway service. Major subway stations in Brooklyn include:

• Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center
• Broadway Junction
• DeKalb Avenue
• Jay Street–MetroTech
• Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue

Some subway lines were planned but never built, such as a line along Nostrand or Utica Avenues to Marine Park, and a line to Spring Creek.

Brooklyn once had many streetcars, but most were replaced by buses that cover the entire borough. There are also daily express buses to Manhattan. Yellow cabs are available in Brooklyn, though there are fewer of them compared to other parts of the city. Three commuter rail stations are in Brooklyn: East New York, Nostrand Avenue, and Atlantic Terminal, which is the end of the Long Island Rail Road’s Atlantic Branch. This station is near the Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center subway station and connects to ten subway lines.

In February 2015, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a new citywide ferry service called NYC Ferry to help people in areas with limited public transit. The ferry service started in May 2017. It includes routes like the Bay Ridge ferry, which serves southwestern Brooklyn, and the East River Ferry, which serves northwestern Brooklyn. A third route, the Rockaway ferry, stops at Brooklyn Army Terminal.

In February 2016, the city proposed a new streetcar line called the Brooklyn–Queens Connector. If built, it would begin service around 2024.

Most expressways and parkways in Brooklyn are in the western and southern parts of the borough. Two interstate highways, Interstate 278 and Interstate 478, run through Brooklyn. Other major roads include the Prospect Expressway, the Belt Parkway, and the Jackie Robinson Parkway. Some planned expressways, like the Bushwick Expressway and the Cross-Brooklyn Expressway, were never built. Important streets include Atlantic Avenue, Fourth Avenue, 86th Street, Kings Highway, Bay Parkway, Ocean Parkway, Eastern Parkway, Linden Boulevard, McGuinness Boulevard, Flatbush Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, and Nostrand Avenue.

Most of Brooklyn has streets with names, but areas like Park Slope, Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, Bensonhurst, and Borough Park have numbered streets and avenues. East of Dahill Road, lettered avenues (like Avenue M) run east and west, and numbered streets have the word "East" added to their names. South of Avenue O, numbered streets west of Dahill Road use the word "West" in their names.

Numbered streets in Brooklyn range from West 37th Street to East 108 Street. Avenues are labeled from A to Z, with some names changed in certain neighborhoods. Streets in Williamsburg are labeled with "North" or "South," and streets near the southern and southwestern waterfront use names like "Bay," "Beach," or "Flatlands" based on old town grids. These names often describe nearby water or beaches, such as Plumb Beach or Paerdegat Basin.

Brooklyn connects to Manhattan through three bridges: the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, and Williamsburg Bridge. A tunnel, the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel, also connects the two areas. The Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge links Brooklyn to Staten Island. Brooklyn shares several bridges with Queens, including the Pulaski Bridge, Greenpoint Avenue Bridge, Kosciuszko Bridge, and Grand Street Bridge, which cross Newtown Creek. The Marine Parkway Bridge connects Brooklyn to the Rockaway Peninsula.

Brooklyn was once a major shipping port, especially at the Brooklyn Army Terminal and Bush Terminal in Sunset Park. Most container ship operations now happen on the New Jersey side of New York Harbor. The Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Red Hook is a key location for New York’s cruise industry. The Queen Mary 2, one of the world’s largest ocean liners, was designed to fit under the Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge. It regularly stops at the Red Hook terminal during its trips between Southampton, England, and New York. The Brooklyn waterfront once provided jobs for thousands of people and helped start many industries in the city. The decline of the port contributed to Brooklyn’s decline in the second half of the 20th century.

In February 2015, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the start of NYC Ferry to improve access to public transit for underserved areas. The ferry service began in May 2017, offering routes from Brooklyn to Manhattan. The East River Ferry connects parts of Lower Manhattan, Midtown, Long Island City, and northwestern Brooklyn. The South Brooklyn and Rockaway routes serve southwestern Brooklyn before reaching Manhattan. Ferries to Coney Island are also planned.

NY Waterway and SeaStreak provide ferry tours and services between Brooklyn and Manhattan. A Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel, first proposed in the 1920s, is being studied again as a way to move freight across the city.

Partnerships with districts of foreign cities

• Anzio, Lazio, Italy (since 1990)
• Huế, Vietnam
• Gdynia, Poland (since 1991)
• Beşiktaş, Istanbul Province, Turkey (since 2005)
• Leopoldstadt, Vienna, Austria (since 2007)
• London Borough of Lambeth, United Kingdom
• Bnei Brak, Israel
• Konak, İzmir, Turkey (since 2010)
• Chaoyang District, Beijing, China (since 2014)
• Yiwu, China (since 2014)
• Üsküdar, Istanbul, Turkey (since 2015)

Hospitals and healthcare

• Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center
• Kings County Hospital Center
• Maimonides Medical Center
• Mount Sinai Brooklyn
• New York Community Hospital
• NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County
• NYU Langone Hospital – Brooklyn
• SUNY Downstate Medical Center /think