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Brooklyn has played a major role in various aspects of American culture including literature, cinema and theater as well as being home to the Brooklyn Academy of Music and to the second largest public art collection in the United States which is housed in the Brooklyn Museum.
Walt Whitman wrote of the Brooklyn waterfront in his classic poem Crossing Brooklyn Ferry. Harlem Renaissance playwright Eulalie Spence taught at Eastern District High School in Brooklyn from 1927 to 1938, a time during which she wrote her critically acclaimed plays Fool's Errand, and Her.
In 1930, poet Hart Crane published the epic poem The Bridge , using the Brooklyn Bridge as central symbol and poetic starting point. The novels of Henry Miller include reflections on several of the ethnic German and Jewish neighborhoods of Brooklyn during the 1890s and early 20th century; his novels Tropic of Capricorn and The Rosy Crucifixion include long tracts describing his childhood and young adulthood spent in the borough.
Betty Smith's 1943 book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and the 1945 film based on it, are among the best-known early works about life in Brooklyn. The tree in the title is the Tree of Heaven.
There's a tree that grows in Brooklyn. Some people call it the Tree of Heaven. No matter where its seed falls, it makes a tree which struggles to reach the sky. It grows in boarded up lots and out of neglected rubbish heaps. It grows up out of cellar gratings. It is the only tree that grows out of cement. It grows lushly...survives without sun, water, and seemingly earth. It would be considered beautiful except that there are too many of it.
— A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Introduction
Chaim Potok, rabbi and Brooklyn resident, wrote The Chosen , a book about two Jewish boys growing up in Brooklyn that was published in 1947. William Styron's novel Sophie's Choice is set in Flatbush, just off Prospect Park, during the summer of 1947. Arthur Miller's 1955 play A View From the Bridge , and Paule Marshall's 1959 novel, Brown Girl, Brownstones, about Barbadian immigrants during the Depression and World War II, are both set in Brooklyn.
More recently, Brooklyn-born author Jonathan Lethem has written several books about growing up in the borough, including Motherless Brooklyn and The Fortress of Solitude. The neighborhood of Park Slope is home to many contemporary writers, including Jonathan Safran Foer, Jhumpa Lahiri, Jonathan Franzen, Rick Moody, Jennifer Egan, Kathryn Harrison, Paul Auster, Franco Ambriz, Nicole Krauss, Colson Whitehead, Darin Strauss, Siri Hustvedt and Suketu Mehta, among others.[ citation needed ]
Brooklyn has played a key role in multiple films of various genres, from the 1917 Fatty Arbuckle comedy Coney Island to the 2011 coming-out film Pariah .
One iconic Brooklyn film is 1945's A Tree Grows In Brooklyn , based on Betty Smith's novel of the same name. It was the first film directed by Greek-American director Elia Kazan, starring James Dunn (who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor), Dorothy McGuire, Joan Blondell, and Peggy Ann Garner (who won the Academy Juvenile Award). Around that time other Hollywood films also depicted Brooklyn of that era and milieu, like the dark comedy Arsenic and Old Lace .
Saturday Night Fever starring John Travolta, a 1977 movie which defined the Disco era in the United States, was set in Bay Ridge, an Italian neighborhood in southern Brooklyn. Working class Jewish communities were depicted in films like 1977's Annie Hall and 1986's Brighton Beach Memoirs .
In the late 1980s, African-American communities in Brooklyn achieved a new cultural prominence with the films of Spike Lee, whose She's Gotta Have It and Do The Right Thing were shot in Brooklyn neighborhoods. Other films in this vein include Straight Out of Brooklyn and Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. . [1] [2]
The nostalgic 2005 film The Squid and the Whale , by Noah Baumbach, examined the family life of the Park Slope intelligentsia. In the 2000s, queer dramas like Shortbus and provocative documentaries like Battle for Brooklyn and Trembling Before G-d also showed then-new facets of Brooklyn. In the 2010s, some mainstream and independent films like The Intern and Obvious Child reflected a more gentrified North Brooklyn.
Other films set in Brooklyn include Brooklyn Bridge , Brooklyn Castle and Brooklyn Matters .
Brooklyn has been the setting for a variety of television shows, including the 1950s era Honeymooners starring Jackie Gleason, and the 1970s sitcom, Welcome Back, Kotter , starring Gabe Kaplan. In the 1980s, The Cosby Show was set in a Brooklyn Heights brownstone. In the 1990s, Brooklyn Bridge (about a Jewish American family living in Brooklyn in the middle 1950s) starring Marion Ross aired on CBS.
In the 2010s, a number of shows focused on young, primarily white people in gentrified areas like Williamsburg, including Girls on HBO and 2 Broke Girls on CBS, as well as culturally mixed shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine on NBC.
Additionally, many shows are filmed in Brooklyn even if they are not set there, such as The Good Wife (set in Chicago) and Boardwalk Empire (set in Atlantic City).
The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) includes a 2,109-seat opera house, an 874-seat Theater, and the art house BAM Rose Cinemas. Bargemusic and St. Ann's Warehouse are on the other side of Downtown Brooklyn in the DUMBO arts district.
Lynn Nottage's 1995 play Crumbs from the Table of Joy is set in post-World War II Brooklyn and deals with the hopes and frustrations of an African American family recently arrived from Florida. Neil Simon's 1983 play Brighton Beach Memoirs is set in 1937 Brooklyn.
Brooklyn has a thriving contemporary classical music scene led by the Brooklyn Philharmonic, now over 150 years old. [3]
The Brooklyn Jazz Hall of Fame and Museum is located in Brooklyn.
Many pioneers and icons of hip hop were from Brooklyn, like the Notorious B.I.G., Jay Z, and the Beastie Boys.
Punk rock pioneers like Patti Smith and The Shirts were based in Brooklyn in the 1970s. Around the turn of the millennium, North Brooklyn neighborhoods like Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and Bushwick developed a major rock scene that incubated bands like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Grizzly Bear, TV on the Radio and the Dirty Projectors.
In the early 2000s the Williamsburg neighborhood became a center of electroclash with bands like Fischerspooner and promoter Larry Tee making a local breakthrough with the scene via his Berliniamsburg party at the Luxx Club and the Electroclash Festival in 2001. [4]
Brooklyn served as the birthplace of hip hop's Beast Coast movement from the early 2010's and onward, with its key members being associates and long-time friends. They eventually joined forces in an official capacity and the subsequent supergroup consists of artists/acts Joey Bada$$ of Pro Era, hip hop trio Flatbush Zombies, and hip hop duo The Underachievers. [5]
The late 2010s saw a resurgence in the borough’s rap scene with the emergence of Brooklyn drill, a fusion of Chicago and UK drill music. Several of the scene’s pioneers, most notably Pop Smoke, are from the southeastern sections of the Brooklyn. The genre has since spread throughout the city and is especially popular with local born black and Latin youth.
The Brooklyn Museum, opened in 1897, the nation's second largest public art museum, includes in its permanent collection more than 1.5 million objects, from ancient Egyptian masterpieces to contemporary art. The Brooklyn Children's Museum, the world's first museum dedicated to children, opened in December 1899. The only such New York State institution accredited by the American Association of Museums, it is one of the few globally to have a permanent collection - 30,000+ cultural objects and natural history specimens.[ citation needed ]
BRIC Arts' Rotunda Gallery, founded in 1981, is the oldest not-for-profit gallery dedicated to presenting contemporary art work by artists who are from, live, or work in the borough.[ citation needed ]
There are a wide array of architectural styles represented in Brooklyn. The architectural eras and styles range from original Dutch colonial architecture represented by such historic homes as the Hendrick I. Lott House to Dutch Colonial Revival architecture, Art Deco to Post-modern.
Brooklyn is a borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelve original counties established under British rule in 1683 in the then Province of New York. As of the 2020 United States census, the population stood at 2,736,074, making it the most populous of the five boroughs of New York City, and the most populous county in the state. Brooklyn, at 37,339.9 inhabitants per square mile (14,417.0/km2), is the second most densely populated county in the U.S. after Manhattan, as of 2022. Had Brooklyn remained an independent city, it would now be the fourth most populous American city after the rest of New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
Bernard Malamud was an American novelist and short story writer. Along with Saul Bellow, Joseph Heller, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Norman Mailer and Philip Roth, he was one of the best known American Jewish authors of the 20th century. His baseball novel, The Natural, was adapted into a 1984 film starring Robert Redford. His 1966 novel The Fixer, about antisemitism in the Russian Empire, won both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize.
The music of New York City is a diverse and important field in the world of music. It has long been a thriving home for popular genres such as jazz, rock, soul music, R&B, funk, and the urban blues, as well as classical and art music. It is the birthplace of hip hop, garage house, boogaloo, doo wop, bebop, punk rock, disco, and new wave. It is also the birthplace of salsa music, born from a fusion of Cuban and Puerto Rican influences that came together in New York's Latino neighborhoods in the 1960s. The city's culture, a melting pot of nations from around the world, has produced vital folk music scenes such as Irish-American music and Jewish klezmer. Beginning with the rise of popular sheet music in the early 20th century, New York's Broadway musical theater, and Tin Pan Alley's songcraft, New York has been a major part of the American music industry.
Kreuzberg is a district of Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte. During the Cold War era, it was one of the poorest areas of West Berlin, but since German reunification in 1990, it has become more gentrified and is known for its arts scene.
Flatbush is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood consists of several subsections in central Brooklyn and is generally bounded by Prospect Park to the north, East Flatbush to the east, Midwood to the south, and Kensington and Parkville to the west. The modern neighborhood includes or borders several institutions of note, including Brooklyn College.
Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant to the south; Bushwick and East Williamsburg to the east; and the East River to the west. It was an independent city until 1855, when it was annexed by Brooklyn; at that time, the spelling was changed from Williamsburgh to Williamsburg.
Flatbush Avenue is a major avenue in the New York City Borough of Brooklyn. It runs from the Manhattan Bridge south-southeastward to Jamaica Bay, where it joins the Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge, which connects Brooklyn to the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens. The north end was extended from Fulton Street to the Manhattan Bridge as "Flatbush Avenue Extension".
New York City has been described as the cultural capital of the world. The culture of New York is reflected in its size and ethnic diversity. As many as 800 languages are spoken in New York, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world. Many American cultural movements first emerged in the city. Large numbers of Irish, Italian, Jewish, and eventually Asian, African, and Hispanic Americans also migrated to New York throughout the 20th century and continuing into the 21st century, significantly influencing the culture and image of New York. The city became the center of stand-up comedy in the early 20th century. The city was the top venue for jazz in the 1940s, expressionism in the 1950s and home to hip hop, punk rock, and the Beat Generation. Along with London, New York City is the global center of musical theatre, often referred to as "Broadway" after the major thoroughfare in Manhattan. The Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, Lower Manhattan, is a designated U.S. National Historic Landmark and National Monument, as the site of the June 1969 Stonewall riots and the cradle of the modern gay rights movement.
The demographics of Brooklyn reveal a very diverse borough of New York City and a melting pot for many cultures, like the city itself. Since 2010, the population of Brooklyn was estimated by the Census Bureau to have increased 3.5% to 2,592,149 as of 2013, representing 30.8% of New York City's population, 33.5% of Long Island's population, and 13.2% of New York State's population. If the boroughs of New York City were separate cities, Brooklyn would be the third largest city in the United States after Los Angeles and Chicago.
Since its founding in 1625 by Dutch traders as New Amsterdam, New York City has been a major destination for immigrants of many nationalities who have formed ethnic enclaves, neighborhoods dominated by one ethnicity. Freed African American slaves also moved to New York City in the Great Migration and the later Second Great Migration and formed ethnic enclaves. These neighborhoods are set apart from the main city by differences such as food, goods for sale, or even language. Ethnic enclaves provide inhabitants security in work and social opportunities, but limit economic opportunities, do not encourage the development of English speaking, and keep immigrants in their own culture.
The arts in Atlanta are well-represented, with a prominent presence in music, fine art, and theater.
This is a timeline and chronology of the history of Brooklyn, New York. Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's boroughs, and was settled in 1646.
Flatbush Zombies are an American hip hop group from the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York City, formed in 2010. The group is composed of rappers Meechy Darko, Zombie Juice and Erick Arc Elliott, with Elliott also serving as their regular record producer. The trio are part of the East Coast hip hop supergroup Beast Coast, with fellow Brooklyn-based rap groups The Underachievers and Pro Era.
The Underachievers are an American hip hop duo from Flatbush, New York. Formed in 2011, the duo is composed of rappers AK the Savior and Issa Gold. American record producer Flying Lotus signed the duo to his Brainfeeder record label in 2012. Following that signing they independently released two mixtapes, Indigoism and Lords of Flatbush in 2013. Their debut studio album Cellar Door: Terminus Ut Exordium was released on August 12, 2014. The Underachievers released their second official album Evermore: The Art of Duality on September 25, 2015. Their third album, Renaissance was released on May 19, 2017. They released After the Rain on November 9, 2018, and Lords Of Flatbush 3 on June 21, 2019.
Jonathan Toubin is an American DJ, record producer, musician, writer, and historian. He is the founder and proprietor of the New York Night Train event production company. Heralded "The most-liked man in the soul music scene" by Rolling Stone and "New York's best DJ" and "the only DJ we actually like" by VICE, Toubin is best known for his energetic dance party sets consisting of tightly juxtaposed obscure 1950s and 1960s Rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and soul 45s. New York Times describes the DJ's fare as "cleaner and more appreciative of American pop music history than much of the rest.". He is also known for his New York Night Train parties and their role in "revamping the entire landscape of New York and Brooklyn from midnight till the after hours" in what the Village Voice describes as "his own kind of dance revolution". His best known event is the New York Night Train Soul Clap and Dance-Off, which has been called "the most popular soul dance party in the world" by SXSW. It is the only soul dance party to have had an entire night dedicated to it at Lincoln Center Midsummer Night Swing and at SXSW, and plays in dozens of international markets and major festivals annually plus monthly at the Brooklyn Bowl. In over 1600 gigs since 2007, Toubin has appeared in hundreds of night clubs. In 2014, Toubin was voted Best New York DJ in the Village Voice Reader's Choice Contest. He currently has DJ compilations available on Burger Records and Norton Records.
The South Bronx is an area of the New York City borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Mott Haven, Melrose, and Port Morris.
Lit Lounge was a nightclub in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The two-floor complex housed a concert venue, lounge, dance floor, and Fuse Gallery, an art exhibition space. Lit Lounge was noted as a major venue for New York City's hipster subculture in the mid- to late 2000s, particularly the indie rock and electroclash scene of the era.
The Brooklyn Immersionists were a community of artists, musicians and writers that rejected the distancing aesthetics of postmodernism and integrated themselves and their creations into the world where they lived. The Immersionists' dynamic, nurturing culture helped to transform Williamsburg, Brooklyn's industrial waterfront in the 1990s, catalyzing the largest New York renaissance to take root outside Manhattan.