nycgo / maps

Flatbush

A bustling neighborhood in the heart of Brooklyn, Flatbush has long been a homestead where new waves of immigrants settle as part of the ever-continuing story of New York City’s evolution. Flatbush is comprised of a number of different sections that include Ditmas Park, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens and Prospect Park South as well as the campus of Brooklyn College on its southern edge. Each locale has its own character, architecture and sense of community. The area is primarily populated now by Haitians, Jamaicans and people from all over the Caribbean and the West Indies who have made Flatbush their home and are weaving many of their traditions into NYC life. Along Flatbush Avenue, the main concourse in the neighborhood, small, family-run shops that offer anything and everything imaginable sit alongside national chain stores. Restaurants specializing in West Indian food like goat curry and jerk chicken are a common sight; most Flatbush residents you meet will have a strong opinion as to exactly which restaurant has the neighborhood’s finest roti.