Бруклиннің Браунсвилл ауданының тарихы

Brownsville is part of Brooklyn Community District 16, and its primary ZIP Code is 11212.

The area that would become Brownsville was first used by the Dutch for farming, as well as manufacturing stone slabs and other things used to construct buildings. In 1823–1824, the Dutch founded the New Lots Reformed Church in nearby New Lots because the corresponding church in Flatbush was too far away. The church, which has its own cemetery that was built in 1841, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. In 1858, William Suydam parceled the land into 262 lots, providing simple two to four room accommodations for workers who were living there. However, Suydam vastly underestimated how undesirable the area was, and ran out of funding in 1861. Believing the area to be useful for development, Within three years of the first lot being distributed, there were 10,000 Jews living in Brownsville. This overcrowding was despite the availability of empty space in the fringes of Brownsville. There were also no playgrounds in the area, and the only park in the vicinity was Betsy Head Park. Brownsville was also considered to have the highest density of Jews of any place in the United States through the 1950s. Brownsville was also a place for radical political causes during this time. In 1916, Margaret Sanger set up the first birth control clinic in America on Amboy Street. At one point in the 1943 published book, New York City Market Analysis, it had described Brownsville as having a variety of small industry unlike Lower East Side. The book also mentioned the Jewish populations were a mix of Russian, Austrian, and Polish immigrants and were 80% of the foreign born population in the neighborhood. In the 1930s, Brownsville achieved notoriety as the birthplace of Murder, Inc., The organizations' criminal businesses also extended to nearby neighborhoods of Ocean Hill and East New York. The members mainly consisted of Jewish and Italian Americans as these neighborhoods during that time were mainly populated by Jewish and Italian enclaves. A film about the organization, Murder Inc., was produced and released in 1960.

African Americans had begun moving into Brooklyn in large numbers in the early 20th century. The adjacent Bedford Stuyvesant was the first large African American community of Brooklyn. In the 1930s, Brownsville began to receive growing numbers of African Americans. Most of the new residents were poor and socially disadvantaged, especially the new African American residents, who were mostly migrants from the Jim Crow era South where they were racially discriminated against. By 1950, there were double the number of blacks, most of whom occupied the neighborhood's most undesirable housing. At the same time, new immigration quotas had reduced the number of Russian Jews who were able to immigrate to the United States. For instance, in the Van Dyke Houses, the black population in 1956 was 57% and the white population that year was 43%, with a little over one percent of residents receiving welfare benefits. Seven years later, 72% of the residents were black, 15% Puerto Rican, and the development had the highest rate of per capita arrests of any housing development citywide. The newly majority black Brownsville neighborhood had few community institutions or economic opportunities. It lacked a middle class, and its residents did not own the businesses they relied upon. At that time, Brownsville and East New York's single mother rate was almost twice the national rate, at 45%. Backlash against the report, mainly on accusations of victim blaming, caused leaders to overlook Moynihan's proposals to improve poor black communities' quality of life, and the single mother rate in Brownsville grew. Officer Rattley was not indicted by the grand jury. Then, in 1968, Brownsville was the setting of a protracted and highly contentious teachers' strike. The Board of Education had experimented with giving the people of the neighborhood control over the school. The new school administration fired several teachers in violation of union contract rules. The teachers were all white and mostly Jewish, and the resulting strike badly divided the whole city. The resulting strike dragged on for half a year, becoming known as one of John Lindsay's "Ten Plagues". It also served to segregate the remaining Jewish community from the larger black and Latino community. By 1970, the 130,000 resident population of Brownsville was 77% black and 19% Puerto Rican. Meanwhile, rioting and disorder continued. In June 1970, two men set fire to garbage bags to protest the New York City Department of Sanitation's reduction of trash collection pickups in Brownsville from six times to twice per week. In the riots that followed this arson, one man was killed and multiple others were injured. In May 1971, the mostly black residents of Brownsville objected to reductions in Medicaid, welfare funds, and drug prevention programs in a peaceful protest that soon turned violent. In the ensuing riot, protesters conflicted with police, with windows being broken, children stealing rides aboard buses, housewives tipping over banana stands, and the New York City Fire Department fighting over 100 fires in a single night. The city began to rehabilitate many formerly abandoned tenement style apartment buildings and designate them low income housing beginning in the late 1970s. Marcus Garvey Village, whose townhouse style three story apartment buildings had front doors and gardens, was an example of such low income development that did not lower crime and poverty, as was intended; instead, the houses became the home base of a local gang, and poverty went up to 40%. The neighborhood's crime rate decreased somewhat by the 1980s. Many subsidized multi unit townhouses and newly constructed apartment buildings were built on vacant lots across the expanse of the neighborhood, and from 2000 to 2003, applications for construction of residential buildings in Brownsville increased sevenfold. However, these improvements are limited to certain sections of Brownsville. In 2013, 39% of residents fell below the poverty line, compared to 43% in 2000, being twice the city's overall rate as well as 13% higher than that of nearby Newark, New Jersey. There is a high rate of poverty in the neighborhood's northeastern section, which is inhabited disproportionately by African Americans and Latinos. The overall average income in Brownsville is lower than that of the rest of Brooklyn and the rest of New York City. A columnist for The New York Times, writing for the paper's "Big City" section on 2012, stated that the many improvements to the city's overall quality of life, enacted by then mayor Michael Bloomberg since 2002, "might have happened in Lithuania for all the effect they have had (or could have) on the lives of people in Brownsville." On the other hand, the area's lack of gentrification might have kept most of residents' money within the local Brownsville economy. The area's largest employer is supposedly the United States Postal Service, and the lack of mobility for many residents encourages them to buy from local stores instead.

The total land area is , and the ZIP Code for the neighborhood is 11212. It is part of Brooklyn Community Board 16, which also includes Ocean Hill.

Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of Brownsville was 58,300, a decrease of 799 (1.4%) from the 59,099 counted in 2000. Covering an area of , the neighborhood had a population density of
The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 76.1% (44,364) African American, 0.8% (471) White, 0.3% (165) Native American, 0.7% (416) Asian, 0.0% (18) Pacific Islander, 0.3% (180) from other races, and 1.2% (703) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 20.6% (11,983) of the population. 29.9% of the population were high school graduates and 8.4% had a bachelor's degree or higher. This is lower than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are middle aged adults and youth: 28% are between the ages of 0–17, 27% between 25 and 44, and 23% between 45 and 64. The ratio of college aged and elderly residents was lower, at 11% and 12% respectively. In 2018, an estimated 28% of Brownsville residents lived in poverty, compared to 21% in all of Brooklyn and 20% in all of New York City. One in seven residents (14%) 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 57% in Brownsville, higher than the citywide and boroughwide rates of 52% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, as of 2018, Brownsville is considered to be low income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying.

The NYPD's 73rd Precinct is located at 1470 East New York Avenue. NYCHA property in the area is patrolled separately by Police Service Area #2 (P. S. A. 2). Brownsville has consistently been considered the murder capital of New York City, with the 73rd Precinct ranking 69th safest out of 69 city precincts for per capita crime in 2009. That year, there were 3 murders per 10,000 residents (higher than in any other neighborhood in the city), making for 28 overall murders in Brownsville; in overall crime, the 73rd Precinct was the 66th safest out of 69 neighborhoods. With an incarceration rate of 1,698 per 100,000 residents, Brownsville's incarceration rate is three times the city's as a whole and higher than every other neighborhood's incarceration rate. Empty lots and unused storefronts are common in Brownsville due to high rates of crime, mostly in the area's public housing developments. A reporter for The New York Times observed that some of the area's playgrounds were inadequately maintained with broken lights and unlocked gates, and that shootings were common in these public housing developments. Brownsville was so dangerous that one UPS driver, robbed at gunpoint, needed an armed security guard to accompany him while delivering packages to houses in the neighborhood. However, serious crime per resident is decreasing, and from 2000 to 2011, the rate dropped from 45.0 to 35.3 serious crimes per 1,000 residents.

The firehouse for the New York City Fire Department (FDNY)'s Engine Company 231/Ladder Company 120/Battalion 44 is located in Brownsville. Engine Company 283/Division 15's quarters are also located in Brownsville. A , $32 million FDNY facility was completed at 1815 Sterling Place in 2019. Designed by Chicago based architectural firm Studio Gang, the new facility is both an FDNY training center and the firehouse for Rescue Company 2. Ground broke on the project in July 2016. The new firehouse, announced in December 2015, replaced Rescue 2's old location, a small building at 1472 Bergen Street in Crown Heights, which was built in the 1920s and had been occupied by Rescue 2 since 1985.

Just east of the Crown Heights–Utica Avenue subway station, on the border with Crown Heights, there is a park called Lincoln Terrace (also known as Arthur S. Somers Park), which slopes gently down toward the southern Brooklyn coastline. The New Lots Line transitions from a tunnel to an elevated structure within this park. The of land for Lincoln Terrace was purchased by the city in 1895–1897. In order to deter aircraft from flying through the area during World War I, parts of the park had turrets installed in "serviceable but inconspicuous locations" in 1918. Opened in 1915, it is named after Betsy Head, a rich Briton, who died in 1907. In 2008, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Betsy Head Play Center as the first individual city landmark in Brownsville. According to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, the park honors Livonia and its native people, the Livonians. The Livonians were never fully independent, instead being alternatively led by the Teutonic Order, Sweden, and the Russian Empire. The Kingdom of Livonia was a nominal state of Russia from 1570 to 1578 during the Livonian War, but did not actually gain independence. It was opened in 1953 as the Brownsville Boys' Club, a "one room clubhouse" affiliated with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Over the next two years, the club raised $1.5 million in funds, and the city opened a brand new recreation facility. Improvements were made to the center in the late 1990s and 2000s, including $265,000 of general repairs in 1996; $400,000 of heat and air conditioning refurbishments in 1998; and a $1.5 million renovation in 2008 that entailed installing a new playground, improving amenities such as benches and lighting, and replacing the athletic field with artificial turf. and the New York Daily News characterizes it as having the "toughest" streetball competition in Brooklyn. It is located in the Brownsville Houses along Rockaway Avenue between Riverdale and Livonia Avenues. Famous players who played there included Fly Williams.

The traffic triangle bounded by Pitkin and East New York Avenues and Legion Street was originally named Vanderveer Park after Peter L. Vandeveer, the former owner of the land constituting that triangle. Vanderveer donated the land in 1896, and in 1911, it was renamed Zion Park in recognition of the Jewish community. The Zion Park War Memorial, a monumental wall based on a design by sculptor Charles Cary Rumsey and architect Henry Beaumont Herts, was installed in the triangle and dedicated in 1925. The Wyckoff Triangle, bounded by New Lots, Riverdale, and Van Siclen Avenues, is named after local property owner Hendrick Wyckoff, who ceded the land used for the traffic triangle. The neighborhood is part of New York's 9th congressional district, represented by Democrat Yvette Clarke as of 2013. It is also part of the 20th State Senate district, represented by Democrat Zellnor Myrie, and the 55th State Assembly district, represented by Democrat Latrice Walker. Brownsville is located in New York's 41st City Council district, represented by Democrat Darlene Mealy. In the 2016 Democratic presidential primary, Hillary Rodham Clinton received 4,889 votes (73.9%) to Bernie Sanders's 1,729 votes (26.1%). Brownsville had very few Republican primary voters: just 40 Brownsville voters cast ballots in the 2016 Republican primary.

Brownsville suffers from major health disparities in comparison to the rest of New York City. In 2006, Brownsville had the highest infant mortality rate in New York City (12.5 per 1,000 births), twice the overall city rate (5.9 per 1,000 births). as of 2018, preterm births and births to teenage mothers were also more common in Brownsville than in other places citywide. In Brownsville, there were 127 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 31.2 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 20.2 per 1,000 citywide). the average life span in 2018 was 75.1 years, significantly lower than the city's median life span. Brownsville 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 12%, which is equal to the citywide rate. Brownsville has one of the highest rates of psychiatric hospitalization in the city, with 1,727 such hospitalizations per 100,000 adults. Brownsville also has one of the highest concentrations of "persistently violent" schools of any area in New York State, with five such schools in Brownsville and East New York on the 2015–2016 list of most dangerous schools. Efn|These schools are Brownsville Collaborative Middle School, East New York Elementary School of Excellence, East New York Middle School of Excellence, PS 150 Christopher, and PS 213 New Lots. This arose from two school shootings in East New York in 1991–1992 that, combined, resulted in the deaths of three students and the injury of one teacher. Other problems in local schools include low test scores, with 95% of students scoring below grade level on state tests. Brownsville generally has a lower ratio of college educated residents than the rest of the city as of 2018. While 21% of residents have a college education or higher, 27% have less than a high school education and 52% 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. Numbered public primary schools include P. S. 150 Christopher; P. S. 156 Waverly; P. S. 165 Ida Posner; P. S. 184 Newport; P. S. 189 Lincoln Terrace; P. S. 219 Kennedy King; P. S. 284 Lew Wallace; P. S. 298; P. S. 327 Dr Rose B English; P. S. 332 Charles H Houston School; I. S. 392; P. S. 396 Special Education School; P. S. 398 Walter Weaver; P. S. 41 Francis White; P. S. 770 New American Academy; and P. S/I. S. 323 Elementary School. There are three high schools in Brownsville; two are housed in the same building at 226 Bristol Street. Teachers Preparatory opened in September 2001, while Frederick Douglass Academy VII opened in September 2004. Teachers Preparatory School serves 6th through 12th graders with 99% minority enrollment, receiving a grade of "A" on both its middle school and high school report cards for 2008. FDA VII serves 9th through 12th grades with 99% minority enrollment. It received a "Well Developed" score for 2008–2009. It also received a grade of B on its 2007–2008 report card. Brownsville Academy, a relatively small school with 205 students as of 2016–2017, is located at 1150 East New York Avenue, close to the Crown Heights border.

The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) has two branches in Brownsville. The Brownsville branch is located on 61 Glenmore Avenue, near Watkins Street. It opened in 1905 and used a second floor space of another building. The current branch opened in 1908. The Stone Avenue branch is located at 581 Mother Gaston Boulevard. When it opened in 1914 as the Brownsville Children's Library, it was among the world's first children's libraries, as well as one of the last Carnegie libraries in Brooklyn. The branch was renovated in 2014.

The area is well served by public transport. Due to the lines being created by two different, competing subway companies (the Interborough Rapid Transit Company and the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, respectively), a free transit connection does not exist between the two lines, which provide the area's only subway service. Money is allocated in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's 2015–2019 Capital Program to build this transfer. The stations would also need to be upgraded to become compliant with mobility accessibility guidelines under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. MTA Regional Bus Operations operates bus lines in the area. The B15 bus crosses Brownsville horizontally, for the most part using New Lots Avenue; the B14 bus uses Pitkin and Sutter Avenues through its route in the area where Brownsville overlaps with East New York. North–south bus lines include the B7 on Saratoga Avenue and Thomas S Boyland Street and the B60 on Rockaway Avenue. The B8, B35, and B47 have segments along the outer borders of Brownsville, and the B8 and B35 both terminate along Hegeman Avenue in the neighborhood's southwestern portion. As a result of its Jewish heritage, there are several streets named after Jewish community figures in the western portion of Brownsville. In 1913, nine years after writer Theodor Herzl died, residents successfully petitioned to rename Ames Street to Herzl Street, marking one of the few streets outside Israel that are named Herzl Street. is named after businessman John R. Pitkin of Connecticut. Pitkin developed East New York starting in 1835. was renamed in honor of State Assemblyman Thomas S. Boyland, who served the neighborhood from 1977 until his death in 1982. Stone Avenue was renamed after Rosetta Gaston (1895–1981), founder of the Brownsville Heritage House on the avenue, as Mother Gaston Boulevard after her death. Mother Gaston, as she was called, operated the Heritage House inside the Stone Avenue Library, a Jacobean Revival style library built in 1914 by William Tubby.