Midwood, Brooklyn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Midwood is a neighborhood in the south central part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, New York, USA, roughly halfway between Prospect Park and Coney Island.
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[edit] History
The name Midwood derives from the Dutch word Midwout (middle woods), the name the settlers of New Netherland gave the area of western Long Island, between the towns of “Boswijck” and "Brueckelen," because of its thick, dense forests. Later, it was part of old Flatbush, situated between the towns of Gravesend and Flatlands.[1]
Settlement was begun by the Dutch in 1652,[1] and they later gave way to the English (who conquered it in 1664, but the area remained rural and undeveloped for the most part until its annexation as part of the City of Greater New York in 1898, and then became more developed in the 1920s, when large middle class tracts of developed houses and apartment buildings were built.
Many Midwood residents moved to the suburbs in the 1970s, and the neighborhood and its commercial districts declined. Drawn by its quiet middle class ambiance, the area underwent a resurgence in the 1980s. New immigrants to the neighborhood came from the Soviet Union (the largest group), as well as from China, Haiti, Israel, Pakistan, Guyana, Jamaica, Iran, and India.
[edit] Notable residents
Famous people who grew up in the neighborhood include novelist Erich Segal and Woody Allen, both of whom graduated from Midwood High School, and Dan Rootenberg, one of the first players drafted in 2007 in the first Israel Baseball League draft, is also from Midwood. Arthur Miller and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg also grew up in the neighborhood, attending James Madison High School. Madison also boasts three alumni who have become United States Senators: Bernard Sanders (Independent of Vermont), Chuck Schumer (Democrat of New York) and Norm Coleman (Republican of Minnesota). Actress Marisa Tomei and director Darren Aronofsky attended Edward R. Murrow High School, also in the area.
[edit] Film
The film industry established itself in the neighborhood in 1907, when the Vitagraph company occupied a studio at Avenue M and East 14th Street. Scenes from films like "Hey Pop" and "Buzzin’ Around," starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, were filmed on streets in Midwood.[2] Warner Bros. purchased the studio in the 1920s, using it for short subjects.
NBC purchased part of the Vitagraph Studios in 1953, from which the programs of Perry Como, Peter Pan with Mary Martin and The Sammy Davis Jr. Show were broadcast. The same studios were used in more recent decades to broadcast the soap opera Another World, the situation comedy The Cosby Show, and a few 1976 episodes of Saturday Night Live.
NBC sold the studio in 2000. The facility is now known as JC Studios. The CBS soap As the World Turns currently tapes in the studio.
Among movies and TV shows that have been filmed in Midwood are the following:
- America (1972) -- TV Series
- The Godfather (1972)
- Just Looking (1999)
- The Squid and the Whale (2005)
[edit] Subway
The area is served by New York Subway's Q Service at Avenue J, Avenue M, and Kings Highway, the latter of which is also served by the B Line.
The letters of these lines were different in the past. In the early 1980s, the D was the express, and the M was the local. The Q (known as the QB until 1986) ran local during rush hours. On weekends and late nights, only the D operated on the Brighton Line, and it made all local stops.
After 1986, the D and Q ran a skip-stop service on the Brighton Line due to reconstruction on the express tracks. The M was rerouted over the West End Line, where it currently runs.
In 1988, when construction on the express tracks was completed, the Q ran express and the D ran local. The Q operated only on weekdays, while the D operated 24 hours a day. Except for a 6-month period in 1995 which saw the Q run local during weekday afternoons and the D not operate in Brooklyn during weekday afternoons, this service pattern held until 2001. In 2001 there were two Q lines: The Q Diamond was the express, and the Q Circle was local; both were short-lived.
In 2004, service was changed once again, with the B being the express, and the Q being the local. The D no longer runs in Midwood, but runs instead to Bensonhurst, which compounds the confusion for Midwood-bound old-time Brooklynites from Manhattan
[edit] Shopping
The main shopping streets in the area are Kings Highway, Avenue J, Avenue M, and Flatbush Avenue, Nostrand Avenue, and Coney Island Avenue.
In the 1960s and the early 1970s, Nostrand Avenue between Avenues M and N was considered one of New York's best streets for shopping by New York magazine.[citation needed] The street was known for fashionable boutiques such as "Edna Nelkin's Jewelry," America's finest childrenswear boutique, "Greenstone's" (now located on both Columbus and Madison Avenues in Manhattan), "Burton's," "Shirtland," and "The Shoe Box." As retailers retired, the street changed and became known for its automobile showrooms, including Plaza Honda.
In its heyday Kings Highway had "Dubrow's," a classic cafeteria where holes would be punched in patrons' printed tickets, which would total the cost of the meal. Also "Levine's" was the king of the bar mitzvah suit trade, and "Jimmy's" catered to high fashion customers (as it does to this day).
Avenue M was home to "Cookie's," one of Brooklyn's best known restaurants and "hang-outs." And one of Brooklyn's most legendary Italian restaurants, "Restaurant Bonaparte," was located on Avenue M, and catered to the actors and actresses working on Avenue M in the NBC studio at that time. Restaurant Bonaparte was known for its "Three Musketeers." It has an elevated subway station, and here the stores are more cosmopolitan, a Godiva Chocolatier, Chock Full o' Nuts cafe and Nesle Caffe. Many shops close by 3 p.m. on Friday, and the street is a ghost town on Saturdays.
Avenue J is a low-key commercial strip, with kosher restaurants, delicatessens, pizzerias, and butchers, such as Kosher Delight, Subway (Kosher), Esti Hana, Pizza Time, Netanya, and Jerusalem Pizza, just to name a few. Others specialize more narrowly, such as one bakery concentrating on Russian bread. Ostrovitsky's Bakery sells gourmet cookies and cakes. A number of large fruit grocers such as Fruit Palace and Blue Ribbon offer high quality produce at competitive prices. A large selection of exotic dried fruits and nuts can be found at "Oh Nuts!" But Avenue J can also be hectic during weekdays.
In the 1980s and 1990s a wave of Orthodox Jews moved into the area from Borough Park, attracted by Midwood's large homes and tree-lined streets. Today, in addition to European Orthodox Jews, the area is home to a burgeoning Sephardic population. Much of the area closes down on Friday evening until Saturday evening, in observance of the Jewish sabbath.
[edit] Parks
Parks consist of Kolbert Park and the Rachel Haber Cohen Playground and adjacent basketball courts[3], near Edward R. Murrow High School, and the track and playing fields of Brooklyn College and Midwood High School. Another interesting park is Friends Field near McDonald Ave. The park is popular with baseball-playing Yeshiva boys on Friday afternoons. These parks are generally open to the public when the schools are not using them.
[edit] Boundaries
It is bounded on the north by the Long Island Rail Road tracks just above Avenue I and the Brooklyn College campus of the City University of New York, and on the south by Avenue P and Kings Highway.
The eastern border is Nostrand Avenue or Flatbush Avenue (depending on whom you ask), and Coney Island Avenue or Ocean Parkway to the west is the other boundary (again, depending upon whom you ask).[4]
[edit] References
- ^ a b BROOKLYN NEIGHBORHOODS.. Present & Past, accessed December 21, 2006
- ^ Vitagraph Studio in Brooklyn: Avenue M - Movie Capital of the World?, accessed December 21, 2006
- ^ Kolbert Park, accessed December 21, 2006
- ^ If You're Thinking of Living In/Midwood; Bustling Area With a Touch of Country, The New York Times, June 29, 2003
[edit] Sources
- A Virtual Tour of New Netherland Consulted December 14, 2004
- Echoes Down the Corridor Consulted December 14, 2004
- Midwood section of Congressman Anthony D. Weiner Consulted December 14, 2004
[edit] External links
- NY Times 2003 article about Midwood
- e-midwood web site Click on one of the red lines on the map and see a panoramic view of what's across the street.
- Avenue J List of stores, community services, etc. by category.
- Avenue M List of stores, community services, etc. by category.
