Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn

Greenwood Heights is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn that takes part of its name from the neighborhood proximity to the Green-Wood Cemetery. The much-debated borders are: Prospect Avenue to the north, Fourth Avenue to the west, Eighth Avenue to the east and 38th Street to the south, [Goodloe, Kate: [http://www.nysun.com/article/54671 "South of Park Slope, a Neighborhood Awakens"] , "New York Sun", May 17, 2007.]

A mixed neighborhood of working class Polish American and Italian American families, South American and Mexican immigrants, and middle class Brooklynites who have relocated from other higher-priced neighborhoods, Greenwood Heights' architectural mix of wood frame and brick homes gives the area an eclectic look and feel, different from its neighbors Park Slope to the north and Sunset Park to the south.

Recent new real estate development, curbed with the rezoning of the area in November 2005, [New York City Planning Commission: [http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/cpc/060054.pdf Commission Report] (2005-10-19)] has brought an influx of luxury condominium apartments into a residential area that was mainly made up of 1- and 2-family homes. Post-rezoning, while new development sites have occurred, there has been a new trend of home renovations (many of them "gut renovations"), taking many of the neglected circa 1900 wood frame homes and restoring them to their turn of the century historical look.

One of the sites of the sprawling Battle of Brooklyn (Battle of Long Island) in August of 1776, the area is steeped in a rich history from its identity as a pivotal battle site in the American Revolutionary War to famous residents of Green-Wood Cemetery and its history of families working the once vibrant Brooklyn waterfront.

Greenwood Heights is a part of Brooklyn Community Board 7 along with Windsor Terrace, Sunset Park and South Park Slope.

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