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Lifestyle

How 10 Brooklyn neighborhoods got their names

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  • In the 1850s, a group of merchants in the neighborhood of Yellow Hook in southern Brooklyn realized that their community had a marketing problem. Yellow fever was killing scores of people and the merchants were afraid it would deter visitors. That wasn’t good for business, obviously. So the neighborhood was renamed after the ridge that runs along the bay.
    Photo Credit: Anthony Lanzilote
  • In the 19th century, this north-central Brooklyn neighborhood was referred to as Crow Hill. That was likely a derogatory reference to free blacks who lived in the community known as Weeksville that is now located in today’s Crown Heights. The new moniker came about in 1916 when Crown Street was extended through the neighborhood.
    Photo Credit: Linda Rosier
  • Once upon a time, say before the 20th century, Williamsburg ended with an “h.” The community on the East River was originally established by ferry operator Richard Woodhull in the early 1800s and named for Col. Jonathan Williams, the engineer who surveyed it. Williamsburgh, as it was then known, lost its “h” after being consolidated into Brooklyn.
    Photo Credit: Anthony Lanzilote

Like the rest of the city, Brooklyn is largely defined by its vibrant neighborhoods.

But how did they get their names? Some reasons seem pretty obvious. Sunset Park is named for the central green space of the neighborhood, and Park Slope fittingly describes the decline in topography from Prospect Park to the Gowanus.

Yet there are other neighborhoods with names that are more difficult to decode. From Bensonhurst to Vinegar Hill, check out where 10 BK nabes got their names.

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