Кэрролл-Гарденс: История, культура и трансформация района

Originally considered to be part of the area once known as South Brooklyn (or, more specifically, Red Hook), the area started to have its own identity in the 1960s.

Carroll Gardens was settled in the 19th century by immigrants from Ireland, who founded two churches, the Norwegian Seaman's Church (formerly the Westminster Presbyterian Church), now apartments, and the Norwegian Methodist Episcopal Church (formerly the Carroll Park Methodist Episcopal Church, no longer extant). In 1846, surveyor Richard Butt planned gardens in front of the brownstone houses in the oldest section of the neighborhood when he developed it. The large gardens can be seen from First to Fourth Place between Henry and Smith Streets, as well as on President, Carroll, and Second Streets between Smith and Hoyt Streets. In the 1960s, young middle class professionals began to be attracted to the Carroll Garden area due to its convenience to Manhattan, where many of them worked, and its growing reputation as a safe and quiet place to live. This began the gentrification of the neighborhood, and a response from older residents, who did not appreciate these "hippie" newcomers who had no ties to the community. Regardless, the neighborhood gradually received its own name at that time, and the Carroll Gardens Association was formed in 1964. One result was that the decades long control of the area by a political machine was ended. However, the two neighborhoods have historically both been working class and a mix of working class Italian American, African American, and Hispanic American residents, as well as more recent Arab American immigrant families. As late as the 1990s, several highly publicized incidents of violence underscored the tension between working class African Americans from Red Hook and working class Italian American residents of Carroll Gardens.

Carroll Gardens is still largely known as an Italian American neighborhood, but the Italian population has decreased in recent years from 52 percent of the population in 1980 to 22 percent in 2012. Still, despite the decline in the Italian segment of the population and the effects of gentrification, the neighborhood remains a strongly Italian one. Italians in the neighborhood often play bocce games, speak several dialects of Italian, and operate many Italian restaurants and shops, as well as join fraternal and benevolent associations attached to specific towns in Italy. Carroll Gardens and the surrounding neighborhoods are sometimes referred to as "Little France" or "Little Paris" due to the growing French population. Bastille Day celebrations are held on July 14 of each year. International School of Brooklyn, a Nursery 8th grade independent school, offers a French and Spanish language immersion program. One of the public schools in Carroll Gardens, The Carroll School (P. S. 58), also has one of the area's French dual language programs, which was one of the first such French programs at a public school in the city. French expatriates operate several restaurants and shops in the neighborhood, including La Cigogne, Café Luluc, Provence en boite, French Louie, Chez Moi, and Bar Tabac.

The development of what is now the Carroll Gardens Historic District began in the 1870s, due in part to its proximity to Carroll Park. The district was created by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1973. It includes houses located in a rough rectangle bounded by Carroll, President, Smith, and Hoyt Streets, as well as the western ends of the two blocks between President Street and First Street. The district includes some of the finest examples of brownstones with large front gardens.

The John Rankin House, 440 Clinton Street, built c.1840 in the Greek Revival style. When Rankin, a wealthy merchant, built this house, which was one of the largest of the 1840s in Brooklyn, the area was still primarily farmland, and the house had a view of Upper New York Bay. The house was designated a New York City landmark in 1970 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The South Congregational Church Complex included the Early Romanesque Revival Church and Chapel at 358 366 Court Street, built in 1851 (chapel) and 1857 (church); the neo Gothic Rectory at 255 President Street, built in 1893 and designed by Woodruff Leeming; and the Ladies Parlor at 257 President Street, built in 1889 and designed by F. Carles Merry in the Romanesque Revival style. At one time the chapel became the Calvary Baptist Church of Red Hook. All of the buildings have been converted to condominium apartments. The complex in a New York City landmark, designated in 1982. St. Paul's Episcopal Church at 199 Carroll Street. The congregation was founded in 1849, during the heyday of Brooklyn's industrialization, and the church was built in 1867–84 and was designed by the firm Richard Upjohn & Son in the Victorian Gothic style. The Westminster Presbyterian Church at 450 Clinton Avenue at First Place was built c.1865 in the Romanesque Revival style. It became Den Norske Sjomannskirke (the Norwegian Seaman's Church), founded by Norwegian immigrants; it was once visited by the King of Norway during an official visit to the United States. The church building has now been converted to condominium apartments. St. Mary's Star of the Sea Church, located at 471 Court Street between Luquer and Nelson Streets was built in 1853 and was designed by Patrick Charles Keely. Originally constructed to serve as a cathedral, the church was built with Italian and European stones and marble. The church was where Al Capone married Mae Josephine Coughlin. A rectory and a girls' school – now the International School of Brooklyn – are also part of the church complex. Dennett Place is a short mews of residences running between Luquer and Nelson Streets in the block between Court and Smith Streets. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 60.9% (23,342) White, 11.9% (4,573) African American, 0.2% (61) Native American, 4.5% (1,728) Asian, 0% (13) Pacific Islander, 0.4% (143) from other races, and 2.4% (912) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 19.8% (7,581) of the population. The entirety of Community Board 6, which covers areas around Park Slope and Carroll Gardens, had 109,351 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 81.4 years. This is slightly higher than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are middle aged adults and youth: 18% are between the ages of 0–17, 46% between 25 and 44, and 20% between 45 and 64. The ratio of college aged and elderly residents was lower, at 5% and 10% respectively. In 2018, an estimated 10% of Park Slope and Carroll Gardens residents lived in poverty, compared to 21% in all of Brooklyn and 20% in all of New York City. Less than one in fifteen residents (6%) 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 37% in Park Slope and Carroll Gardens, lower than the citywide and boroughwide rates of 52% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, as of 2018, Park Slope and Carroll Gardens is considered to be high income and not gentrifying. The 76th Precinct ranked 37th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per capita crime in 2010. as of 2018, with a non fatal assault rate of 30 per 100,000 people, Park Slope and Carroll Gardens' rate of violent crimes per capita is less than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 294 per 100,000 people is lower than that of the city as a whole.

Preterm and teenage births are less common in Park Slope and Carroll Gardens than in other places citywide. In Park Slope and Carroll Gardens, there were 27 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 7.9 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide). In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 22%, which is higher than the citywide rate of 12%. Park Slope and Carroll Gardens's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is lower than the rest of New York City. In Park Slope and Carroll Gardens, 11% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per school year, compared to the citywide average of 20% of students. This program, which began in 2007, has encouraged a growing French speaking population in the neighborhood. Also in the area are the New Dawn Charter High School, International School of Brooklyn, Hannah Senesh Community Day School, the Mary McDowell Friends Middle School, and St. Mary's School.

The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL)'s Carroll Gardens branch is located at 396 Clinton Street near Union Street. The library, originally the Carroll Park branch, opened in 1901 in a rented facility. The library moved to its current facility, a Carnegie library designed by William B. Tubby, in 1905. After extensive renovations, the library received its current name in response to a request from the community.

Several 19th century baseball fields in the community, collectively referred to as Carroll Park, were home fields for several clubs from the early days of baseball, including Excelsior of Brooklyn before they moved to their Red Hook grounds.

The New York City Subway's Carroll Street and Smith–Ninth Streets stations service the .

In the 1987 film Moonstruck, the characters played by Cher and Nicolas Cage met at the now closed Cammareri Brothers Bakery on Henry Street in Carroll Gardens.