East Flatbush, Brooklyn


East Flatbush is a residential neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. East Flatbush is bounded by Crown Heights and Empire Boulevard to the north; Brownsville and East 98th Street to the east; Flatlands/Canarsie and the Long Island Rail Road's Bay Ridge Branch to the south; and Flatbush and Bedford/Nostrand Avenues to the west. East Flatbush is a predominantly African American neighborhood and has a population of 135,619 as of the 2010 United States Census.
East Flatbush is part of Brooklyn Community District 17 and its primary ZIP Code is 11203. It is patrolled by the 67th Precinct of the New York City Police Department. Politically it is represented by the New York City Council's 40th, 41st, and 45th Districts.

Geography

As with many neighborhoods in Brooklyn, the borders of East Flatbush are subjective, but its northern border is roughly at Empire Boulevard and East New York Avenue east of East 91st Street, its southern border is in the vicinity of the Long Island Rail Road Bay Ridge Branch, its eastern border is roughly at East 98th Street and its western border is roughly at Bedford and Nostrand Avenues.
East Flatbush is split up into three subsections. From west to east they are Erasmus, Farragut, and Remsen Village/Rugby.

Farragut

The central section of East Flatbush is called Farragut. Farragut is roughly bounded by Cortelyou Road and Holy Cross Cemetery to the north, Kings Highway to the east, Brooklyn Avenue on the west and the LIRR Bay Ridge Branch to the south. Farragut was originally part of the colonial Town of Flatbush, and was named for American Civil War Admiral David Farragut. The area was largely populated by Jews and Italians before 1950. By the 1990s, African Americans became a majority, along with many immigrants from the West Indies.
Farragut is adjacent to Paerdegat Woods, a formerly wooded area near Paerdegat Basin where real-estate developer Fred Trump constructed housing in the 1940s. Farragut also contains Vanderveer Estates, a 59-building complex erected in 1949. Vanderveer Estates was built on the site of the old Flatbush Water Works.

Remsen Village

Remsen Village has been described as a "subsection of the larger East Flatbush neighborhood," with an estimated 60,000 residents. but is also sometimes considered its own neighborhood and also as "Rugby-Remsen Village". The origin of using the name Remsen Village seems to be in the mid-1990s, and it was referred as such through the 21st century. Remsen Village's population is over one third of that of Brooklyn Community Board 17, which consists entirely of East Flatbush and its subsections.
The name "Rugby" was described in 2016 by the New York Times as "the old name for the area." It persists as the name of a road in East Flatbush, as well as a library branch in eastern East Flatbush.

Demographics

East Flatbush is divided into three neighborhood tabulation areas, which collectively comprise the population of the area. Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the combined population of East Flatbush's neighborhood tabulation areas was 135,619, a change of -9,740 from the 145,359 counted in 2000. Covering an area of, the neighborhood had a population density of.
The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 1.3% White, 88.7% African American, 0.3% Native American, 1.1% Asian, 0% Pacific Islander, 0.4% from other races, and 1.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.6% of the population.
The entirety of Community Board 17 had 154,575 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 82.6 years. This is higher than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are middle-aged adults and youth: 21% are between the ages of 0–17, 28% between 25–44, and 28% between 45–64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 9% and 15% respectively.
As of 2016, the median household income in Community District 17 was $49,349. In 2018, an estimated 19% of East Flatbush residents lived in poverty, compared to 21% in all of Brooklyn and 20% in all of New York City. One in eleven residents were unemployed, compared to 9% in the rest of both Brooklyn and New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 54% in East Flatbush, higher than the citywide and boroughwide rates of 52% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, as of 2018, East Flatbush is considered to be high-income and not gentrifying, relative to the rest of the city.
East Flatbush generally is very similar in nature to neighboring Flatbush, as both are predominantly West Indian and working class; however, Flatbush has a higher percentage of White and Asian residents than East Flatbush. The area was populated after World War II predominantly by immigrant Jews and Italians, then in the 1960s by African Americans, but most recently has seen many West Indian immigrants such as Guyanese, Haitians, Jamaicans, St.Lucians, Trinidadians, Grenadians, Vincentians, Bajans, Panamanians and Dominicans groups coming to the area. Within its confines is the Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn, which is located at 3620 Tilden Avenue. While some residents are affluent, East Flatbush is mostly populated by working-class Brooklynites. Similar to other eastern Brooklyn neighborhoods, blacks predominate East Flatbush. The area is 91.4% Black or African-American and 51% foreign born, the majority of whom are from the Caribbean. Considering this data, East Flatbush has been noted as being the single largest West Indian neighborhood in all of New York City and America as a whole.

Police and crime

The NYPD's 67th Precinct is located at 2820 Snyder Avenue. The 67th Precinct ranked 40th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. With a non-fatal assault rate of 80 per 100,000 people, East Flatbush's rate of violent crimes per capita is greater than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 597 per 100,000 people is higher than that of the city as a whole. The Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 79.9% between 1990 and 2018. The precinct reported 6 murders, 43 rapes, 246 robberies, 601 felony assaults, 225 burglaries, 586 grand larcenies, and 98 grand larcenies auto in 2018.
A drug epidemic ravaged East Flatbush during the late 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, mostly in Vanderveer Estates Apartments now known as Flatbush Gardens and isn't a complex of the New York City Housing Authority, but is owned by David Bistricer. The intersection of Foster Avenue and Nostrand Avenues was nicknamed "the Front Page" because of media attention to drug murders there. The intersection of Foster between New York Avenue and Brooklyn Avenue area to the south was called "the Back Page" because its many murders went unnoticed. The area around the Nostrand playground had various gangs: Crips, Gangster Disciples, Jamaicans, Trinidadians and Grenadians particularly notorious for turf wars, shootouts, and pitbull fights. Crime is still somewhat of a problem in the neighborhood today as well.

Fire safety

The firehouse for the New York City Fire Department 's Engine Co. 310/Ladder Co. 174 is located at 5105 Snyder Avenue.

Health

Preterm and teenage births are more common in East Flatbush than in other places citywide. In East Flatbush, there were 126 preterm births per 1,000 live births, and 20.6 teenage births per 1,000 live births. East Flatbush has a high population of residents who are uninsured, or who receive healthcare through Medicaid. In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 15%, which is higher than the citywide rate of 12%.
The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant, in East Flatbush is, lower than the citywide and boroughwide averages. Eight percent of East Flatbush residents are smokers, which is lower the city average of 14% of residents being smokers. In East Flatbush, 34% of residents are obese, 15% are diabetic, and 36% have high blood pressure—compared to the citywide averages of 24%, 11%, and 28% respectively. In addition, 22% of children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%.
Eighty percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is lower than the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 83% of residents described their health as "good," "very good," or "excellent," higher than the city's average of 78%. For every supermarket in East Flatbush, there are 21 bodegas.
East Flatbush is home to three major hospitals, Kings County Hospital, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, and Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center.

Transportation

East Flatbush does not have as much access to the New York City Subway as Flatbush. However, the IRT Nostrand Avenue Line has some stops located in East Flatbush, including Newkirk Avenue, Beverly Road, and Church Avenue.
MTA Regional Bus Operations' routes run north-south through East Flatbush, while the run east-west. The B12 bus takes a serpentine route at the north end of the neighborhood, and the runs on Kings Highway at the southeast edge of East Flatbush.

Education

East Flatbush generally has a lower ratio of college-educated residents than the rest of the city. While 30% of residents age 25 and older have a college education or higher, 15% have less than a high school education and 55% are high school graduates or have some college education. By contrast, 40% of Brooklynites and 38% of city residents have a college education or higher. The percentage of East Flatbush students excelling in math has been increasing, with math achievement rising from 32 percent in 2000 to 51 percent in 2011, though reading achievement within the same time period stayed steady at 42%.
East Flatbush's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is slightly higher than the rest of New York City. In East Flatbush, 23% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per school year, compared to the citywide average of 20% of students. Additionally, 78% of high school students in East Flatbush graduate on time, higher than the citywide average of 75% of students.

Schools

Schools located in East Flatbush include:
The Brooklyn Public Library has two branches in East Flatbush. The Rugby branch is located at 1000 Utica Avenue and opened in 1957. It was closed for renovations in mid-2018.
The East Flatbush Library is located at 9612 Church Avenue, between East 96th Street and Rockaway Parkway, and was opened in 1945. In September 2018, this library was also closed for renovations.

Notable places

East Flatbush is the home of the former General George W. Wingate High School and Gov. Samuel J. Tilden High School. The former Congregation Beth Israel, now known as Mt. Zion Church of God 7th Day, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.
In summer 2006, the New York City Department of Transportation co-named a portion of Church Avenue from Remsen Avenue to East 98th Street in East Flatbush as "Bob Marley Boulevard".

Notable people

Notable current and former residents of East Flatbush include: