New York Like a Native
  • 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

Resources on Brooklyn: Links, books, etc.

Please keep in mind that Brooklyn is a large area (73 square miles) and most of my repertoire of neighborhood tours are in the north and western segments of the borough (with the exception of Coney Island/Brighton Beach, Dyker Heights, Victorian Flatbush, Sunset Park, and Borough Park).

I've gone all over the borough for private tours and am always happy to explore further.

Note the map on the home page, reproduced below, lists the neighborhoods where I typically lead tours.

Here's the MTA's New York City subway map. Here's the MTA's Brooklyn bus map (which also tracks the subway).

A History of Brooklyn in 20 Objects, from Brooklyn Magazine. A Wall Street Journal article on "Brooklyn the Brand" and some Brooklyn products that live up to the hype. Are people truly priced out when they leave "Brooklyn"?

Lots of Brooklyn does not qualify as the "Brooklyn" that gets commodified, as this essay explains. A good part of Brooklyn is getting  poorer, even as other parts gentrify fiercely. Here are eight changing neighborhoods. Here's Brooklyn's 1938 redline map. Here's a map of segregation in New York.

Here's a fun one: all the places the New York Times has compared to Brooklyn. Here's an article about how some neighborhoods in film have changed. Here are a couple of essays on the "New Brooklyn" in culture.

Brownstoner tracks Brooklyn real estate and neighborhood issues; Brooklyn Based offers a "guide to Brooklyn life." Brokelyn knows that Brooklyn need not always be expensive.


Some Brooklyn books (a very preliminary list):
Literary Brooklyn, by Evan Hughes
The Fortress of Solitude, by Jonathan Lethem
The Invention of Brownstone Brooklyn, by Suleiman Osman
The Great Bridge, by David McCullough
February House, by Sherill Tippins
Prospect Park West, by Amy Sohn
Brooklyn: A State of Mind, edited by Michael Robbins & Wendy Palitz (a bit stale but still fun)

Books set in Brooklyn, an idiosyncratic list, via Good Reads. Conde Nast Traveler's 10 Essential Books about Brooklyn.

Films set in Brooklyn, via Wikipedia. A terrific literary map of Brooklyn, from the Brooklyn Public Library.

A nice essay about leaving Brooklyn. GQ's gush about Brooklyn food ("the coolest city on the planet"), and Josh Ozersky's curmudgeonly response.
New York Times 2016 election map for Brooklyn
This map from the New York Times (https://nyti.ms/2NN2j6G) shows the few neighborhoods, in red, that supported Donald Trump in the 2016 election: most were Orthodox Jewish/Hasidic enclaves, but also areas with white ethnics like Bay Ridge, Manhattan Beach, and Marine Park.
Brooklyn population density, helpful in getting to know Brooklyn
Map via NYC Department of City Planning.

Maps below from Center for Urban Research, CUNY Graduate Center
Brooklyn demographics as of 2000 by race/ethnicity, helpful in getting to know Brooklyn
Brooklyn demographics as of 2010 by race/ethnicity, helpful in getting to know Brooklyn
Map showing poverty in Brooklyn, helpful in getting to know Brooklyn
Poverty in Brooklyn, via ICPH
Map of greenery in Brooklyn, helpful in understanding the borough
The Brooklyn Green HeatMap, from Rentenna, focusing on street trees, parks, and farmer's markets.
Brooklyn gentrification map, showing change in home values, helping you understand Brooklyn
Brooklyn Gentrification Map, via PropertyShark
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