Ditmas Park is a historic district in the neighborhood of
Flatbush in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. The traditional boundaries of Ditmas Park, including Ditmas Park West, are Ocean Avenue and greater Flatbush to the east, Dorchester Road and the
Prospect Park South
Prospect Park South is a small neighborhood in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York City, located south of Prospect Park. It is included within the Prospect Park South Historic District, which was designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation ...
neighborhood to the north,
Coney Island Avenue
Coney Island Avenue is a road in the New York City borough of Brooklyn that runs north-south for a distance of roughly five miles, almost parallel to Ocean Parkway and Ocean Avenue. It begins at Brighton Beach Avenue in Coney Island and goes nort ...
and the
Kensington
Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...
neighborhood to the west, and Newkirk Avenue to the south. The name Ditmas Park is often used a shorthand for the several neighborhoods that comprise the larger area of
Victorian Flatbush
Victorian Flatbush is the western section of the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York, bordering Midwood, that is characterized by Victorian houses.
The neighborhoods of Victorian Flatbush were developed in the early twentieth century from fa ...
.
Ditmas Park is patrolled by the
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
's 70th Precinct, and is within
Brooklyn Community District 14. The
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...
's serve Ditmas Park.
The neighborhood is located on land formerly owned by the Ditmas family. The area remained rural until the 1890s. At that time, Brooklyn was becoming more popular, due to the development of
Prospect Park and the
Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/ suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River ...
, along with improved transportation in New York City.
Lewis H. Pounds was one of the early developers of the area now known as Ditmas Park Historic District. This eight-block national
historic district
A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...
consists of 2,000 to 2,500 largely residential buildings built between 1902 and 1914. Many of the buildings are large, free-standing, single-family homes with gables and front porches. Most of the building architects were local to the Flatbush or Brooklyn area, and they specialized in
suburb
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
an buildings. Architectural styles of the area's buildings include
Colonial Revival
The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture.
The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archi ...
,
Bungalow/Craftsman
In the United States, the National Register of Historic Places classifies its listings by various types of architecture. Listed properties often are given one or more of 40 standard architectural style classifications that appear in the National ...
,
Queen Anne,
Tudor,
Greek Revival
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...
, and Japanese Cottage. These styles are uncommon in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, where
brownstone
Brownstone is a brown Triassic–Jurassic sandstone that was historically a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States and Canada to refer to a townhouse clad in this or any other aesthetically similar material.
Type ...
s and
rowhouses
In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house (British English, UK) or townhouse (American English, US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings party ...
are typical. The district also includes apartment buildings, a commercial district along Cortelyou Road, and one church, the brick Neo-Georgian Flatbush-Tompkins Congregational Church (1910) at which
Conrad Tillard
Conrad Bennette Tillard (born September 15, 1964) is an American Baptist minister, radio host, activist, politician, and author.
Tillard was in his early years a prominent minister of the black nationalist organization the Nation of Islam (NOI). ...
is since 2018 the Senior Minister.
[ ''See also:'' ]
Community
Newkirk Avenue,
Coney Island Avenue
Coney Island Avenue is a road in the New York City borough of Brooklyn that runs north-south for a distance of roughly five miles, almost parallel to Ocean Parkway and Ocean Avenue. It begins at Brighton Beach Avenue in Coney Island and goes nort ...
, Cortelyou Road, Foster Avenue, and Church Avenue are the neighborhood's commercial strips while many of their north–south streets are lined with historic
Victorian style homes. Since much of Ditmas Park is residential, many locals go to nearby
Park Slope
Park Slope is a neighborhood in northwestern Brooklyn, New York City, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. Park Slope is roughly bounded by Prospect Park and Prospect Park West to the east, Fourth Avenue to the west, Flatbush Aven ...
to run errands and shop, although the neighborhood has seen increased commercialization due to its recent
gentrification
Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...
.
The Ditmas Park Historic District was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1983.
Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, wealthy families purchased the large Victorian homes, but in the past few years, the neighborhood has experienced rapid
gentrification
Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...
, with an influx of young people and artists attracted to the large spaces for relatively cheap rents. An example of this is Cortelyou Road, a commercial street in the neighborhood. Cortelyou enjoys a number of
delis
Traditionally, a delicatessen or deli is a retail establishment that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessen originated in Germany (original: ) during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the m ...
,
bars,
coffee shops
A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...
,
restaurants
A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearanc ...
, the Flatbush Food Co-op, and more upscale restaurants. Cortelyou is also home to many venues, which attracts many local musicians, as well as more well-known artists.
In October 2009, ''
Time Out New York
''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide.
In 2012, the London edition becam ...
'' named Ditmas Park one of the best neighborhoods in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
for food. Similar articles praising Ditmas Park for its food have appeared in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' and ''
AM New York
''AM New York Metro'' is a free newspaper, free daily newspaper that is published in New York City by Schneps Media. According to the company, the average Friday circulation in September 2013 was 335,900. When launched on October 10, 2003, ''AM New ...
''.
The area is also frequently used for movie and TV filming due to its Victorian houses, which project a suburban feel.
File:DitmasParkBoundaries.jpg, Sign of Ditmas Park Historic District map
File:70 Pct Lawrence Av jeh.jpg, 70th Precinct, NYPD
File:Ditmas Park, New York.JPG, A street in Ditmas Park
Associations
The Ditmas Park Association, founded in 1908, hosts social events, publishes a newsletter and a home improvement directory, and works on numerous civic issues, often jointly with its sister neighborhoods and the Flatbush Development Corporation. The Flatbush Development Corporation hosts an annual Victorian Flatbush House Tour.
Other neighborhood associations also serve parts of the neighborhood, such as the Ditmas Park West Neighborhood Association (DPW), and Beverley Square West Neighborhood Association. DPW runs a Yahoo group for the neighborhood. Flatbush Artists is also based in the area and has an annual artwalk featuring artists who live in the area.
Beginning in March 2012, the website ''Ditmas Park Corner'' documented important events and openings in the area, and served as a forum for discussions and inquiries about the neighborhood; as of 2017 the site was incorporated into the Brooklyn-wide news site ''
Bklyner''. For a brief period of time in the early 2010s, Ditmas Park Corner had competition from Ditmas Park Patch, one of a series of neighborhood news organizations run by AOL.
Library
The
Brooklyn Public Library
The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) is the public library system of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is the sixteenth largest public library system in the United States by holding and the seventh by number of visitors. Like the two othe ...
's Cortelyou branch is located at 1305 Cortelyou Road, near Argyle Road. The branch was first proposed in 1969, but did not open until 1983.
Transportation
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...
stops in or very near to Ditmas Park are
Beverley Road
Beverley Road (known in local parlance as Bev Road) is one of several major roads that run out of the city of Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The road is noted for being a major arterial route into, and out of Hull. It also known ...
(),
Cortelyou Road (),
Newkirk Plaza (), and
Avenue H ().
MTA-operated express buses that run through Ditmas Park are the , and local buses are the .
Notable residents
*
Aaron Dessner
Aaron Brooking Dessner (born April 23, 1976) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as a founding member of the rock band the National, with whom he has recorded eight studio albums; a co-founder of the indie ...
(born 1976), of
The National
*
Bryce Dessner
Bryce David Dessner (born April 23, 1976) is an American composer and guitarist based in Paris, as well as a member of the rock band the National. Dessner's twin brother Aaron is also a member of the group. Together they write the music, in coll ...
(born 1976), composer and guitarist
[
* ]Ric Menello
Richard "Ric" Menello (August 20, 1952March 1, 2013) was an American filmmaker and screenwriter. Menello co-directed the landmark music video for the Beastie Boys' 1987 single, "''(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)''". His contributio ...
(1952-2013), screenwriter and director, co-directed the Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Mike D, Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (voca ...
' music videos "''(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)
"(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)" (shortened to "Fight for Your Right" on album releases) is a song by American hip hop group the Beastie Boys, released as the fourth single released from their debut album ''Licensed to Ill'' (1986). ...
''" and "''No Sleep till Brooklyn
"No Sleep till Brooklyn" is a song by the New York hip hop group the Beastie Boys, and the sixth single from their debut studio album, ''Licensed to Ill''. One of their signature songs, it describes an exhaustive tour and all the events that mak ...
''".
* Roy Nathanson
Roy Jay Nathanson (born May 17, 1951) is an American saxophonist, composer, bandleader, actor and teacher. He became the leader and principal composer of the Jazz Passengers, a six piece group that he founded with Curtis Fowlkes in 1987. They have ...
(born 1951), saxophonist, composer, bandleader who became the leader and principal composer of the Jazz Passengers
The Jazz Passengers are an American jazz group founded in 1987 by saxophonist Roy Nathanson and trombonist Curtis Fowlkes.
The band grew out of a partnership between Nathanson and Fowlkes in 1987, after the two had played with John Lurie's band ...
* Tim O'Brien (born 1964), illustrator
* Ben Smith, former editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed
* Sonja Sohn
Sonja Denise Plack (' Williams; born May 9, 1964), known professionally as Sonja Sohn, is an American actress, activist and filmmaker, best known for portraying Baltimore detective Kima Greggs in the HBO drama ''The Wire'' (2002–2008). She is ...
(born 1964), actress
* Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens ( ; born July 1, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released nine solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nomi ...
(born 1975), singer-songwriter[Kompanek, Christopher]
"National’s treasure"
''New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'', May 19, 2011. Accessed September 26, 2017. "Unlike an actual suburb, though, Ditmas Park is filled with musicians, including Sufjan Stevens and Dessner’s brother, Bryce, who plays guitar for the National."
* Michelle Williams (born 1980), actress[Plitt, Amy]
"Here's How Michelle Williams Will Transform Her Crumbling Brooklyn Mansion; The Oscar-nominated actress is planning some big changes to the Ditmas Park home"
Curbed
''Curbed'' is an American real estate and urban design website founded as a blog by Lockhart Steele in 2006. The full website, founded in 2010, featured sub-pages dedicated to specific real estate markets and metropolitan areas across the Unit ...
New York, March 16, 2016. Accessed November 21, 2016. "Last year, actress Michelle Williams put down roots in Ditmas Park, buying a sprawling eight-bedroom mansion at 1440 Albemarle Road for $2.5 million."
References
{{Brooklyn
Colonial Revival architecture in New York City
Flatbush, Brooklyn
Neighborhoods in Brooklyn
Queen Anne architecture in New York City