Geography and Population
– Located on the westernmost edge of Long Island
– Coextensive with Kings County in the U.S. state of New York
– Most populous county in the State of New York
– Second-most-densely-populated county in the United States
– Land area of 70.82 square miles (183.4km) and water area of 26 square miles (67km)
– Most populous borough of New York City
– 2,736,074 residents in 2020
– Third most populous city in the U.S. after the rest of New York City and Los Angeles, and ahead of Chicago
– Larger Jewish population than Jerusalem, with Jews forming around a quarter of its population
– Diverse ethnic enclaves
Name Origin and History
– Derived from the original Dutch town of Breukelen
– Oldest mention of the settlement in the Netherlands is in a charter of 953
– Name means ‘broken land’
– Current name reflects its meaning
– First appeared in print in 1663
– Settlement began in the 17th century as the small Dutch-founded town of Breuckelen
– Consolidated with New York City in 1898
– Maintains distinct culture
– Experienced a renaissance as a destination for hipsters in the 21st century
– Hub of entrepreneurship, high-technology startup firms, postmodern art, and design
– Dutch were the first Europeans to settle Long Island’s western edge
– Breuckelen settlement was named after Breukelen in the Netherlands
– Dutch West India Company chartered the six original parishes
– New Amsterdam, the colony’s capital, obtained its charter in 1653
– Brooklyn became part of the Province of New York after the English captured the New Netherland colony in 1664
Battle of Brooklyn and Post-independence era
– American positions at Brooklyn Heights became untenable
– Washington’s tactical withdrawal across the East River was seen as a brilliant triumph
– British controlled New York Harbor and occupied New York City
– Patriot residents fled or were cleared from the area
– British set up prison ships where many American patriots died
– Urbanization began in the 19th century on the East River shore of Kings County
– Brooklyn developed as a commuter town for Wall Street
– Towns and villages in Kings County had independent municipalities
– Brooklyn Eagle newspaper was established in the 1840s
– Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team contributed to Brooklyn’s identity
– Brooklyn had stronger opposition to Southern slavery than New York City
– Brooklyn played a major role in supplying troops and materiel for the Civil War
– The 14th Brooklyn regiment was well-known and wore red uniforms
– Brooklyn contributed to the Union’s strengths in shipping and manufacturing
– Brooklyn was referred to as the twin city of New York in a poem
Affluent districts and notable figures
– Fort Greene and Clinton Hill were home to notable figures such as Charles Pratt and William Quan Judge
– Brooklyn Heights remained an august patrician redoubt into the early 20th century
– South Brooklyn was home to civic leader James S. T. Stranahan
– Economic growth continued in Brooklyn
– Brooklyn played a role in national affairs overshadowed by its old partner, New York City
– Brooklyn’s population grew rapidly in the early 19th century
– Inadequate police protection led to the creation of a modern police force in 1855
– Brooklyn merged its police force with New York City’s in 1857
– Brooklyn had a great victory arch and a monument honoring a local abolitionist
Industrialization, Municipal Changes, and Sports/Entertainment
– Brooklyn became the third-most populous American city during the 19th century
– Immigration and industrialization drove the city’s growth
– The waterfront from Gowanus to Greenpoint was developed with piers and factories
– The shipbuilding industry in Williamsburg produced the famous USS Monitor
– Trolley lines and other transportation expanded urban sprawl beyond Prospect Park
– The City of Brooklyn built centralized waterworks, including the Ridgewood Reservoir
– The municipal Police Department was abolished in 1854 and replaced by a Metropolitan force
– The Brooklyn Fire Department gave way to the new Metropolitan Fire District in 1865
– Rail links, like the Brighton Beach Line, ended the isolation of peripheral towns in Kings County
– Annexations in the late 19th century expanded Brooklyn’s boundaries
– Professional baseball was played at Washington Park in Park Slope
– The Brooklyn Dodgers brought baseball to Ebbets Field
– Racetracks, amusement parks, and beach resorts opened in Brighton Beach, Coney Island, and other southern parts of the county
– Brooklyn experienced explosive growth in the late 19th century, with Park Slope becoming a prominent district
– Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights emerged as upper middle-class enclaves for different ethnic groups
– Seth Low served as mayor of Brooklyn from 1882 to 1885
– He secured a degree of home rule for the city, allowing veto power over Brooklyn bills in the State Assembly
– Low implemented educational reforms, such as integrating schools and introducing free textbooks
– He introduced a Civil Service Code to eliminate patronage jobs
– Low raised the tax rate to increase city revenue and reduce debt
– The completion of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883 strengthened ties between Brooklyn and Manhattan
– The question of consolidation arose, and in 1898, Brooklyn merged with other counties to form the City of New York
– Some residents were initially opposed to the loss of Brooklyn’s separate identity
– Andrew Haswell Green and other progressives advocated for consolidation
– The merger was ultimately approved by a majority vote in 1894 Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn,_New_York
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. With 2,736,074 residents as of the 2020 United States census, Kings County is the most populous of the five boroughs of New York City and the most populous county in the State of New York. The population density of Brooklyn was 37,339.9 inhabitants per square mile (14,417.0/km2) in 2022, making it the second-most-densely-populated county in the United States, behind Manhattan, and it had the ninth-highest population of any county nationwide. If Brooklyn were an independent city, it would be the fourth most populous in the U.S. after the rest of New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
Brooklyn Kings County, New York | |
|---|---|
 Downtown Brooklyn seen from Lower Manhattan | |
 Seal | |
| Motto(s): Eendraght Maeckt Maght ("Unity makes strength") | |
 Interactive map outlining Brooklyn | |
 Location within the state of New York | |
| Coordinates: 40°41′34″N 73°59′25″W / 40.69278°N 73.99028°W | |
| Country |  United States |
| State | New York |
| County | Kings (coterminous) |
| City | New York City |
| Settled | 1634 |
| Named for | Breukelen, Netherlands |
| Government | |
| • Type | Borough |
| • Borough President | Antonio Reynoso (D) — (Borough of Brooklyn) |
| • District Attorney | Eric Gonzalez (D) — (Kings County) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 97 sq mi (250 km2) |
| • Land | 70.82 sq mi (183.4 km2) |
| • Water | 26 sq mi (67 km2) |
| Highest elevation | 220 ft (67 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
| • Total | 2,736,074 |
| • Density | 38,634/sq mi (14,917/km2) |
| • Demonym | Brooklynite |
| GDP | |
| • Total | US$107.274 billion (2022) |
| ZIP Code prefix | 112 |
| Area codes | 718/347/929, 917 |
| Website | www |
Named after the Dutch town of Breukelen in the Netherlands, Brooklyn shares a border with the borough of Queens. It has several bridge and tunnel connections to the borough of Manhattan, across the East River, and is connected to Staten Island by way of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. With a land area of 69.38 square miles (179.7 km2) and a water area of 27.48 square miles (71.2 km2), Kings County is the state of New York's fourth-smallest county by land area and third smallest by total area.
Brooklyn was founded by the Dutch in the 17th century and grew into a busy port city by the 19th century. On January 1, 1898, after a long political campaign and public-relations battle during the 1890s, in accordance to the new municipal charter of "Greater New York", Brooklyn was consolidated in and annexed (along with other areas) to form the current five-borough structure of New York City. The borough continues to maintain some distinct culture. Many Brooklyn neighborhoods are ethnic enclaves. Having a larger Jewish population than Jerusalem, the borough has been described as "the most Jewish spot on Earth", with Jews forming around a quarter of its population. Brooklyn's official motto, displayed on the borough seal and flag, is Eendraght Maeckt Maght, which translates from early modern Dutch as 'Unity makes strength'.
In the first decades of the 21st century, Brooklyn has experienced a renaissance as a destination for hipsters, with concomitant gentrification, dramatic house-price increases, and a decrease in housing affordability. Some new developments are required to include affordable housing units.[citation needed] Since the 2010s, parts of Brooklyn have evolved into a hub of entrepreneurship, high-technology startup firms, postmodern art, and design.
