Get to know Crown Heights

To the east of Brooklyn’s most vibrant natural environment awaits one of its equally vital urban ones. In a way that only New York City can, the blossoming flowers of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden give way to the alluring architecture of Crown Heights. Reflective of years of changes in design preferences, Crown Heights is home to Renaissance Revival apartment buildings, neo-Federal rowhouses, Tudor-inspired freestanding houses, and about everything in between. There’s a certain unity to the variety, which can also be said about the diverse community that lives here and the ever-growing number of culinary offerings. The area may seem quite deep in the heart of Central Brooklyn, but Crown Heights is perhaps as well-served by public transportation as any neighborhood across the five boroughs. Multiple stops on several subway lines can connect you all across Brooklyn and up to the farthest reaches of Manhattan.

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Crown Heights History & Culture

Before its present-day status as an enclave for everyone, Crown Heights’ origins peg it as a retreat for wealthy Manhattanites to build second homes. Buoyed by its subway transit—contrasting much of the rest of Brooklyn, which only had elevated trains—Crown Heights would gradually become even more residential and, eventually, a premier NYC neighborhood. It would claim the world’s first parkway, Eastern Parkway, designed by metropolitan greenspace kings Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. In addition to ferrying folks from Grand Army Plaza, past Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Museum, and all the way to Bushwick, Eastern Parkway plays annual host to the jubilant West Indian Day Parade—a Crown Heights tradition since 1964. The Dodgers couldn’t hack it, but there’s a sense of pride that comes with residing in Crown Heights—that no matter where you come from, you can find a home there.

Crown Heights Dining & Shopping

Much like the area exists as a place for everybody, there is something for all palettes and dietary restrictions when it comes to food in Crown Heights. Longtime fixtures and newer arrivals alike thrive and add flavor to the neighborhood. Whether it’s Caribbean baked goods, kosher barbecue, or eateries offering charming fusions of multiple influences, you can chart a transcontinental culinary adventure without going east of Nostrand Avenue. For drinks, there are numerous options to raise your glass to. Basically, if it’s the kind of place that serves drinks, you’re likely to find it somewhere along the way in Crown Heights—tiki bars, beer halls, cocktail bars, spots with DJs and dance floors, lounges to enjoy a relatively quiet night, and so on. Worry not if there’s something you cannot find in the immediate area: Surrounding areas like Bed-Stuy, Prospect Heights, and Prospect Lefferts Gardens will have you more than covered.