Websites — Flatbush History

Entire websites and individual online articles that cover various aspects of Flatbush history.

Obviously, I’m not the first person to write about Flatbush. Our neighborhood is full of talented writers, and many have turned their pens toward the history of the place we live. At other times, Flatbush has made national and international news, inviting outsiders to look in on events in our history. And at still other moments, random-a** people have wandered off the subway from Manhattan and been like, “whoa, did you guys know about these houses out here?!” Even though I still have a lot of reading left to do, I hope the sites and articles I’ve listed here help illuminate some of the many facets of Flatbush’s history.

Informational Websites about Flatbush

The following websites cover the history of Flatbush specifically or have numerous articles about Flatbush history. (Individual articles from websites that are not specifically about Flatbush are listed individually below by topic.)

Argyle Heights - Blog about West Midwood with lots of history posts, including A Photographic History of Newkirk Plaza. Also has posts about growing up in Flatlands.

Brownstoner - Brownstoner is technically a real estate site, but it’s also the home of the writing of the absolutely fabulous historian Suzanne Spellen, aka Montrose Morris. You can find a list of her articles here, and if there’s a particular building you’re researching in the area, make sure to look it up on Brownstoner to see if Spellen has written about it (she probably has).

Curbed - This real estate–themed site takes you inside for-sale Ditmas mansions and also covers news about landmarked and other notable buildings

Flatbush African Burial Ground Coalition - Information about the past and preservation fight of the African Burial Ground on Church Ave & Bedford and context into the experience of enslaved people in Flatbush

Flatbush Gardener - This site is mostly about native plant gardening in our area but also has some good history posts, including this one about the Albemarle Foot Bridge.

The Q at Parkside - This site does an incredible job of keeping tabs on Flatbush landlords and real estate developments, and explaining it all in a way that doesn’t make it too overwhelming.

Flatbushed - Vintage images of Flatbush mixed with photos of new buildings. Also as a great Twitter account that posts lots of old photos.

Lost New York City - An anonymous writer turns a fine eye toward Flatbush Ave business signs and storefronts circa 2004–2008

Forgotten NY - One of my favorite sites about NY history, Forgotten NY’s founder Kevin Walsh is from Bay Ridge and adds a lot of great personal memories to his writing about our area. His posts are also packed with tons of history facts with accompanying photos, and since many of these articles are starting to get on in years, they also serve as a good snapshot of certain aspects of the area from the last 10 years that are no longer present, like the historic signs that used to hang on Cortelyou Road. Highlights from Flatbush and the surrounding areas:

King’s Highway: Brooklyn’s Mother Road (2002)
Midwood (2010)
East Flatbush (2010)
Canarsie to Flatbush (2011)
Bedford Ave (2009) (Part 1: Sheepshead Bay to Flatbush | Part 2: Beverley Rd to Atlantic Ave)
Church Avenue (2015) (Part 1 | Part 2)
Prospect Park South & Beverly Square (2013)
Kensington (2007)
The Lanes of Kensington (2012)
Windsor Terrace to Kensington (2010)
Cortelyou Road (2009)
Foster Avenue: Parksville to Brownsville (2018) (Part 1 | Part 2)
Coney Island to Midwood (2010) (Part 1 | Part 2)

Flatbush History App

Urban Archive - A New York history buff’s dream come true, this app overlays photos from historical societies, libraries, and other sources on a map of your location and gives you informative captions for each. Contains lots photos and information specific to Flatbush.

Online Articles About Flatbush History

Articles that shed light on particular aspects of Flatbush history, alphabetical by topic.

Agriculture: The Lefferts Family Papers at the Brooklyn Historical Society - An informative online exhibition that includes information about farming and the practice of slavery in Flatbush.

Caribbean Experience:

Little Caribbean: About - Information about the Little Caribbean section of Flatbush
Seven (Fiction) by Edwidge Danticat - 2001 short story in the New Yorker about a Haitian immigrant’s experience in East Flatbush

Community Outreach: The History of CAMBRA - Timeline from the groundbreaking Flatbush community outreach organization

Design: Margrieta van Varick’s East Indian Goods, The Magazine: Antiques, Sept 2009 - Flatbush resident Margrieta van Varick was the wife of an early minister at the Dutch Reformed Church who owed a wide variety of decorative goods from around the world. This article details how she obtained them and how they influenced early American design.

Development: For Flatbush, A ‘Developer of Last Resort, The New York Times, Dec 9, 1984 by Michael Decourcy Hinds - Interviews and information about the work of the Flatbush Development Corporation during a crucial era in the neighborhood’s history

Erasmus High School: Hidden Treasures in Brooklyn Public School- This history from the site Scouting NY includes a ton of photos of the historical structures

Famous people from Flatbush: Wikipedia has a couple of good lists of notable Flatbush residents, here and here. There are also lists of people from Midwood and East Flatbush.

Film sets: Movies and TV Shows Filmed in Ditmas Park (Bklyner) - A comprehensive list through 2016 of (fictional) feature films and TV shows that have been filmed in Flatbush.

Jewish experience:

The Most Jewish Place in America by Hilary Danailova, Hadassah, Jan 2018 - Wonderfully detailed article about the intersecting Jewish communities in Brooklyn, including Flatbush, Midwood, and Flatlands
The Sy Empire by Zev Chafets, The New York Times Magazine, Oct. 14, 2007 - An examination of the tight-knit Syrian Jewish community in Central Brooklyn (with a cameo from Crazy Eddie!)
A Rising Tide of Sephardic Jews Brings Change to the Yeshivah of Flatbush by Alexandra Hootnick, The Brooklyn Ink, July 26, 2011 - A look at the changing Jewish community in Flatbush through the lens of how it affected the Yeshivah of Flatbush

Irish experience:

The Irish of Flatbush – The Early Years - Excerpt from the book Flatbush: A Neighborhood History Guide by Adina Black and Francis Monroe.
Looking Back at the Flatbush Where I Grew Up by Robert Rorke, New York Post, Sept 8, 2018 - Reminiscences about growing up in Flatbush in the 1960s.

Louima, Abner: New York, New York: The Raging Emotions of White Police Brutality by Paula Ioanide (2015) - It can be hard to find material about Abner Louima that isn’t dripping in denial and confusion and about the realities of racism, the causes of sexual assault, and the widespread problem of police brutality. This in-depth article reflecting on the 70th precinct’s torture is the exact opposite, putting Louima’s assault in context in Guilani-era NYC as well as in the history of White Americans’ desired supremacy over Haitians.

Malbone Street Wreck: Crash of the Century by James Folta (2019) - About the famous Malbone Street train wreck, which occurred in Prospect Lefferts Gardens in 1918

Race Relations:

Flatbush ’60s, Bensonhurst, ’89 by Alan Weisman, The New York Times, Sept 5, 1989 - an account of the racism and racial tension present in 1960s Flatbush from a Jewish resident’s perspective.

New York’s Korean Grocery Turmoil Rooted in Cultural and Economic Conditions by Russell W. Baker, The Christian Science Monitor, May 31, 1990 - a look at the standoff between Haitian residents and Korean shop owners on Church Ave that made national news in 1990.

Revolutionary War:

Under Annihilation’s Sign: Public Memory and Prospect Park’s Battle Pass by Ben Nadler and Oksana Mironova, Urban Omnibus, Aug 27, 2014 - Good, quick description of what happened during the Battle of Brooklyn, and how it’s commemorated in Prospect Park
Walkabout: The History and Legend of Melrose Park by Suzanne Spellen - My favorite Brooklyn historian goes in-depth on Melrose Park, the most important home in Flatbush during the Revolutionary War and the British occupation of Flatbush.

Super Mario Bros.: Here’s the Flatbush page of the Super Mario wiki in case you need to prove that the Nintendo mascots Mario and Luigi are from Flatbush.

Water: Yes, Water. This article about The Flatbush Water Company by Sergey Kadinsky is adapted from his book Hidden Waters of New York City.

Personal Reminiscences about Flatbush

These sites feature personal stories about living in Flatbush.

Art Levy’s Trouble in Flatbush - Beautifully written, true stories about growing up in 1940-50s Flatbush.

Before It’s Gone, Take It Back - This site, focused on fighting gentrification in Flatbush, features first-person stories about Flatbush before gentrification and its current effects

Brooklyn Born Blog - Too few reminiscences about Flatbush and East Flatbush including a great post about The Lords of Flatbush

Dr. Metablog: Brooklyn in the 1950s - Eli Pearlman dives into Flatbush history alongside his own personal remembrances about neighborhood institutions

East Flatbush Memories - This is a very grandpa-y blog, and I mean that in the best way. About growing up in East Flatbush in the late 1950s-1960s, this site only has 20 posts, but there are some real gems, especially about eating out.

(You may also want to check out the Oral Histories section of the Audio/Visual Resources page)

This is a working document! I’ll add to it as I continue my research. Do you have the next thing I should read?? Let me know.

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