East Brooklyn Housing

East Brooklyn's neighborhoods now face both a serious need for affordable housing, and a significant number of foreclosures. Like the rest of the New York City, East Brooklyn experienced a dramatic increase in housing prices from 2000 to 2007 -- both rental and sales -- while incomes steadily declined. In the neighborhoods of Ocean Hill, Brownsville, Broadway Junction, Cypress Hills, City Line, East New York, New Lots, Spring Creek and Starrett City, almost half the population pays more than 30% of its income on housing, and around one third of residents live in poverty. The Pratt Center conducted a housing study of these neighborhoods to identify both potential areas for affordable housing development as well as concentrations of foreclosed and soon-to be-foreclosed houses that could be the root of abandonment and blight that are a serious threat to the stability of the entire community. Intensive analysis of foreclosures and lis pendens cases revealed that Ocean Hill contains the highest concentration of failed mortgages in East Brooklyn. On its blocks, foreclosed homes stand next to vacant lots that last year were assumed to be sites for new condo development. The potential for devastation in this neighborhood is significant -- creeping abandonment brings the prospect of more crime, lower property values, and a downward cycle. But this is also a neighborhood right next to Broadway Junction, with great transit options, and a likely site of economic investment when the market turns around in a couple of years. The study identifies several private and non-profit development entities that might find these sites attractive. By thinking ahead with local stakeholders and planning for future development, it may be possible to prevent decline in the hardest hit East Brooklyn blocks and sow the seeds of recovery before the crisis is even over.

Additional Resources

• East Brooklyn Housing and Development Study 2008