PLG: No longer Flatbush?

Until recently, when people would ask me what neighborhood I live in, I'd say Flatbush, or North Flatbush. Though the name traces to the 1960s, "Prospect Lefferts Gardens" sounds like a name white people would use to set ourselves apart from the larger nabe. But it looks like the white people have won: most current maps of Flatbush have the northern boundary set at Parkside Avenue. Instead of being a part of Flatbush, then, we're now our own thing. Or, as the Times, put it this weekend:

The borders of Flatbush are ambiguous; neighborhoods once considered part of it have reclaimed their more specific names.

In commenting on the Times story, Flatbush Gardener points to this 1873 map of Flatbush, which includes the area now known as PLG. Pretty cool.

Comments

[Anne / Sustainable Flatbush]

those boundaries seem to be mostly about the NY Times trying to act like they've "discovered" yet another "new" neighborhood. it was certainly news to me that "victorian flatbush" is somehow separate from flatbush...

[Bob Marvin]

The NYT's article excluded most of Victorian Flatbush [except for South Midwood] and included a small piece of PLG [Clarkson Ave]. I think they were just trying to differentiate that part of Flatbush which has received less attention from the parts more often written about. That doesn't mean that PLG isn't Flatbush. There's a brass strip in the Botanic Gardens that marks the old boundary between the City of Brooklyn and the Town of Flatbush--we're on the Flatbush side.

BTW, the Prospect Lefferts Gardens name was coined in 1968 by people, both black and white, who very much wanted to maintain the integrated nature of this area. [NO,I'm not one of them--I'm a relative new-comer who moved here several years later]. There were a couple of interviews of Bob Thomason, one of the founders of PLGNA, on the PPLG website, but I can't find them there now.

[carrie]

It's not just the Times that sets the northern tip of Flatbush as Parkside. Community Board 14's map of Flatbush and "Imagine Flatbush 2030" (a project developed in park by the Flatbush Development Corp.) exclude PLG north of Parkside. See Brooklyn Junction for links.

[Bob Marvin]

I think that's just the CB-14 part of Flatbush. I'd imagine that a CB-9 map of Crown Heights [which AFAIK doesn't actually exist]would have a northern boundary of Eastern Parkway and a CB-8 version would set that as the southern boundary--doesn't mean a lot.

I HAVE wondered why PLG wasn't covered by the Flatbush Development Corporation. I'd guess the reason is that PLGNA, which invented the PLG name and boundaries, was founded a few years prior to FDC.

[tomgee]

However the name Lefferts Manor (where the single family covenant is in effect) is original to the neighborhood when it was built.

[Bob Marvin]

Actually the "Lefferts Manor" name dates from 1919, when the Lefferts Manor Assoc. was formed to enforce the covenant [Previously this had been done by the Lefferts family].

Before the LM name was coined, the area was referred to as "the Lefferts Estate", "Prospect Park East", or just "Flatbush".

[Xris (Flatbush Gardener)]

I have photos of the
BBG's brass Brooklyn-Flatbush boundary and other analysis of the Times' boundaries in Where is Flatbush, Anyway?.

[Eric Adams]

August 4, 2008

Dear Neighbors:

When I was elected in 2006 as New York State Senator for the 20th District, I was excited about the opportunity to represent a community in which various groups would illustrate for our city and state the many ways in which to celebrate the beauty of diversity. Throughout my first term in office, as I interacted with numerous residents who shared the vision of the magnificence of diversity, I identified a great strategy to transform this theoretical conception into a day of celebration.

The initial goal is the establishment of a “Celebrate our Diversity Day.”

The objective of the day is to observe and honor the multiplicity of ethnicities, cultures, religions, and lifestyles that make up=2 0our great borough. I hope to draw meaning from the issues and themes that are important to each of them. Our celebration will be constructed around two separate events.

The first will involve pet owners. We will invite all dog owners and non-owners to assemble in the Prospect Park Long Meadow during the hours of 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM (off-leash hours). It is my aim to construct an occasion during which dog owners and non-owners can use pets as vehicles to recognize how much we actually have in common. If brown dogs, beige dogs, German Shepherds, poodles, retrievers, etc. can play in and enjoy the park together, then we humans should also be able to share our community in mutual esteem and brotherhood/sisterhood.

The second part of the day will involve a bike ride between the hours of 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM throughout the 20th Senatorial District. During this tour we will travel through the different communities that comprise one of the most diverse Senatorial Districts in the State of New York. We will ride through the neighborhoods of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Boro Park, Crown Heights, Flatbush, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Sunset Park, and Windsor Terrace. During the trip we will pause to20enjoy the various sights, sounds, foods, and cultural manifestations that comprise this remarkable district.

The bike ride will have the significant added benefits of promoting the use of alternative transportation, encouraging fitness through exercise, and making our roadways more bike friendly. (It is important to note that these are some of the critical topics that were discussed during my first meeting with individuals who support safer biking.)

In order to make these events successful endeavors, your assistance is vital. If you are interested in aiding me to organize them, please email me at my personal email address,
VoiceofConcern@aol.com.

The scheduled day for both events is Saturday, September 6th. I will hold a planning session in my office (572 Flatbush Avenue between Maple and Midwood Streets) on Saturday, August 9th, at 10:00 AM, and I encourage eve ryone interested in helping to organize “Celebrate our Diversity Day” to attend.

Together, we can make Brooklyn a harmonious and safe place in which to nurture children and families.

Best,

Eric
NYS Senator, District #20