Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
NY Times Reportage On Brooklyn Gentrification Stuck In A Loop
By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 9, 2013
Modified Mar 9, 2013
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 9, 2013
Modified Mar 9, 2013
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The NY Times Real Estate section—the Rosencrantz to the Style Section's Guildenstern—has a report this weekend on the current state of Brooklyn Gentrification ™ ™. It seems that the Brooklyn residents being priced out of areas such as Park Slope, Williamsburg, Boerum Hill and Carroll Gardens (who aren't fleeing for suburbia) are instead turning their attention toward Sunset Park, Crown Heights, Bushwick, Ditmas Park and Prospect Lefferts Gardens. Oh, but you probably already know that if you've read the NY Times before.
The problem with "Brooklyn's New Gentrification Frontiers" is that there isn't much "new" about it. It's true that most of the locations they profile haven't exploded in the same way that Park Slope or Williamsburg have (exception: Prospect-Lefferts Gardens), but they're all places the Times has already featured as up-and-coming gentrification locations over the last decade...or more.
In 2009, Ditmas Park was touted as a place filled with "the grand Victorians, the trees, the big yards and the suburban atmosphere...'It’s just such a great thing to come home and see your kids outside playing.'" Bushwick was "fresh new blood in every sense" in 2006 and identified as a "transitional" area in 2011. Sunset Park had "been on an upward track for a dozen years" in 2001, a revival that they noted was five years in as of 1985, "propelled by the availability of relatively affordable housing."
In 1985, Crown Heights was also highlighted as attracting "many newcomers in search of affordable housing near the more prosperous Park Slope." In a quote that could have come from this weekend's article, Jack Winter of Winter Real Estate Agency said back then: ''There is a lot more space to be found in Crown Heights for a lot less money than in Park Slope. People are looking for reasonably priced housing within a comfortable commuting distance of New York and Crown Heights offers that.''
Then there's Prospect Lefferts Gardens, which has seen property prices increase 63% between 2004 and 2012. The reason they made the Times' new story is because of neighboring Park Slope: “It tends to be two or three times as much money,” Bill Sheppard, an associate broker in the Brooklyn Heights office of Brown Harris Stevens, said of Park Slope prices. But that just means Prospect Lefferts Gardens is equal to the Upper West Side now: “When I started selling there 20 years ago,” he said, “you could get a house for $250,000.” Now, he noted, those same properties are topping out at $1.6 million.
So why do people keep spreading out across Brooklyn rather than to other boroughs? “What many clients have told me is that they like the old Brooklyn vibe of these up-and-coming areas,” Kristen Larkin, an agent with TOWN Residential, told the Times. “They like the sense of community, friendliness of the neighbors, and the mom-and-pop shops that come along with it.” So is it only a matter of time before Brownsville, East New York, Gerritsen Beach, Sheepshead Bay, and Marine Park get chosen for the gentrification major leagues?
Tagged
brooklyn
brooklyn gentrification
gentrification
ny times
real estate
original
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Mamdani names re-entry specialist as chair of Rikers oversight board
Christopher Watler will help the department that a federal monitor says remains in crisis.
By
Ryan Kost
Published Oct 6, 2026 at 3:52 p.m. ET
NYC weighs expanding upstate reservoir following drought
The Delaware River Basin Commission is evaluating options to increase water storage, including expanding a reservoir in New York City.
By
Rosemary Misdary
News
NYC weighs expanding upstate reservoir following drought
The Delaware River Basin Commission is evaluating options to increase water storage, including expanding a reservoir in New York City.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Legionella found in Staten Island building's water system after 2 positive cases
By
Catalina Gonella
Legal 'loophole' helps NY Gov. Kathy Hochul, Bruce Blakeman raise millions
By
Jon Campbell
Police identify 2 men wanted for stabbing an off-duty NYPD officer
By
Ben Feuerherd
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .