Prospect Park South is a small neighborhood in
Flatbush,
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 ...
, 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 Commission
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
in 1979
and 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 ...
in 1983.
[ The historic district is bounded by Church Avenue to the north, the BMT Brighton Line () of 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 ...
to the east, Beverley Road to the south, and between Stratford Road and Coney Island Avenue to the west.
Prospect Park South, along with other neighborhoods within Flatbush, is policed by the 70th Precinct of 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
Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act i ...
.
History
In 1899, developer Dean Alvord purchased about of farmland in order to create Prospect Park South, a community of substantial homes, a "rural park within the limitations of the conventional city block and city street." Alvord characterized the development as ''rus in urbe'', the country in the city. The location was selected to take advantage of the train service on the Brooklyn and Brighton Beach Railroad of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT). The line, now known as the BMT Brighton Line, offered express and local train service that remains to this day. The trains emerged at Fulton Street as an elevated line and continued across the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan.
Once he had purchased the land, Alvord laid out all the necessary utilities and marked the entrance of most streets with brick piers with cast concrete plaques bearing the bas-relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
inscription "PPS". He also hired John Aitkin, a Scottish landscape gardener, to supervise the plantings for the lawns and the Flatbush Malls, with meticulous attention given to details. Trees, for instance, were not planted only along the curb line, but also at the building line as well, to give the streets greater breadth of vision, to block out adjoining houses, and provide the illusion that each house was the only one on the block. Both Norway maples and Carolina poplars were used: the poplars for immediate shade, and the slower-growing maples for long-term shade. Alvord did all this before selling a single plot.
Alvord also hired architect John J. Petit and a staff to design the houses in the development, although clients could also provide their own architect if they preferred to. Petit ended up designing many of the houses in the development, in a wide variety of styles, including Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival and Queen Anne. The houses in Prospect Park South were required to be substantial, freestanding homes exceeding and costing over US$5,000. Several other restrictions were also placed upon builders wishing to develop the lots.
Alvord wanted to create an environment that attracted the Protestant, wealthy elite while excluding the immigrant population moving into Brooklyn at the time. In his original prospectus, Alvord wrote:
In fixing upon a location for a home, it is pleasant to live where children, in going to and fro, are not subject to the annoyance of contact with the undesirable elements of society. The Flatbush Avenue trolley line penetrates no slum sections and is patronized almost exclusively by people of intelligence and good breeding.
While not the first attempt at suburban development in the area, Alvord's vision excited the interest of the wealthy of Brooklyn Heights
Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, ...
and Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
residents. Ultimately, Alvord's restrictions not only created an exciting new design but a standard to become a blueprint for the modern 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 separ ...
. Enthusiasm for his design in following years would see South Midwood, Fiske Terrace Fiske Terrace is a planned community and neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Fiske Terrace is located in south central Brooklyn in the southern edge of the community of Flatbush and north of the community of Midwood. It is boun ...
, Ditmas Park, the Beverley Squares
Beverley Square East and Beverley Square West, also spelled Beverly Square, are a pair of neighborhoods in the Flatbush section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Located southwest of Prospect Park within what is now called Victorian Fl ...
, and many more developments spring up in the surrounding area to accommodate the demand, together forming what is now known as 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 far ...
.
In 1972, New York's Albanian community established a mosque at 1325 Albemarle Road.
Prospect Park South was designated as a historic district by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
in 1979.[
]
Notable residents
*John Giuca
The murder of Mark S. Fisher occurred in the early morning hours of October 12, 2003. The college student was brutally beaten, shot five times, and left on Argyle Road in Prospect Park South, Brooklyn. He was 19 years old.
On October 19th, 200 ...
(born 1983), convicted of second-degree felony murder
*Doreen Giuliano
Doreen Quinn Giuliano is the mother of John Giuca, who in 2003 was convicted of the murder of Mark Fisher. Giuliano went undercover to investigate possible juror misconduct in the trial. Because of her activities, Giuliano has been called "Mo ...
, mother of John Giuca, went undercover to investigate possible juror misconduct in his trial
* Maya Wiley (born 1964), lawyer, professor, civil rights activist, and 2021 mayoral candidate for New York City
Notable houses
The Alvord Mansion at 1522 Albemarle Road was built by Alvord for his family. Later, it was purchased by Israel Matz
Israel Matz ( he, ישראל מץ; February 9, 1869 - February 10, 1950) Matz is well known for founding the Ex-Lax company in 1906, today owned by Novartis. His grandson, Roy M. Goodman, was a New York State Senator from 1969–2002.
Community ...
, founder of the Ex-lax Company. The Alvord Mansion burned down c.1955 under mysterious conditions after its sale by the Matz family to apartment developers fell through in the face of community opposition.
Among the other notable houses in the neighborhood are:
*Herman Goetze House, 15 Stratford Road, 1905, Colonial Revival, George HitchingsNew York City Landmark Preservation Commission
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
br>"Prospect Park South Historic District Designation Report"
(February 8, 1979)
*Herbert Krantz House, 183 Argyle Road, 1904, Tudor Revival, John J. Petit
*George E. Gale House, 1305 Albemarle Road, 1905, Classical Revival
Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...
, H. B. Moore
*John S. Eakins House, 1306 Albemarle Road, 1905, Shingle style/Colonial Revival, John J. Petit
*Col. Alexander S. Bacon House, 101 Rugby Road, Eclectic
Eclectic may refer to:
Music
* ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014
* ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996
* Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act
* Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...
/ Swiss chalet, 1900, John E. Nitchie
*Francis M Crafts House, 1423 Albemarle Road, 1899, Queen Anne, John J. Petit
*J. C. Woodhull House, 1440 Albemarle Road, 1905, Queen Anne/Colonial Revival, Robert Bryson and Carroll Pratt
*Henry P. Reade House, 1501 Albemarle Road, 1904, Queen Anne, John J. Petit
*Maurice Minton House, 1510 Albemarle Road, 1900, Colonial Revival, John J. Petit
*Louis McDonald House, 1519 Albemarle Road, 1902, Prairie School
Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped ...
/ Neo-Jacobean, John J. Petit
*Frank K. Schenck House, 219 Marlborough Road, 1900, John J. Petit[ White, Norval and Willensky, Elliot. '']AIA Guide to New York City
The ''AIA Guide to New York City'' by Norval White, Elliot Willensky, and Fran Leadon is an extensive catalogue with descriptions, critique and photographs of significant and noteworthy architecture throughout the five boroughs of New York City. ...
'' (3rd ed.), pp.698-700
*Russell Benedict House, 104 Buckingham Road, 1902, Classical Revival, Carroll H. Pratt
*William H. McEntee House, 115 Buckingham Road, 1900, Shingle style, John J. Petit
*George U. Tompers House, 125 Buckingham Road, 1911, Colonial Revival, Brun & Hauser
*Frederick S. Kolle House, 131 Buckingham Road, 1902–03, Japanese pagoda, Petit & Green
*William A. Norwood House, 143 Buckingham Road, 1906, Italian Villa
A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house built in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions.
Typology and distribution
Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) distinguished two kinds of villas n ...
, Walter S. Cassin
*The Sovereign, 55 Parade Place, 1927, large residential complex across from the Brooklyn Parade Grounds["55 Parade Place"]
/ref>
Gallery
File:1440 Albemarle Road Prospect Park South.jpg, 1440 Albemarle Road
(Bill Bryson & Carroll Pratt, 1905)
File:1314 Albemarle Road Prospect Park South.jpg, 1314 Albemarle Road
(Carroll Pratt, 1903)
File:131 Buckingham Rd jeh crop.jpg, 131 Buckingham Road
( Petit & Green, 1902–03)
File:1510 Albemarle Road Prospect Park South.jpg, 1510 Abermarle Road
(John J. Petit, 1900)
File:100RugbyBrooklyn.jpg, 100 Rugby Road (John J. Petit, 1905)
File:136ArgyleBrooklyn.jpg, 136 Argyle Road (Carroll Pratt, 1903)
See also
* List of Brooklyn neighborhoods
* List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Brooklyn
References
Notes
Bibliography
*Gunnison, Herbert Foster "Flatbush To-day", S.N. 1908, held by Harvard Library
External links
Ditmas Park article
in New York magazine
''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...
* . Retrieved 2008-04-24.
{{Authority control
Buildings and structures completed in 1899
Colonial Revival architecture in New York City
Flatbush, Brooklyn
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Brooklyn
Neighborhoods in Brooklyn
New York City designated historic districts
New York City Designated Landmarks in Brooklyn
Communities developed by Dean Alvord
Prospect Park (Brooklyn)