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(Not Just Victorian) Flatbush tour


Stunning houses in Prospect Park South/Ditmas Park, Caribbean flavor, Brooklyn's oldest church, and Flatbush Avenue's revived/revised historic theaters

Brooklyn tour: mansion in Prospect Park South, part of larger Flatbush neighborhoodMansion, Albemarle Road
The pieces of the Flatbush neighborhood south of Prospect Park, known to real estate agents as Victorian Flatbush (aka Ditmas Park and Prospect Park South, which are actually distinct segments), contain enormous contrasts.  

We'll see leafy streets with large Victorian houses, part of country-in-city early 20th century development. We'll visit streets crammed with pre-war apartment buildings, and bustling, raucous shopping streets, serving people who've come to Brooklyn from places afar as Pakistani and Haiti.

The tour includes a couple of historic districts, including the micro-enclave of Albermarle Terrace and Kenmore Terrace, the spacious Ditmas Park, and the astounding Prospect Park South, which, as a couple of photos below show, is a fantastic place to visit before Halloween.  


​From Joseph O'Neill's novel Netherland: We turned off Church, and in an instant that raucous Caribbean boulevard, with its ninety-nine-cent stores and discount clothing outlets... had given way to a neighborhood unlike any other I'd seen in New York. 

It is an interesting mix, with a complex history, in some cases dating back to early Brooklyn, with landmarks such as the Flatbush Dutch Reformed Church. The neighborhood grew in stages: farmland became development sites at the turn of the 20th century. After the subway moved south in the second decade of the century, hundreds of apartment buildings were constructed. The new population fueled new retail outlets (an art deco Sears!) and theater, which have been turned into churches, retail outlets, or lovingly restored (see the Kings Theatre below).

Post war suburbanization and immigration meant Flatbush's largely Jewish population--which once supported bakeries like Ebinger's--was be replaced significantly by newcomers from the West Indies. So the Flatbush Avenue spine has a pronounced Caribbean flavor.  The far west edge of the neighborhood is Coney Island Avenue, with a mix of ethnic groups, including Pakistani, Afghan, Russian, as well as mosques and synagogues.

Gentrification has lapped outward to Flatbush, with its attendant strains. Retail change is notable less on Flatbush but on Cortelyou Road in what many people call Ditmas Park, home to new restaurants, cafes, and retail establishments. There's an interesting story behind those changes, too.

Note: I sometimes lead shorter (one-hour) tours of Prospect Park South only, combined with an indoor visit to the "Japanese House," as part of a package tour from the New York Adventure Club, which offers numerous tours not led by me.

This tour does not go to the former site of Ebbets Field, which is a little far afield, but we could get there by bus/subway/taxi, or take a longer walk into Prospect Lefferts Gardens and south Crown Heights.. That said, there's virtually no sign of the past there.

Also note that we see only a portion of the much larger Flatbush/Midwood neighborhood--we could see more if we add time.


Distance from Midtown Manhattan: 30-40 minutes by subway

Basic tour length: 2.5 hours (see fees)

Starting place: Varies, but typically Q/B at Church Avenue

Ending place: Varies, but Q at Beverley, Q/B at Newkirk

Highlights: History, architecture, immigration, ethnic change

Before tour: Ask

After tour: Snack/lunch on Cortelyou Road

Potential tour extensions with me: Brooklyn 101


Why I like leading this tour: Victorian Flatbush is stunning, but a tour limited to blocks with standalone houses/mansions can't do justice to the larger context. So we put them together.

Contact me
New York Like A Native: Energetic, eclectic tours of Brooklyn & beyond. Experienced guide. Personal service.
  • Home
    • Brooklyn 101 tour >
      • Brooklyn 202 tour
  • Brooklyn tours
    • North & west of Prospect Park >
      • Fort Greene & Clinton Hill tour
      • DUMBO, Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn Heights tour
      • Park Slope tour
      • Brooklyn Bridge (and more) tour
      • Atlantic Avenue & Downtown Brooklyn
      • Cobble Hill/Carroll Gardens tour
      • Red Hook tour
    • Williamsburg & north Brooklyn >
      • Williamsburg tour
      • Greenpoint tour
      • Bushwick and East Williamsburg tour
    • Central Brooklyn >
      • Bedford-Stuyvesant tour
      • Crown Heights tour
      • (Not Just) Victorian Flatbush tour
      • Green-Wood Cemetery tour
    • Coney Island and southern Brooklyn >
      • Coney Island Webinar, Virtual Tour, & Resources
      • Coney Island (& Brighton Beach) tour
      • Sunset Park tour
      • Bensonhurst tour
      • Bay Ridge tour
    • Jewish, food, and Xmas lights tours >
      • Jewish Neighborhood Tours
      • Food, dessert, ice cream tours
      • Dyker Heights Christmas Lights tour
    • Moving to Brooklyn/layover tours >
      • Moving to/Studying in/Retiring in Brooklyn
      • Airport/Cruise/Layover tours in Brooklyn
    • Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park/Barclays Center
  • Beyond Brooklyn
    • Jackson Heights tour
    • Lower East Side tour
    • Long Island City tour
    • Ridgewood tour
    • Sunnyside & LIC East
  • About your guide
  • Fees/Schedule/FAQ
    • Fees for private tours
    • Schedule
    • FAQ
    • Vehicle and custom tours
    • Tours for classes
    • Resources on Brooklyn
    • How to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge
  • Contact me/Book
  • Blog