Pastor: It's Ocean Hill-Brownsville, Not Crown Heights, and We're Proud of It
Brownstoner recently received this email from the pastor of a prominent church in Ocean Hill-Brownsville: “I recently saw several notices online advertising two newly constructed homes on St. Mark’s Avenue. Both of these listings called the neighborhood Crown Heights. This neighborhood is, always has been, and always will be Ocean Hill-Brownsville. It is not Crown…
Brownstoner recently received this email from the pastor of a prominent church in Ocean Hill-Brownsville:
“I recently saw several notices online advertising two newly constructed homes on St. Mark’s Avenue. Both of these listings called the neighborhood Crown Heights. This neighborhood is, always has been, and always will be Ocean Hill-Brownsville. It is not Crown Heights. In fact it is a significant distance from Crown Heights. Calling it that is misleading to potential buyers and disrespectful to the people of this community. We who live and work in Brownsville are proud of our community and resent others labeling us as someplace we are not for their own personal gain.
If you would like to market and sell homes in Crown Heights, well then, stay in Crown Heights. If you feel the necessity of selling overpriced, poorly constructed homes in Brownsville, at least have the decency of calling it as such with out misleading or disrespecting anyone.”
Thank you,
Rev. Edward Mason
Pastor — Our Lady of Presentation Church, Saint Marks’s Avenue, Brownsville, U.S.A.
Isn’t Ocean Hill a subsection of Bed-Stuy?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_Hill,_Brooklyn
Those buildings are under construction on Prospect (Saratoga/Howard); part of the Plaza 11 development. It’s location is public information and it’s financing is provided by you, the taxpayer. They are accepting applications
The developers and brokers have always been highly imaginative. When I was house-hunting in Bed-Stuy 15 years ago between Bedford and Marcy, the brokers kept telling me, “0h but it’s really Clinton Hill now”.
Nope, still Bed-Stuy, still glad to be here.
Ralph Ave is the pretty clear border here, right? Anything east of that should just call itself what it is – Ocean Hill or Brownsville (probably Ocean Hill, let’s be real, people have negative associations with Brownsville).
All the way back to the 19th century, the area surrounding Fulton as it makes its climb up to the peak of the hill that seems to be around Rockaway was called Ocean Hill. Back then, this was pretty much the outskirts of Brooklyn, and maybe the ocean was actually visible over the fields south and east. Nowadays, it seems like Saratoga is the real estate broker line between Bed Stuy and Ocean Hill. I’m not sure how it works south of Atlantic.
Note to Pastor, it happened to Crown Hts not too long ago (‘ProCro’). It’s just spreading eastward and there is no stopping it. Let’s see what happens when the gentrification gets to East New York.
Not here much any more, but East New York, I still love you.