Concerned Homeowners Association

Opinion

Jan 07, 2003

Ronald J. Dillon, President
Concerned Homeowners Association

Changing History - What Is In A Name?

When the area which is now identified as Brooklyn was first settled by the Dutch, various sections were given names. Within these sections, outside of the town/village center, areas were identified by the names of the owners of the farms. One of the earliest community names was Flatbush. As the Dutch expanded eastward from Flatbush, the new area was called New Lots (to distinguish the new community from the ?“old lots?” (viz., the established section of Flatbush). When the English took New York from the Dutch, they reorganized the government structure into counties, cities, and towns. Kings County was comprised of six villages. Some villages later incorporated into towns. Towns became cities. Villages also seceded from towns to form new towns. Towns also seceded from towns to become independent entities. Eventually, the city of Brooklyn annexed adjoining towns until the boundaries of the City and the county of Kings became the same. Soon thereafter, Brooklyn became incorporated into New York City. The original city of Brooklyn consisted only of an area in and near current day Downtown Brooklyn. In the mid-nineteenth century, the Town of New Lots seceded from the Town of Flatbush (an area larger than that which is identified today as Flatbush). Within towns, the farming sections were still identified by the farm or property owners?’ names.

East New York was a failed real estate venture on the part of a Connecticut business man who later moved out of Brooklyn to found Woodhaven. This businessman purchased farmland in the northwest corner of New Lots and the adjoining area to the west which was at one time known as Eastern District. The businessman intended to call his venture East New York to associate it with the City of New York and thus entice buyers to purchase lots. The venture failed without development and the businessman sold the majority of the properties back to the previous owners. The small area around what is currently the East New York Junction retained the name of the failed venture; its eastern boundary was in the area of present day Wyona Street. The area to the east of the failed venture at the time separately was identified as Cypress Hills.

The center of the Town of New Lots was on New Lots Avenue. The area to the south consisted mainly of farms and mills; different sections were identified by the farm or mill owner?’s name. There were two major mills, one on the Fresh Kill (Fresh Creek) and the other on the Old Mill Creek. The Old Mill Creek community existed well into the twentieth century. Mill operations ceased some time earlier when the surrounding farm land was redeveloped for non-farm uses.

Until the 1960's the identification of an area as East New York was restricted to the northwest corner of what is now called Brooklyn Community District #5 (at one time this area was known as the 26th Ward). With the urban blight of the late 1960's until the 1990's, the news media took to mis-identifying any major crime as occurring in ?“East New York?”. Incidents as far west almost to downtown Brooklyn were often identified as having occurred in ?“East New York?”. Many residents, using the misinformation perpetuated by the news media, today still misidentify areas such as New Lots, the Old Mill, Cypress Hill as being East New York. To clearly separate itself from the expanding use of East New York to identify the area of urban blight in eastern Brooklyn, the new community in the southwestern part of New Lots called itself Starrett (?“Brooklyn the way it used to be?”) City and obtained its own postal zip code. Until the development of the south and south east portions of New Lots in the 1960's, those areas were relatively sparsely populated and often below current street grades. One section became known as ?“The Hole?” when the surrounding streets were built up (the current Jewels Streets Community). Similarly to what occurred with Starrett City, a new low income development south of Linden Boulevard identified itself as Spring Creek to disassociate the project from the blight connected with the name ?“East New York?”. The sobriquet ?“Spring Creek?” itself became associated with urban blight. A new phase of disassociation began. Later developments in the Old Mill Creek area, originally identified as ?“Spring Creek?” developments took to calling themselves various Gateway projects, attempting to be associated with the nearby Gateway National Park and Recreation Area rather than with the low income community of Spring Creek.

For the purposes of delivering mail, the United States Postal Service divided the Town of New Lots vertically into two postal zones. The area of New Lots west of Ashford Street was identified as 11207 and the Post Office Station called East New York. The area of New Lots east of Ashford Street was identified as 11208 and retained the name New Lots.

For the purposes of local City government, the Town of New Lots was divided into two districts, horizontally. The northern district, currently identified as the 37th, is the East New York and Cypress Hills District. The southern district, currently identified as the 42nd, is the New Lots District and includes the area of the historic old town of New Lots. New York State political districts are similarly divided for both the Assembly and the Senate. The political dividing line between East New York to the north and New Lots to the south is Sutter Avenue.

New Lots has a long and renowned history, predating the other communities in this area of Brooklyn. It is one of the original towns of the County of Kings and of are generally known as Brooklyn. Reportedly one of the first town halls for New Lots was located in the midst of our community, at Stanley Avenue and Atkins Avenue. I am a resident of New Lots and proud of it. So should you be.