Brownsville, Brooklyn, NY

Brownsville, Brooklyn, NY

Area Descriptions

Brownsville, Brooklyn, depicted in this street scene, was a poor but densely settled neighborhood. It was a center of social activism--Margaret Sanger established the first birth control clinic in the United States there in 1916 and the community was renowned for residents’ socialist leanings. In Brooklyn, NY, the Brownsville area description lists detrimental influences as “Congestion. Poor upkeep. Lack of pride. Pushcart vendors and curb markets. Elevated structures Fulton Street—Atlantic Ave. Railroad and industry to the East and South. Mixture of races. Communistic type of people, who agitated ‘rent strikes’ some time ago.”