From Weeksville to Brownsville: How Urban Planning Moved Black Communities Across Brooklyn
From Weeksville to Brownsville: How Urban Planning Moved Black Communities Across Brooklyn In New York City’s long history of urban transformation, few stories are as revealing as that of Brownsville, Brooklyn. Once a working-class immigrant enclave of Eastern European Jews, Brownsville became—by design—the heart of African American public housing in New York. Behind this transformation was a mix of social policy, migration, and the powerful hand of urban planner Robert Moses . Before Brownsville: Early Black Neighborhoods in Brooklyn Before World War II, African Americans in Brooklyn had already established strong, independent communities. Weeksville , founded in the 1830s, was one of the earliest free Black land-owning settlements in America, built by those who sought freedom, safety, and dignity after slavery. By the early 20th century, Bedford-Stuyvesant became home to a large Black middle and working class. Residents included professionals, small business owners, and migr...