Brownstoner takes on Brooklyn history in Nabe Names, a series of briefs on the origins and surprising stories of neighborhood nomenclature.

East New York’s low-lying blocks of row houses and semi-detached homes give it a more spacious, residential quality than some of Brooklyn’s more built-up neighborhoods. The area includes the sprawling housing development of Spring Creek Towers (formally Starrett City) and an overgrown, below-grade section called The Hole.

Swaths of the nabe have a back-to-nature feel thanks to a large amount of overgrowth, while other sections are more densely residential and have visibly strong communities.

East New York Brooklyn Neighborhood
Photo by Edrei Rodriguez

Once part of the larger New Lots district — Flatbush’s easternmost section and today the final stop on the 3 train — East New York was named by Albany-born scientist and agriculturist John Pitkin.

Pitkin purchased land in the area from New Lots’ original farming families, founding East New York in 1825 with a vision to grow it into an eastern hub, far more metropolitan than the residential makeup it has retained.

east new york brooklyn neighborhood
Glenmore Avenue and Warwick Street in East New York, 1940. Photo by Percy Loomis Sperr via NYPL

East New York is currently the subject of a controversial rezoning proposal by the de Blasio administration to create more affordable housing at the cost of higher and denser buildings.

Perhaps Pitkin’s dream will be realized yet.

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