Sunset Park Restoration Committee.

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As of 2010, there were over 400 different neighborhoods within the five boroughs of New York City. The origins of New York City neighborhoods are thought to have stemmed from the original six wards that were chartered under Governor Thomas Dongan in 1686 in what is now lower Manhattan. Over the years, neighborhoods gradually became defined by several factors: the people that lived within the neighborhoods; neighborhood churches; and neighborhood businesses and their customers. As wealth grew in New York City, neighborhoods became increasingly segregated according to class and ethnicity. For example, in Manhattan, the wealthy began to move into enclaves uptown, while the working poor remained in the tenements of lower Manhattan. Further, Jewish and African American neighborhoods had historically been segregated.

In Brooklyn, several other factors helped to grow and define its neighborhoods. As Brooklyn consolidated, first into a city (1834) and then as a borough (1898), areas that were once independent villages or towns often became neighborhoods. Further, many working class and ethnic groups moved from Manhattan to Brooklyn to escape cramped living conditions or discrimination. As mass transit became more widely accessible during the late 19th to early 20th centuries, workers were able to live in Brooklyn and commute to their jobs in Manhattan.

Throughout the boroughs, as the middle and upper classes grew, property values within the middle and upper class neighborhoods rose. Rising property values often led to gentrification, discrepancies in public services amongst the neighborhoods, and the displacement of long-time residents. As some neighborhoods thrived, others declined. With the rise of the historic preservation movement, such as the Municipal Art Society's work in the 1950s and 1960s to preserve historic structures and neighborhoods throughout New York City, many new neighborhood associations and civic organizations drew inspiration from the movement and modeled their community organizing after it. For example, the Brooklyn Heights Association, the oldest ongoing neighborhood association in New York City (since 1910), succeeded in making Brooklyn Heights the first Historic District in New York City in 1965. From the 1960s onward, neighborhood associations and civic organizations have greatly influenced city policies and have played an important role in the preservation, restoration, and development of neighborhoods.

Sources: Scherzer, Kenneth A. "Neighborhoods." In The Encyclopedia of New York City, edited by Kenneth T. Jackson, 886-887. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press; New York: New-York Historical Society, 2010. Pearson, Marjorie. "Historic preservation." In The Encyclopedia of New York City, edited by Kenneth T. Jackson, 599-601. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press; New York: New-York Historical Society, 2010. Brooklyn Heights Association. "BHA History." Accessed January 24, 2011. http://www.thebha.org/about-us/bha-history/

From the guide to the Brooklyn neighborhood associations and civic organizations publications, Bulk, 1970-1999, 1881-2008, (Brooklyn Historical Society)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Brooklyn neighborhood associations and civic organizations publications, Bulk, 1970-1999, 1881-2008 Center for Brooklyn History (2020-)
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Bedford-Stuyvesant Ad Hoc Refugee Committee (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.). corporateBody
associatedWith Bedford-Stuyvesant Better Housing Committee (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.). corporateBody
associatedWith Boerum Hill Association. corporateBody
associatedWith Brooklyn Civic Club (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.). corporateBody
associatedWith Brooklyn Committee on City Plan. corporateBody
associatedWith Brooklyn Heights Citizens for Fair Reapportionment (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.). corporateBody
associatedWith Brooklyn Heights Landmarks Festival. corporateBody
associatedWith Brooklyn Institutional Council (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.). corporateBody
associatedWith Brooklyn Society for Parks and Playgrounds for Children. corporateBody
associatedWith Brownstone Revival Coalition (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.). corporateBody
associatedWith Brownstone Revival Committee. corporateBody
associatedWith Civil Service Reform Association of Brooklyn. corporateBody
associatedWith Coalition of Prospect Heights Block Associations (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.). corporateBody
associatedWith Consumers' League of New York City . Brooklyn Auxiliary. corporateBody
associatedWith Crown Heights Neighborhood Action Program (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y). corporateBody
associatedWith Crown Heights Office of Neighborhood Government (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.). corporateBody
associatedWith Crown Heights Progress Council (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.). corporateBody
associatedWith Downtown Brooklyn Development Committee. corporateBody
associatedWith Flatbush Civic and Cultural Association. Committee to Preserve Flatbush Town Hall. corporateBody
associatedWith Flatbush Development Corporation (New York, N.Y.). corporateBody
associatedWith Friends of Fort Greene Park (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.). corporateBody
associatedWith Lefferts Manor Association (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.). corporateBody
associatedWith Little Italy Neighborhood Association. corporateBody
associatedWith Nineteenth Ward Improvement Association (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.). corporateBody
associatedWith Nottingham Association (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.). corporateBody
associatedWith Park Slope Civil Council (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.). corporateBody
associatedWith Parkway-Stuyvesant Community and Housing Council (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.). corporateBody
associatedWith Prospect Heights Neighborhood Corporation (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.). corporateBody
associatedWith Prospect Lefferts Gardens Neighborhood Association. corporateBody
associatedWith Prospect Park South Association. corporateBody
associatedWith Society for Clinton Hill. corporateBody
associatedWith Society for the Preservation of Weeksville and Bedford-Stuyvesant History. corporateBody
associatedWith South Brooklyn Board of Trade. corporateBody
associatedWith South Midwood Residents' Association (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.). corporateBody
associatedWith St. George Tower Tenants Association (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.). corporateBody
associatedWith Triangle Parks Flatbush Avenue Improvement Committee (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.). corporateBody
associatedWith Wallabout Landmarks Preservation Committee (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.). corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Midwood (New York, N.Y.)
Sunset Park (New York, N.Y.)
Coney Island (New York, N.Y.)
Downtown Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
Clinton Hill (New York, N.Y.)
Flatbush (New York, N.Y.)
Boerum Hill (New York, N.Y.)
Carroll Gardens (New York, N.Y.)
Fort Greene (New York, N.Y.)
Crown Heights (New York, N.Y.)
Prospect Park South (New York, N.Y.)
Brooklyn Heights (New York, N.Y.)
Weeksville (New York, N.Y.)
Bedford-Stuyvesant (New York, N.Y.)
Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
Prospect Heights (New York, N.Y.)
Subject
Citizens' associations
Occupation
Activity

Corporate Body

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