Flatlands, Brooklyn

Coordinates: 40°37′16″N 73°56′07″W / 40.62111°N 73.93528°W / 40.62111; -73.93528

Flatlands is a neighborhood in the southeast part of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. The area is part of Brooklyn Community Board 18. Originally an independent town, Flatlands became part of the City of Brooklyn in 1896.

History

The neighborhood borders are roughly defined by Avenue H to the north, Avenue U to the south, Ralph Avenue to the east, Flatbush Avenue to the southwest and Nostrand Avenue to the northwest. Originally inhabited by the Lenape Native Americans and settled in 1623 by Francophone Walloons, Flatlands was given the right to local rule in 1661 by Peter Stuyvesant as one of the five Dutch Towns on Long Island.

Prior to English rule, Flatlands was known as Nieuw Amersfoort – named after the Dutch city of Amersfoort – and was established as a farming community when, in 1636, Andries Hudde and Wolphert Gerretse bought 15,000 acres of land centered around what is now the intersection of Kings Highway and Flatbush Avenue. Crops typically grown in the area were beans, corn, marsh hay, squash, potato bean and tobacco. Oysters and clams were also farmed and harvested from Jamaica Bay, surrounding marshes and basins. The amount of farming done in the area also made Nieuw Amersfoort a slave town by necessity until the state declared emancipation of all slaves in 1827, after which black laborers took up farming jobs, many times on the farms they worked on as slaves.

Brooklyn (given name)

Brooklyn is a given name that has increased in popularity for girls in the United States and Canada in recent years. It has occasionally been used as a name in honor of Brooklyn, the New York City borough, but is usually regarded as simply a combination of the names Brook or Brooke, a name derived from an English surname meaning "one who lives near a brook" and the suffix -lyn, which is an element in other popular contemporary names in the United States such as Kaitlyn.

The name was the 26th most popular name for baby girls in the United States in 2014 and was the 16th most popular name for baby girls born in British Columbia, Canada in 2006. Spelling variants include, but are not limited to, Brook Lynn, Brooke Lynn, Brookelynn, Brookelynne, Brooklynn and Brooklynne.

The son of football player David Beckham and his wife Victoria, AKA "Posh Spice", was also given the name Brooklyn.

Notes

Brooklyn (disambiguation)

Brooklyn, also Kings County, is a borough of New York City, New York.

Brooklyn may also refer to:

Locations

In Australia

In Canada

In the Netherlands

In New Zealand

In South Africa

In the United States

Brooklyn Go Hard

"Brooklyn Go Hard" is the second promo single by rap artist Jay-Z, featuring additional vocals by alternative musician Santigold. The song was produced by Kanye West. It appears on the soundtrack to The Notorious B.I.G. biopic Notorious for which it serves as the theme song. It was released on December 1, 2008, as an exclusive download available via subscription to (RED)Wire, with a portion of the profits going towards Bono's Product Red organization. In 2013, it was used in a trailer and several television commercials for the Jackie Robinson biopic 42: The True Story of an American Legend.

Santigold first hinted at a collaboration in an interview with NME, saying she "may also do something with Jay-Z, it's kind of secret - it's not for anything, it's just 'cause we want to." The collaboration contains a sample of Santigold's track "Shove It", in the same vein as Jay-Z and T.I.'s "Swagga Like Us", which samples M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes". However, in "Brooklyn Go Hard", Santigold provides another new verse.