Boerum Hill

Boerum Hill is a small neighborhood in the northwestern portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn that occupies 36 blocks bounded by State Street to the north, 4th Avenue to the east, Court Street to the west, and Warren Street to the south. There are commercial strips along Smith Street, Court Street, and Atlantic AvenueKenneth T. Jackson: "The Encyclopedia of New York City": The New York Historical Society; Yale University Press; 1995. P. 123.] . The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community District 2, served by Brooklyn Community Board 2. The Brooklyn High School of the Arts is also located in the neighborhood on Dean Street and 3 Avenue.

History

Boerum Hill is named for the colonial farm of the Boerum family that occupied most of the area. Most of the housing consists of three-story row houses built between 1840 and 1870. The population is middle and upper middle class.This neighborhood was featured in two of Jonathan Lethem's books: "The Fortress of Solitude", set primarily on one block in Boerum Hill (Dean Street between Nevins Street and Bond Street), and "Motherless Brooklyn", which is centered on Bergen Street, between Smith Street and Hoyt Street. In "The Fortress Of Solitude", it is postulated that the neighborhood was named in the wake of gentrification. It is unclear whether this is true; for instance, one profile in "The Village Voice" confirms it, [ [http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0311,gillison,42443,15.html Close-Up On: Boerum Hill] , "The Village Voice", March 7, 2003] while the same column rewritten two years later disputes the attribution. [ [http://villagevoice.com/nyclife/0542,mcevers,68837,15.html Close-Up on Boerum Hill, Brooklyn] , "The Village Voice", October 12, 2005] The neighborhood is also the setting of Spike Lee's 1995 movie, "Clockers", which was filmed in the Gowanus Houses.

In the 1950s, all the neighborhoods south of Atlantic Avenue and west of Hoyt Street were called South Brooklyn, which derived its name from being south of the original town of Brooklyn (now Brooklyn Heights) which had been settled by the Dutch. In the 1950s and '60s, the north end of Smith Street was the center of New York City's Mohawk community [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE5DA153FF93BA25754C0A96F958260 New York Times] Brooklyn Mohawks] .

Boerum Hill contains the Brooklyn House of Detention at Boerum Place (Adams Street) and Atlantic Avenue, converted industrial spaces, and NYCHA-run housing (Wyckoff Gardens and the Gowanus Houses).

Northwest: Brooklyn Heights	North: Downtown Brooklyn	Northeast: Fort Greene
West: Cobble Hill	Boerum Hill	East: Prospect Heights
Southwest: Carroll Gardens	South: Gowanus

References

External links

* [http://www.boerumhillbrooklyn.org Boerum Hill Association]
* [http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0542,mcevers,68837,15.html Neighborhood profile by Village Voice]