houses in
Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn's neighborhoods are dynamic in ethnic composition. For example, the early to mid-20th century,
Brownsville had a majority of
Jewish residents; since the 1970s it has been majority African American.
Midwood during the early 20th century was filled with ethnic
Irish, then filled with Jewish residents for nearly 50 years, and is slowly becoming a
Pakistani enclave. Brooklyn's most populous racial group, white, declined from 97.2% in 1930 to 46.9% by 1990. The borough attracts people previously living in other cities in the United States. Of these, most come from
Chicago,
Detroit,
San Francisco,
Washington, D.C.,
Baltimore,
Philadelphia,
Boston,
Cincinnati, and
Seattle.
Community diversity , consisting of
Finnish immigrants, celebrating its summer festival in
Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, in 1894 Given New York City's role as a crossroads for immigration from around the world, Brooklyn has evolved a globally
cosmopolitan ambiance of its own, demonstrating a robust and growing demographic and cultural diversity with respect to metrics including nationality, religion, race, and
domiciliary partnership. In 2010, 51.6% of the population was counted as members of religious congregations. In 2014, there were 914 religious organizations in Brooklyn, the 10th most of all counties in the nation. Brooklyn contains dozens of distinct neighborhoods representing many of the major culturally identified groups found within New York City. Among the most prominent are listed below:
Jewish American community resides in Brooklyn. Over 600,000
Jews, particularly
Orthodox and
Hasidic Jews, have become concentrated in such historically Jewish areas as
Borough Park,
Williamsburg, and
Midwood, where there are many
yeshivas,
synagogues, and
kosher restaurants, as well as a variety of Jewish businesses. Adjacent to Borough Park, the
Kensington area housed a significant population of
Conservative Jews (under the aegis of such nationally prominent midcentury rabbis as
Jacob Bosniak and Abraham Heller) when it was still considered to be a subsection of Flatbush; many of their defunct facilities have been repurposed to serve extensions of the Borough Park Hasidic community. Other notable religious Jewish neighborhoods with a longstanding cultural lineage include
Canarsie,
Sea Gate, and
Crown Heights, home to the
Chabad world headquarters. Neighborhoods with largely defunct yet historically notable Jewish populations include central Flatbush, East Flatbush, Brownsville, East New York, Bensonhurst and Sheepshead Bay (particularly its Madison subsection). Many hospitals in Brooklyn were started by Jewish charities, including
Maimonides Medical Center in Borough Park and Brookdale Hospital in East Flatbush. According to the American Jewish Population Project in 2020, Brooklyn was home to over 480,000 Jews. In 2023, the
UJA-Federation of New York estimated that Brooklyn is home to 462,000 Jews, a large decrease compared to the 561,000 estimated in 2011. The predominantly Jewish, Crown Heights (and later East Flatbush)-based Madison Democratic Club served as the borough's primary "clubhouse" political venue for decades until the ascendancy of
Meade Esposito's rival, Canarsie-based Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club in the 1960s and 1970s, playing an integral role in the rise of such figures as
Speaker of the New York State Assembly Irwin Steingut; his son, fellow Speaker
Stanley Steingut;
New York City Mayor Abraham Beame; real estate developer
Fred Trump; Democratic district leader Beadie Markowitz; and political fixer Abraham "Bunny" Lindenbaum. Many non-Orthodox Jews (ranging from observant members of various denominations to
atheists of Jewish cultural heritage) are concentrated in
Ditmas Park and
Park Slope, with smaller observant and culturally Jewish populations in Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Brighton Beach, and Coney Island.
Chinese American in Brooklyn's
Sunset Park Chinatown Over 200,000
Chinese Americans live throughout the southern parts of Brooklyn, primarily concentrated in
Sunset Park,
Bensonhurst,
Gravesend, and
Homecrest. Brooklyn is the borough that is home to the highest number of
Chinatowns in New York City. The largest concentration is in Sunset Park along 8th Avenue, which has become known for its
Chinese culture since the opening of the now-defunct Winley Supermarket in 1986 spurred widespread settlement in the area. It is called
"Brooklyn's Chinatown" and originally it was a small Chinese enclave with
Cantonese speakers being the main
Chinese population during the late 1980s and 1990s, but since the 2000s, the Chinese population in the area dramatically shifted to majority
Fuzhounese Americans, which contributed immensely to expanding this Chinatown, and bestowing the nicknames "
Fuzhou Town (), Brooklyn" or the "
Little Fuzhou ()" of Brooklyn. Many
Chinese restaurants can be found throughout Sunset Park, and the area hosts a popular
Chinese New Year celebration. Since the 2000s going forward, the growing concentration of the Cantonese speaking population in Brooklyn have dramatically shifted to Bensonhurst/Gravesend and Homecrest creating newer Chinatowns of Brooklyn and these newer Brooklyn Chinatowns are known as "Brooklyn's Little Hong Kong/Guangdong" due to their Chinese populations being overwhelmingly Cantonese populated.
African American and Caribbean American marching by the
Brooklyn Museum Brooklyn's
African American and
Caribbean communities are spread throughout much of Brooklyn. Brooklyn's
West Indian community is concentrated in the Crown Heights, Flatbush,
East Flatbush, Kensington, and Canarsie neighborhoods in central Brooklyn. Brooklyn is home to the largest community of West Indians outside of the Caribbean. Although the largest West Indian groups in Brooklyn are
Jamaicans,
Guyanese and
Haitians, there are
West Indian immigrants from nearly every part of the Caribbean. Crown Heights and Flatbush are home to many of Brooklyn's West Indian restaurants and bakeries. Brooklyn has an annual, celebrated Carnival in the tradition of pre-Lenten celebrations in the islands. Started by natives of
Trinidad and Tobago, the
West Indian Labor Day Parade takes place every Labor Day on
Eastern Parkway. The
Brooklyn Academy of Music also holds the
DanceAfrica festival in late May, featuring street vendors and dance performances showcasing food and culture from all parts of Africa. Since the opening of the
IND Fulton Street Line in 1936,
Bedford-Stuyvesant has been home to one of the most famous African American communities in the United States. Working-class communities remain prevalent in
Brownsville,
East New York and
Coney Island, while remnants of similar communities in
Prospect Heights,
Fort Greene and
Clinton Hill have endured amid widespread gentrification.
Hispanic American In the aftermath of
World War II and subsequent
urban renewal initiatives that decimated longtime Manhattan enclaves (most notably on the
Upper West Side), Puerto Rican migrants began to settle in such waterfront industrial neighborhoods as
Sunset Park,
Red Hook and
Gowanus, near the shipyards and factories where they worked. The borough's Hispanic population diversified after the 1965
Hart-Cellar Act loosened restrictions on immigration from elsewhere in Latin America.
Bushwick has since emerged as the largest hub of Brooklyn's
Hispanic American community. Like other Hispanic neighborhoods in New York City, Bushwick has an established
Puerto Rican presence, along with an influx of many
Dominicans,
South Americans,
Central Americans and
Mexicans. As nearly 80% of Bushwick's population is Hispanic, its residents have created many businesses to support their various national and distinct traditions in food and other items. Sunset Park's population is 42% Hispanic, made up of these various ethnic groups. Brooklyn's main Hispanic groups are Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Dominicans and
Ecuadorians; they are spread out throughout the borough. Puerto Ricans and Dominicans are predominant in Bushwick,
Williamsburg's South Side and East New York. Mexicans (especially from the state of
Puebla) now predominate alongside Chinese immigrants in Sunset Park, although remnants of the neighborhood's once-substantial postwar Puerto Rican and Dominican communities continue to reside below 39th Street. Save for Red Hook (which remained roughly one-fifth Hispanic American as of the 2010 Census), the South Side and Sunset Park, similar postwar communities in other waterfront neighborhoods—including western Park Slope, the north end of Greenpoint, and
Boerum Hill, long considered the northern subsection of Gowanus—largely disappeared by the turn of the century due to various factors, including deindustrialization, ensuing gentrification and suburbanization among more affluent Dominicans and Puerto Ricans. A Panamanian enclave exists in
Crown Heights.
Russian and Ukrainian American " in
Brighton Beach Brooklyn is also home to many
Russians and
Ukrainians, who are mainly concentrated in the areas of
Brighton Beach and
Sheepshead Bay. Brighton Beach features many Russian and Ukrainian businesses and has been nicknamed
Little Russia and
Little Odessa, respectively. In the 1970s,
Soviet Jews won the right to immigrate, and many ended up in Brighton Beach. In recent years, the non-Jewish Russian and Ukrainian communities of Brighton Beach have grown, and the area is now home to a diverse collection of immigrants from across the
former USSR. Smaller concentrations of Russian and Ukrainian Americans are scattered elsewhere in south Brooklyn, including Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Homecrest, Coney Island, and
Mill Basin. A growing community of
Uzbek Americans have settled alongside them in recent years due to their ability to speak
Russian.
Polish American Brooklyn's
Polish inhabitants are historically concentrated in
Greenpoint, home to
Little Poland. Other longstanding settlements in
Borough Park and
Sunset Park have endured, while more recent immigrants are scattered throughout the southern parts of Brooklyn alongside the Russian and Ukrainian American communities.
Italian American Despite widespread migration to
Staten Island and more suburban areas in metropolitan New York throughout the postwar era, notable concentrations of
Italian Americans continue to reside in the neighborhoods of
Bensonhurst,
Dyker Heights,
Bay Ridge,
Bath Beach and
Gravesend. Less perceptible remnants of older communities have persisted in
Cobble Hill and
Carroll Gardens, where the homes of the remaining Italian Americans can often be contrasted with more recent
upper middle class residents through the display of small
Madonna statues, the retention of plastic-metal stoop awnings and the use of
Formstone in house cladding. All of the aforementioned neighborhoods have retained Italian restaurants, bakeries, delicatessens,
pizzerias, cafes and social clubs.
Arab American & Muslim In the early 20th century, many
Lebanese and
Syrian Christians settled around
Atlantic Avenue west of
Flatbush Avenue in
Boerum Hill; more recently, this area has evolved into a Yemeni commercial district. More recent, predominantly
Muslim Arab immigrants, especially
Egyptians and
Lebanese, have moved into the southwest portion of Brooklyn, particularly to
Bay Ridge, where many Middle Eastern restaurants, hookah lounges, halal grocers, Islamic shops and mosques line the commercial thoroughfares of Fifth and Third Avenues below 86th Street. Brighton Beach is home to a growing
Pakistani American community, while Midwood is home to
Little Pakistan along
Coney Island Avenue (recently co-named
Muhammad Ali Jinnah Way). Pakistani Independence Day is celebrated every year with parades and parties on Coney Island Avenue. Just to the north, Kensington is one of New York's several emerging
Bangladeshi enclaves.
Irish American Third-, fourth- and fifth-generation
Irish Americans can be found throughout Brooklyn, with moderate concentrations enduring in the neighborhoods of
Windsor Terrace,
Park Slope,
Bay Ridge,
Marine Park and
Gerritsen Beach. Historical communities also existed in
Vinegar Hill and other waterfront industrial neighborhoods, such as Greenpoint and Sunset Park. Paralleling the Italian American community, many moved to Staten Island and suburban areas in the postwar era. Those that stayed engendered close-knit, stable working-to-middle class communities through employment in the civil service (especially in law enforcement, transportation, and the
New York City Fire Department) and the building and construction trades, while others were subsumed by the
professional-managerial class and largely shed the Irish American community's distinct cultural traditions (including continued worship in the
Catholic Church and other social activities, such as
Irish stepdance and frequenting Irish American bars).
South Asian American While not as extensive as the
Indian American population in
Queens, younger professionals of
Asian Indian origin are finding Brooklyn to be a convenient alternative to Manhattan to find housing. Nearly 30,000 Indian Americans call Brooklyn home. Brighton Beach is home to a growing
Pakistani American community, while Midwood is home to
Little Pakistan along
Coney Island Avenue recently renamed
Muhammad Ali Jinnah way.
Pakistan Independence Day is celebrated every year with parades and parties on Coney Island Avenue. Just to the north,
Kensington is one of New York's several emerging
Bangladeshi enclaves.
Greek American Brooklyn's
Greek Americans live throughout the borough. A historical concentration has endured in Bay Ridge and adjacent areas, where there is a noticeable cluster of Hellenic-focused schools, businesses and cultural institutions. Other businesses are situated in Downtown Brooklyn near Atlantic Avenue. As in much of the
New York metropolitan area, Greek-owned diners are found throughout the borough.
LGBTQ community Brooklyn is home to a large and growing number of same-sex couples.
Same-sex marriages in New York were legalized on June 24, 2011, and were authorized to take place beginning 30 days thereafter. The
Park Slope neighborhood spearheaded the popularity of Brooklyn among lesbians, and
Prospect Heights has an LGBT residential presence. Numerous neighborhoods have since become home to LGBT communities. Brooklyn Liberation March, the largest
transgender-rights demonstration in LGBTQ history, took place on June 14, 2020, stretching from
Grand Army Plaza to
Fort Greene, focused on supporting Black transgender lives, drawing an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 participants.
Artists-in-residence Brooklyn became a preferred site for artists and
hipsters to set up live/work spaces after being priced out of the same types of living arrangements in Manhattan. Various neighborhoods in Brooklyn, including Williamsburg,
DUMBO,
Red Hook, and Park Slope evolved as popular neighborhoods for
artists-in-residence. However, rents and costs of living have since increased dramatically in these same neighborhoods, forcing artists to move to somewhat less expensive neighborhoods in Brooklyn or across Upper New York Bay to locales in New Jersey, such as
Jersey City or
Hoboken. ==Demographics==