English Outdoors: Learn. Explore. Discover.

Why Brooklyn

Brooklyn has become a destination in its own right and has so much to offer, whether you are staying just a few days, or much longer.

Brooklyn seems like a haven from the fast-paced Manhattan lifestyle, and has kept all its natural beauty, charm and sophistication. It feels like the hub, without the hubbub of Manhattan. And yet it is only just over the bridge. Alongside Brazil, Sri Lanka and Tibet, Brooklyn is considered one of the top places to see right now.

It offers a variety of lifestyle choices for both visitors and those people who choose to live here. Along the brownstone-lined streets, and amidst the greenery of Prospect Park, there is a cosmopolitan community very much with its own identity.


SIGHTS

The world-renowned Brooklyn Academy of Music The world-renowned Brooklyn Academy of Music

(otherwise known as BAM), which offers a wide range of entertainment throughout the year including theater, dance and movies. It houses an opera house, a theater and movie screens.

The Brooklyn Heights Promenade The Brooklyn Heights Promenade

offers great views of downtown Manhattan and the Hudson River. The promenade, which overlooks the recently built Brooklyn Bridge Park, is the perfect place for a late afternoon stroll.

The Brooklyn Bridge Park The Brooklyn Bridge Park,

which sits in the shadows of the Bridge, has only recently been built. It includes picnic areas, several beach volleyball courts, a pool, a couple of snack bars, running and bike paths, and great views of Manhattan. From here you can also catch the East River ferry over to Manhattan. In addition, the park is linked to the Brooklyn Heights promenade by a walkway.

Why Brooklyn Map

The Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum

was founded in 1895 and houses New York’s second largest art collection with over 1.5 million objects from ancient Egyptian masterpieces to contemporary art.

The Brooklyn Children's Museum The Brooklyn Children’s Museum

was the world’s first museum dedicated to children.

The Botanical Garden The Botanical Garden

is situated next to the Brooklyn Museum, and features a number of “gardens within the garden”. The garden has more than 200 cherry trees and each spring holds a special cherry blossom viewing festival.

Prospect Park Prospect Park

was designed by the same people who designed Central Park in Manhattan. Attractions at the park include the Long Meadow, a 90-acre meadow, and Prospect Park Zoo, a large nature conservancy managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society. The Boathouse houses a visitor’s centre and the first urban Audubon Center, Brooklyn’s only lake, covering 60 acres. The Prospect Park Bandshell hosts free outdoor concerts in the summertime. In addition, the park has sports facilities including seven baseball fields in the Long Meadow, the Prospect Park Tennis Centre, basketball courts, baseball fields, soccer fields, and the New York Pétanque Club in the Parade Ground.

Coney Island Coney Island,

situated in the Southern-most part of Brooklyn and looking out to the Atlantic Ocean, is probably best known as an amusement park, although it has been attracting New Yorkers, keen to escape the summer heat of the city, for over 200 years. Coney Island has a broad sandy beach stretching all the way along the island and the famous Riegelmann Boardwalk running alongside it.


FAMOUS PEOPLE FROM BROOKLYN

Spike Lee (filmmaker)

Jay Z (Rapper)

Carl Sagan (Scientist)

Bernie Sanders (U.S. Senator)

Rita Hayworth (Actor)

Jean-Michel Basquiat (Painter)

George Gershwin (Composer)

Jerry Seinfeld (Comedian)

Lenny Kravitz (Singer)

Wendy Wasserstein (Playwright)

Talib Kweli (Rapper)

Barbara Streisand (Singer and Actor)

Shirley Chisolm (U.S. Representative)

Adam Yauch (co-founder of the Beastie Boys)

Edie Falco (Actor)

Will Eisner (Illustrator)

Norah Jones (Singer)

Steve Buscemi (Actor)

Mos Def (Rapper)

Jimmy Fallon (Comedian)

Harvey Keitel (Actor)

Walt Whitman (Poet)

Norman Rockwell (Painter)

Lou Gossett Jr. (Actor)

Peggy Noonan (Journalist)

Joan Rivers (Comedian)

Ken Burns (Filmmaker)

Lena Horne (Singer)

Lou Reed (Musician)

Barbara Stanwyck (Actor)

Joseph Heller (Author)

Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Supreme Court Justice)

Anne Hathaway (Actor)

Lee Krasner (Painter)

Eddie Murphy (Comedian)

Jam Master Jay (Rapper)

Mel Brooks (Filmmaker)

Carmelo Anthony (Basketball Player)

Mae West (Actor)

Mary White Ovington (Activist)

Jackie Gleason (Comedian)

Arlo Guthrie (Singer)

John Turturro (Actor)

Maurice Sendak (Author, Illustrator)

RZA (Rapper)

Larry King (Talk Show Host)

Mary Tyler Moore (Actor)

Abraham Maslow (Educator)

Frank Serpico (Police Officer)

Sandy Koufax (Baseball Player)

Zero Mostel (Actor)

Notorious BIG (Rapper)

Buddy Rich (Drummer)

Gabourey Sidibe (Actor)

Clara Bow (Silent Film Star)

Pat Benatar (Singer)

Marisa Tomei (Actor)

Larry David (Comedian and Writer)

Lil’ Kim (Rapper)

Jimmy Smits (Actor)

Clive Davis (Music Producer)

Al Capone (Gangster)

Vincent D’Onofrio (Actor)

FAMOUS MOVIES FROM BROOKLYN

Saturday Night Fever (1977)

Do the Right Thing (1989)

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Requiem for a Dream (2000)

He Got Game (1998)

Crooklyn (1994)

Obvious Child (2014)

Notorious (2009)

Brighton beach Memoirs (1986)

Murder, Inc. (1960)

Little Fugitive (1953) 

She’s Gotta Have It (1986)

The Lords of Flatbush (1974)

Moonstruck (1987)

Clockers (1995)

Smoke (1995)

Over the Brooklyn Bridge (1984)

Dave Chappelle’s Block Party (2005)

Dead Presidents (1995)

Heaven Help Us (1985)

Legacy (2010)

Mo’ Better Blues (1990)

Quiet City (2007)

The Last Days of Coney Island (2015)

Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989)

Brooklyn (2015)

Blue in the Face (1995)

The French Connection (1971)

9 1/2 Weeks (1986)

For Pete’s Sake (1974)

We Own the Night (2007)

The Flamingo Kid (1984) 

Sophie’s Choice (1982)

Mutual Appreciation (2005)

Red Hook Summer (2012)

Radio Days (1987)

Highball (1997)

Spike of Bensonhurst (1988)

Annie Hall (1977)

The Warriors (1979)

Arranged (2007)

The Sentinel (1977)

Sunset Park (1996)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)

The Unspeakable Act (2012)

Cadillac Man (1990)

Who’s the Man? (1993)

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

Goodfellas (1990)

Brooklyn Rules (2007)

Focus (2001)

Cowboy from Brooklyn (1938)

Mad Hot Ballroom (2005)

Saturday Night Fever (1977)

Joe’s Bed Stuy Barbershop (1983)

Our Song (2000)

Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

The Squid and the Whale (2005)

Little Odessa (1994)

Hey Good Lookin’ (1982)

Half Nelson (2006)

Straight Out of Brooklyn (1991)

Brooklyn Lobster (2005)

Deuces Wild (2002)

Bushwick (2017)

Shortbus (2006)


RELATED ARTICLES

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WHY BROOKLYN NOW?

The New York Times

My Brooklyn, Then and Now

Whose Brooklyn Is It, Anyway? Tracing Urban Change in Brooklyn From ‘Kotter’ to ‘Girls’

DeKalb Avenue Arrives, Tourists and All

36 hours in Brooklyn

Daily News

President Obama calls Brooklyn ‘cool’ on tour of P-Tech school

Elle Decor

With its charming brownstones, verdant parks, and innovators setting trends in food, fashion, and design, this New York City borough has clearly come into its own

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Architects selected to renovate Hotel Bossert in Heights

GQ

Brooklyn is the coolest city on the planet, A nightlife guide