Search results
Canarsie (/ k ə ˈ n ɑːr s i / kə-NAR-see) is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City.Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin, East 108th Street, and Louisiana Avenue; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on the west by Ralph Avenue; on the southwest by Paerdegat Basin; and on the south by Jamaica Bay.
Canarsie Canarsie is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City.Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin, East 108th Street, and Louisiana Avenue; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on the west by Ralph Avenue; on the southwest by Paerdegat Basin; and on the south by Jamaica Bay.
- Overview
- Little Caribbean’s deep roots
- Sights and sounds of the islands
- Preserving history
For more than half a century, the Crown Heights, Canarsie, and Flatbush areas have been a cultural touchstone for Caribbean people in America. Locals want to keep it that way.
A crowd cheers at the unveiling of Jean-Jacques Dessalines Boulevard in Brooklyn, New York, on August 18, 2018. The Haitian revolutionary leader is one of many notable Caribbeans honored in street names and murals throughout the Little Caribbean neighborhood.
Outside Labay Market, with its awning decked in the red, gold, and green colors of Grenada’s flag, people line up to get fresh coconut water and soursop. The scent of jerk chicken grilling in oil drums fills the air, while Caribbean accents mix with reggae, konpa, and soca music in a pulsating soundtrack.
It sure feels like the islands, but the market is in Brooklyn, New York, in a vibrant neighborhood known as Little Caribbean.
For more than half a century this corner of the city has been a major Caribbean cultural and commercial hub in America. But while it’s home to the largest and most diverse community of people of Caribbean ancestry outside the West Indies, it wasn’t officially designated as the world’s first (and only Little Caribbean) until 2017.
Now residents are seeking national historic status for the neighborhood—a vital cultural connection that was hit hard during the pandemic and is increasingly being threatened by development.
Located off Florida’s southern coast, the Caribbean consists of nearly 30 countries including Grenada, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Haiti, and Trinidad and Tobago.
In the early half of the 20th century, the first wave of large-scale voluntary migration from the Caribbean to the United States began. These mostly Afro-Caribbean immigrants from English-speaking countries in the region, such as Jamaica and Barbados, sought greater economic stability and found work in America mainly as laborers.
(Here’s how Ellis Island shepherded millions of immigrants into the U.S.)
New York City was the most significant point of entry. By the 1940s, Caribbean immigrants filled labor shortages that rose during World War II and continued into the postwar period.
In subsequent decades, New York City’s West Indian community grew to new levels, partly due to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. Also known as The Hart-Celler Act, it repealed over 40 years of restrictive and discriminatory immigration policies that favored people from western Europe, while curtailing immigration from other countries. The act lifted national-origin country quotas and replaced them with a system based on family reunification and employment.
Over the ensuing years, most Caribbean immigrants in New York City settled in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights, Canarsie, and Flatbush neighborhoods, where they worked in high-demand sectors, such as healthcare, education, and domestic care. In the process, they stitched together networks and communities with a distinct Caribbean flavor.
Some of the contributions are visible on a stroll through the neighborhood.
Street signs bear the names of influential Caribbean people, including musical icon Bob Marley (Church Avenue); Haitian independence leaders François-Dominique Toussaint L’Ouverture and Jean Jacques Dessalines (Nostrand and Rogers Avenues); Grenadian diplomat and West Indian Day Parade founder Lamuel A Stanislaus (Rutland Road); and community advocate Roy A. Hastick Sr. (Flatbush and Caton Avenues), who founded the Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Throughout the neighborhood, murals depicting carnival celebrations and markets adorn buildings and some subway stations.
In Drummer’s Grove, in Prospect Park, the Congo Square Drummers celebrate a tradition dating back to the 17th century, when Africans brought their music to the West Indies. These days, people of all backgrounds come to watch, dance, or join in every Sunday from April through October.
(These vibrant photos show the Caribbean’s Carnival ‘rebellion.’)
“There [are] very few places beyond the Caribbean itself where you can see so many people that come from the same background that you come from and create such an impact,” says Christian Smith, manager at Allan’s Bakery.
Despite the community’s deep Caribbean roots, it took decades to earn recognition for the neighborhood. In 2016, I Am CaribBeing launched a campaign with support from the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President and the Caribbean Tourism Organization to get the neighborhood officially designated.
“I thought if there could be three Chinatowns in New York and two Little Italys, then why can’t we have a Little Caribbean,” says Worrell, a Brooklyn native whose parents immigrated from Trinidad.
(Why does the U.S. have so many Chinatowns?)
Her efforts paid off in 2017 when Little Caribbean was formally designated a cultural district. But in recent years, there has been a new threat: overdevelopment in the form of large-scale apartment buildings encroaching on cultural hubs.
In 2020, then-mayor Bill DeBlasio and council member Matthieu Eugene introduced an affordable housing project on the site of the Flatbush African Burial Ground. That plan has since been scrapped after residents pushed back.
Projects like these have spurred a new movement to protect Little Caribbean through historic preservation designation. Locals are hopeful; recently, sites including the burial ground, Labay Market, and Flatbush Central (formerly Caton Market), were accepted into the Historic Districts Council’s Six To Celebrate program. The citywide registry of culturally significant landmarks is a key stepping stone for getting the neighborhood as a whole onto New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission’s list.
Canarsie is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin, Eas...
Jun 2, 2024 · Canarsie is a neighborhood in New York City, New York with a population of 91,745. Canarsie is in Kings County. Living in Canarsie offers residents an urban suburban mix feel and most residents rent their homes. In Canarsie there are a lot of restaurants, coffee shops, and parks. Many young professionals live in Canarsie and residents tend to ...
- (138)
Canarsie also neighbors East Flatbush, Flatlands, Mill Basin, Bergen Beach, and East New York. Canarsie is patrolled by the NYPD’s 69th Precinct. HISTORY “Canarsie” is a phonetic interpretation of a word in the Lenape language for “fenced land” or “fort.”
People also ask
Where is Canarsie located?
Where is Canarsie Brooklyn located?
What to do in Canarsie NY?
What ZIP code is Canarsie NY?
What's it like living in Canarsie?
Where is Canarsie Cemetery in Brooklyn?
There are housing projects by the parkway. Safe neighborhood and we'll maintained. Canarsie is bordered by water. Jamaica Bay is at the south end. The Paedergat Basin (long canal) at the south end. Plenty of shopping and great restaurants. The L train makes it's final stop here from 14th street in Manhattan.
