Resources on Brooklyn: Links, books, maps, and more
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.
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.
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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:
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. |
Map via NYC Department of City Planning.
Maps below from Center for Urban Research, CUNY Graduate Center
Poverty in Brooklyn, via ICPH
The Brooklyn Green HeatMap, from Rentenna, focusing on street trees, parks, and farmer's markets.
Brooklyn Gentrification Map, via PropertyShark
