Victorian Flatbush

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House at Ditmas Avenue and Rugby Road in the Ditmas Park Historic District Ditmas Av Rugby Rd house sunny jeh.jpg
House at Ditmas Avenue and Rugby Road in the Ditmas Park Historic District

Victorian Flatbush is the western section of the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York, bordering Midwood, that is characterized by Victorian houses.

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The neighborhoods of Victorian Flatbush were developed in the early twentieth century from farmland in the former village of Flatbush, in response to the construction of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit line to Coney Island, and are some of the earliest suburbs. [1] Developers including Dean Alvord, Lewis Pounds and particularly Thomas Benton Ackerson sold the new developments as country living, under the name "The Village in the City".[ citation needed ] Utilities and the subway were buried underground, [2] and the area was carefully laid out with tree-lined avenues, including the Flatbush Malls, and country clubs. The detached houses, many of them large and all distinct, were designed in fashionable styles including "Victorian, Queen Anne, shingle style, colonial revival, neo-Tudor, Spanish Mission and Georgian", [3] with porches and columns, [1] and in many cases bay windows, turrets, and stained glass, [4] and the area resembles other parts of the US more than it does the rest of New York. It is one of the largest collections of Victorian houses in the country. [3] There has been rezoning to guard against oversize buildings near Coney Island Avenue. [5]

Victorian Flatbush is in the western part of Flatbush, bounded approximately by Prospect Park (Brooklyn) or Church Avenue in the north and Avenue H in the south, and by Flatbush Avenue in the east and Coney Island Avenue in the west. [6] It includes a dozen neighborhoods or enclaves: [7]

The earliest development in Victorian Flatbush was the Tennis Court development, planned by Richard Ficken in the 1880s. [10] These homes were bought and razed to build apartment buildings in the 1920s. The only remnants left of it are the eponymous street, and the Knickerbocker Field Club.

Many parts of Victorian Flatbush, particularly those centered on Cortelyou Road—Ditmas Park West and the Beverley Squares—are now considered part of Ditmas Park. [5] [11] [12] [13] It has also been identified with Midwood. [14]

The Flatbush-Tompkins Congregational Church on 19th Street in the Ditmas Park Historic District, at which Conrad Tillard is since 2018 the Senior Minister, is often used for community meetings. [3] [15] [16] Victorian Flatbush now includes five New York City historic districts, [6] and residents of the sections that have not yet been designated city historic districts are working with the Flatbush Development Corporation and the Historic Districts Council to win designation. [17]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brooklyn</span> Borough of New York City

Brooklyn is a borough of New York City. Located on the westernmost edge of Long Island, it is coextensive with Kings County in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most-densely-populated county in the United States, behind New York County (Manhattan). Brooklyn is also New York City's most populous borough, with 2,736,074 residents in 2020. If Brooklyn were an independent city, it would be the third most populous in the U.S. after the rest of New York City and Los Angeles, and ahead of Chicago.

Midwood is a neighborhood in the south-central part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded on the north by the Bay Ridge Branch tracks just above Avenue I and by the Brooklyn College campus of the City University of New York, and on the south by Avenue P and Kings Highway. The eastern border consists of parts of Nostrand Avenue, Flatbush Avenue, and Coney Island Avenue; parts of McDonald Avenue and Ocean Parkway mark the western boundary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flatbush, Brooklyn</span> Neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City

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 neighborhood had a population of 105,804 as of the 2010 United States Census. The modern neighborhood includes or borders several institutions of note, including Brooklyn College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kensington, Brooklyn</span> Neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn</span> Neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City

Windsor Terrace is a small residential neighborhood in the central part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by Prospect Park on the east and northeast, Park Slope at Prospect Park West, Green-Wood Cemetery, and Borough Park at McDonald Avenue on the northwest, west, and southwest, and Kensington at Caton Avenue on the south. As of the 2010 United States Census, Windsor Terrace had 20,988 people living within its 0.503-square-mile (1.30 km2) area.

Fiske Terrace is a planned community and neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Fiske Terrace is located in south central Brooklyn in the southern edge of the community of Flatbush and north of the community of Midwood. It is bounded by Glenwood Road on the north, Ocean Avenue on the east, the Bay Ridge Branch of the Long Island Rail Road/New York and Atlantic Railway right-of-way on the south, and the New York City Subway BMT Brighton Line subway line on the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prospect Park South</span> United States historic place

Prospect Park South is a small neighborhood in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York City, located south of Prospect Park. It is included within the Prospect Park South Historic District, which was designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1979 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The historic district is bounded by Church Avenue to the north, the BMT Brighton Line of the New York City Subway to the east, Beverley Road to the south, and between Stratford Road and Coney Island Avenue to the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">T. B. Ackerson Company</span>

T.B. Ackerson Company was a real estate development company that built several planned communities in the New York metropolitan area during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community boards of Brooklyn</span>

Community boards of Brooklyn are New York City community boards in the borough of Brooklyn, which are the appointed advisory groups of the community districts that advise on land use and zoning, participate in the city budget process, and address service delivery in their district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ditmas Park, Brooklyn</span> United States historic place

Ditmas Park is a historic district in the neighborhood of Flatbush in Brooklyn, New York City. The traditional boundaries of Ditmas Park, including Ditmas Park West, are Ocean Avenue and greater Flatbush to the east, Dorchester Road and the Prospect Park South neighborhood to the north, Coney Island Avenue and the Kensington neighborhood to the west, and Newkirk Avenue to the south. The name Ditmas Park is often used as a shorthand for the several neighborhoods that comprise the larger area of Victorian Flatbush.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avenue H station</span> New York City Subway station in Brooklyn

The Avenue H station is a local station on the BMT Brighton Line of the New York City Subway. It is located at Avenue H between East 15th and East 16th Streets near the border of Midwood and Flatbush, Brooklyn. The station is served by the Q train at all times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newkirk Plaza station</span> New York City Subway station in Brooklyn

The Newkirk Plaza station is an express station on the BMT Brighton Line of the New York City Subway in Flatbush, Brooklyn. It is located on an open-cut at the center of the pedestrian-only Newkirk Plaza shopping mall, which is bounded by Newkirk Avenue on the north, Foster Avenue on the south, Marlborough Road to the west, and East 16th Street to the east. The station is served by the Q train at all times and by the B train on weekdays only.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prospect Lefferts Gardens</span> Neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City

Prospect Lefferts Gardens is a residential neighborhood in the Flatbush area of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The community is bounded by Empire Boulevard to the north, Clarkson Avenue to the south, New York Avenue to the east, and Ocean Avenue/Prospect Park to the west. Prospect Lefferts Gardens was designated a New York City Landmark area in 1979 and called the Prospect Lefferts Gardens Historic District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beverley Squares</span> Neighborhoods of Brooklyn in New York City

Beverley Square East and Beverley Square West, also spelled Beverly Square, are a pair of neighborhoods in the Flatbush section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Located southwest of Prospect Park within what is now called Victorian Flatbush, one of the largest concentrations of Victorian houses in the United States, they were developed in the 1900s primarily by Thomas Benton Ackerson, whose former home is in Beverley Square West.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Midwood, Brooklyn</span> Neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City

West Midwood is a planned community and historic enclave in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. West Midwood is located in central Brooklyn in the southern edge of the community of Victorian Flatbush, abutting the northern boundary of the community of Midwood. It is bordered by Foster Avenue to the north, the BMT Brighton subway line to the east, Avenue H to the south, and Coney Island Avenue to the west. West Midwood is located south of Prospect Park within what is sometimes referred to as Ditmas Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Carroll (American politician)</span> American politician

Robert C. Carroll is an American politician and attorney. He is a Democratic member of the New York State Assembly, representing the 44th District. The district includes portions of the neighborhoods of Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Kensington, Borough Park, Victorian Flatbush, Ditmas Park, Prospect Heights and Midwood, as well as the entirety of Prospect Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flatbush Malls</span> Traffic medians in Brooklyn, New York

The Flatbush Malls are a pair of tree-lined landscaped medians series along several roads in the Victorian Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. An architecture critic has written that the malls "give the streets an uncommon spaciousness, if not grandeur". The first series was built in the northern part of the neighborhood along Albemarle Road, and extending one block north on Buckingham Road, in the Prospect Park South development of 1899, east of Coney Island Avenue and west of the BMT Brighton Line. This was modeled by the Scottish landscape architect John Aiken on Commonwealth Avenue Mall in Boston, with a design that originally included shrubbery but not trees, and in turn likely inspired the other neighborhood series.

The following is an alphabetical list of articles related to New York City. New York City is a city in the United States state of New York.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Evan Lerner, "Peaked Roofs, Crossed Fingers", The City, The New York Times , March 16, 2008.
  2. ↑ "AAFA Bio - Dean Albert Alvord". www.alfordassociation.org. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Claire Wilson, "If You're Thinking of Living In / Ditmas Park and Ditmas Park West; Spirited Enclaves With Grand Homes", Real Estate, The New York Times, November 2, 2003.
  4. ↑ Sherri Eisenberg, Food Lovers' Guide to Brooklyn: The Best Restaurants, Markets & Local Culinary Offerings, 2nd ed. Guilford, Connecticut: Globe Pequot, 2012, ISBN   9780762780747, p. 227.
  5. 1 2 Jake Mooney, "Moved for the Space; Stayed for the Food", Living In | Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, Real Estate, The New York Times, November 13, 2009.
  6. 1 2 Victorian Flatbush House Tour, Flatbush Development Corporation, retrieved January 17, 2013.
  7. ↑ Adrienne Onofri, Walking Brooklyn: 30 Tours Exploring Historical Legacies, Neighborhood Culture, Side Streets and Waterways, Berkeley, California: Wilderness, 2007, ISBN   9780899975580, p. 160.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Brooklyn—Landmarks," Historic Districts Council, retrieved January 17, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Landmarks Preservation Commission report on Prospect Park South (1979)" (PDF).
  10. ↑ Morris), Suzanne Spellen (aka Montrose (2012-07-06). "Past and Present: Tennis Court". Brownstoner. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
  11. ↑ Maurita Baldock, "Ditmas Park", in: The Encyclopedia of New York City, ed. Kenneth T. Jackson, Lisa Keller and Nancy V. Flood, rev. ed. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University, 2011, ISBN   9780300114652.
  12. ↑ John Rather, "If You're Thinking of Living In/Ditmas Park, Brooklyn; A Suburban Enclave in an Urban Setting", Real Estate, The New York Times, July 5, 1998.
  13. ↑ Cathy Hong, "Close-Up on Ditmas Park", NYC Life, The Village Voice , June 10, 2003, retrieved January 21, 2013.
  14. ↑ Allison van Diepen, Snitch, New York: Simon Pulse, 2007, ISBN   9781416950301, p. 20: "Now I lived on the border between the projects of Flatbush and the leafy neighborhood of Midwood (or Victorian Flatbush as white people call it.)"
  15. ↑ "Rev. Calvin Butts, longtime leader of Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church, dead at 73". The New York Daily News.
  16. ↑ "Flatbush-Tompkins Congregational Church". CCCNY.
  17. ↑ "Six to Celebrate 2012," Historic Districts Council, retrieved January 17, 2013.

Further reading

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