HOMETOWN NEIGHBORHOODS

Ditmas Park A Verdant, Victorian Enclave

Coming across Ditmas Park can come as quite a shock to those visiting the neighborhood for the first time. Not far away, streets like Prospect Park West and Coney Island Avenue can make the neighborhood of Flatbush feel coldly commercial, but just a few turns and connecting streets later are block after verdant block of an older Brooklyn nearly forgotten. The centuryold Victorian homes with large lots, manicured lawns, and treelined streets with names inspired by long-since gone Englishmen, names like Argyle, Cortelyou, and Dorchester, capture a suburban beauty that many might think out of place in Brooklyn. Yet, there it is.

Located in Brooklyn’s western Flatbush area and east of Kensington, Ditmas Park is one of three Flatbush neighborhoods which have been officially designated Historic Districts. Roughly bounded by Coney Island Avenue to the west, Beverley Road to the north, Ocean Avenue to the east and Foster Avenue to the south, Ditmas Park consists of many large, free-standing Victorian homes built in the 1900s. Some Victorian homes in Ditmas Park are particularly colorful. Throughout the eighties and early nineties, wealthy families purchased the large Victorian homes, but in the past few years, the neighborhood has experienced rapid gentrification with an influx of young people and artists attracted to the large spaces for relatively cheap rents.

Newkirk Avenue, Coney Island Avenue, and Cortelyou Road are the neighborhood’s commercial strips while many of the eastwest streets are lined with historic Victorian style homes. Since much of Ditmas Park is residential, many locals visit nearby Park Slope to run errands and shop, although the neighborhood has seen increased commercialization due to its recent gentrification.

Cortelyou Road, a commercial street in the neighborhood, is home to a number of delis, bars, coffee shops, restaurants and stores. The Flatbush Food Coop is one such store. Community-owned, the Coop is a fullservice natural foods store specializing in organic products. You’ll also find upscale restaurants, notably The Farm on Adderley, on Cortelyou Road. The Farm on Adderley, which boasts a bar, patio seating, a weekly movie night during summer months and even hosts wedding receptions, is open for breakfast, lunch, dinner and brunch seven days a week. In October 2009, Time Out New York named Ditmas Park one of the best neighborhoods in New York City for food.

Subway stops in or very near to Ditmas Park are Beverly Road (Q), Cortelyou Road (Q), and Newkirk Avenue (B and Q). Express buses that run through Ditmas Park are the BM1, BM2, BM3, and BM4. Local buses are the 68, and 103.

Of the many public schools near Ditmas Park, P.S. 139 is one of the standouts and one of the few in the area that is not overcrowded. Nearby Midwood High School is also considered one of the nabe’s best and is quite competitive.