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Get to know Prospect Heights

Prospect Heights is a place where past and present mingle in dazzling harmony. The 1871 opening of Prospect Park, designed by Central Park planners Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, played no small role in the neighborhood's popularity — after all, what isn’t appealing about 500-plus acres of natural wonder in your backyard? Much of the area today falls within the boundaries of its eponymous historic district, a case study in 19th-century residential architecture where you'll find textbook examples of Italianate, Neo-Grec, and other celebrated styles from earlier drafts of the urban canvas. Farther-out blocks are highlighted with newer construction: Heading toward Pacific Park and the Barclays Center, you'll find a defined row of modern, amenity-laden condo and rental buildings towering skyward. Prospect Heights has the best of everything, growing with the times yet confidently retaining a timeless feel.

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Prospect Heights Commerce & Culture

Prospect Park isn't the neighborhood's only Olmsted and Vaux landmark: The duo would go on to design Eastern Parkway, the nation's first such thoroughfare and a venue for some of Prospect Heights' most treasured cultural institutions. The Brooklyn Museum is home to over one million works of art, from ancient Egypt all the way through artists like Georgia O’Keeffe and Mark Rothko. Closer yet to the neighborhood's defined center lies the 352,000-square-foot Central Library — the Brooklyn Public Library’s main branch and a bonafide event destination since the addition of the 189-seat Dr. S. Stevan Dweck Cultural Center. Those who think with their mouths should unquestionably head toward Vanderbilt and Washington Avenues, where standout eateries of all sorts bloom like the cherry blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.