Fort Greene, Brooklyn

Fort Greene is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Fort Greene is listed on the national and New York State Registry of Historic Places, and is a New York City-designated Historic District. It is located in north west Brooklyn, above Prospect Park.

The neighborhood is named after an American Revolutionary War era fort that was built in 1776 under the supervision of General Nathanael Greene of Rhode Island (McCullough 2005). General Greene aided General George Washington during the Battle of Brooklyn in 1776. Fort Greene Park, originally called Washington Park and Brooklyn's first, is also derived from General Greene's name and the neighborhood. In 1864, Fort Greene park was redesigned by Frederick Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. The park notably includes the Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument and crypt, which honors some 11,500 patriots who died aboard British prison ships during the American War of Independence.

Fort Greene contains many superb examples of mid-19th Century Italianate and Eastlake architecture, most of which is well preserved. Fort Greene is known for its many graceful, tree-lined streets and elegant low-rise housing. The neighborhood is geographically desirable and close to the Atlantic Avenue train station, with access to most major subway lines. It is also home to several important cultural institutions like the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Brooklyn Music School, The Paul Robeson Theater, Urban Glass Works, 651 Arts perfoming center for African-American presenters, and Lafayette Church. Brooklyn Technical High School is one of New York City's most competitive public schools. The Pratt Institute, also in the neighborhood, is one of the leading art schools in the United States.

Fort Greene is roughly bounded by the Brooklyn Navy Yard/Nassau Street to the north, Flatbush Avenue to the west, Vanderbilt Avenue to the east and Atlantic Avenue to the south. Its main arteries are Fulton Street above St. Felix Street and DeKalb Avenue. The neighborhood is served by the New York City Subway at Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street (D, ​N, ​R, and ​W); Atlantic Avenue (2, ​3, ​4, and ​5); Atlantic Avenue (B and ​Q); Flatbush Avenue (LIRR station) (

); or the A and ​C train at Lafayette Avenue (IND Fulton Street Line); or the G train at Fulton Street.

The neighborhood has long been home to a large middle-class African American population. The political figures of Fort Greene are Councilmember Letitia James, State Senator Velmanette Montgomery, Assemblymen Roger Green and Joseph Lentol, and U.S. Congressman Edolphus Towns. All of Fort Greene's representatives are Democrats, although Letitia James was elected on the Working Families Party line.

Notable Fort Greene residents include, but are not limited to: poet and one-time resident Walt Whitman, who was influential in the creation of Fort Greene Park in 1843; poet Marianne Moore; rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard; author Richard Wright wrote Native Son while living in Fort Greene; Spike Lee grew up in the neighborhood and maintains his movie studio there; jazz matriarch Betty Carter; Chris Rock, Cecil Taylor, Branford Marsalis, rapper Common, Rosie Perez, Toure, Nelson George, and Grammy-winning gospel recording artist Hezekiah Walker have all called Fort Greene home.

See also

• List of Brooklyn neighborhoods

References

• McCullough, D. 1776, Simon & Schuster, 2005. ISBN 0743226712

External links

• Fort Greene Association
• Fort Greene Park Conservancy
• FortGreeneBrooklyn.com