Center for Brooklyn History Talk: Atlantic Avenue End-to-End

This program is offered in partnership with the Municipal Art Society (MAS), as part of its Enduring Culture Initiative

Atlantic Avenue is one of the most critical corridors in our city. The sole east-west truck route through Brooklyn, it also bifurcates Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill, Downtown Brooklyn and Prospect Heights, and Crown Heights from Bedford Stuyvesant before transitioning into Queens. The corridor has been home to layers of communities, yet across the stretch of these diverse neighborhoods, the course of development and the investment of resources has not been equal.

Now the City is looking to transform Atlantic Avenue. The Atlantic Avenue Mixed Use Plan (AAMUP) is a community-centered rezoning proposal: a mixed-use framework intended to support affordable housing, new jobs, and public space investment. With city officials and residents contemplating Atlantic Avenue’s future, a number of critical questions arise. How do we practice preservation in ways that support long-time neighborhood businesses, community character, and the many priceless elements that make neighborhoods along the corridor familiar and beloved? What methods will help bolster community resiliency? How do we ensure security and protection for current residents, taking into account all that we know about the dynamics of gentrification and displacement?

Join the Center for Brooklyn History and the Municipal Art Society of New York for a conversation with interdisciplinary practitioners who are working across the spectrum of Atlantic Avenue communities to preserve culture and history in the face of change.