Kensington, Brooklyn

Kensington is a neighborhood in the center of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is the area south of Prospect Park and the Green-Wood Cemetery. It is bordered by Coney Island Avenue to the east, Caton Avenue/ Ft. Hamilton Parkway to the north, Dahill Road and 36th St to the west, and Foster Avenue and 47th Street to the south. The neighborhoods that border it are Ditmas Park and Prospect Park South to the east (both of which are parts of Flatbush), Windsor Terrace to the north, Borough Park to the west, and Midwood to the south.

Kensington is a predominantly residential area consisting of housing types that run the gamut from brick rowhouses, to detached one family Victorians and apartment buildings. Pre-war brick apartment buildings dominate the Ocean Parkway and Coney Island Avenue frontage, many operating as co-ops. The main commercial streets are on Coney Island Avenue, Church Avenue, and Ditmas Avenue. Ocean Parkway bisects the neighborhood.

Kensington is a very diverse neighborhood, containing Ukrainian, South Asian (Bangladeshi and Pakistani), Chinese, Orthodox Jewish, Irish, Polish, Italian, Albanian, Russian, Latino, Mexican, and Caribbean communities.

History

Kensington, originally colonized by Dutch farmers, was settled in 1737. Developed in 1885 after the completion of Ocean Parkway, the neighborhood was named after the west borough of London,Fact|date=July 2008 at the turn of the century. Ocean Parkway, which starts in Kensington, was finished in 1880; it features five miles of landscaped malls, benches, chess tables and walking and biking paths, linking Prospect Park to Coney Island, and is now part of the Brooklyn-Queens Greenway. Homebuilding began in earnest in the 1920s and attracted Italian and Irish immigrants to the neighborhood. Brick and brownstone townhouses coexist with single-and two-family homes with yards and garages. Five- and six-story pre- and post-war apartment buildings and co-ops are also common.

Transportation

The NYCS service|F train (IND Culver Line) runs along the western part of the neighborhood and stops at Fort Hamilton Parkway, Church Avenue, Ditmas Avenue, and 18th Avenue. In addition, Kensington is served by the B16, B23, B35, B67, B68, B8, and B103 local buses, as well as the BM1, BM2, BM3, BM4, and X29 express buses to Manhattan.

Notable residents

Sufjan Stevens

Community institutions

Kensington Stables

[http://www.kensingtonstables.com Kensington Stables] is the only remaining stable in Prospect Park. The barn was built in 1930 as the last extension of the riding academy at 11 Ocean Parkway, 57 Caton Place (1917). The first extension was torn down to make the foot bridge over Ocean Parkway. The original riding academy closed in 1937 and is now a warehouse. Kensington Stables gives lessons in The Shoe in Prospect Park.

Beginning in 2006, a neighboring development project at 22 Caton Place became the subject of controversy. Some residents of Kensington, including the residents of 81 Ocean Parkway (which adjoins 22 Caton Place) are lobbying for modifications to the development plan.Fact|date=July 2008

Public Library

Founded as a deposit station in 1908 by the Mother's Kindergarten Club of PS 134 and the Kensington Improvement League, Kensington quickly outgrew two locations before becoming a full-fledged branch on McDonald Avenue in 1912. When it again needed more space, in 1960, it moved to its current location at 410 Ditmas Ave. between East 4th & East 5th Streets, a former catering hall known as "the Manor" that was leased and renovated, arousing national media interest. [ [http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/branch_library_detail.jsp?branchpageid=177 Official Webpage of the Kensington Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library] ]

External links

* [http://kensingtonbrooklyn.blogspot.com/ Kensington Brooklyn blogspot]
* [http://www.flickr.com/groups/759234@N21 Group dedicated to the area on www.flickr.com]
* [http://ny.metro.us/metro/local/article/Blogarithms_The_next_Park_Slope/9415.html The Next Park Slope?]
* [http://www.stablebrooklyn.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=63&Itemid=49 NYTimes article on the history of horseriding]
* [http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/branch_library_detail.jsp?branchpageid=177 Public Library]
* [http://www.therealdeal.net/issues/OCTOBER_2006/1159651953.php Kensington: Downhill from the Slope, interest climbing sharply]
* [http://www.longislandexchange.com/brooklynqueens/kensington.html Long Island Exchange Kensington page] Dubious link

References