Flatbush


View Flatbush/Crown Heights in a larger map

Flatbush is known throughout the 5 boroughs as the largest West Indian community in all of New York – in fact, it’s been touted as the largest West Indian community in the United States. It’s a vibrant, rich and diverse area with countless schools or all types, places of worship, eateries and community centers. The population in Flatbush ranges from elderly folks who immigrated to the area decades ago to young, fresh-faced college students. Everyone in the area has different transportation needs as well as different things at their disposal to make meeting these needs a little easier. For some, a MetroCard is the only way to get around. For others, it is supplemental to a car and for others, still, public transportation isn’t even in the picture, and automobile usage is strictly ‘it’.

Flatbush: Fast Facts

  • Flatbush has the largest number of foreclosures in the city.
  • Zipcode 11226 had, in 2000, a general population of 106,154 persons.
  • 55.4% of Flatbush residents are foreign-born.
  • 25.6% of Flatbush residents live below the poverty line.
  • Median 2000 Income of a Flatbush resident: $29,498
  • Percentage of Flatbush residents that took Public Transportation to work in 2000: 70.2%!
  • Average travel time to work: 49.5 minutes (ten minutes more than residents of Park Slope)

2/5 Train Line Ridership statistics, via MTA.info:

Station (alphabetical by borough) Rank1 Annual
Total		 Average
Weekday		 Average
Saturday		 Average
Sunday
Brooklyn College-Flatbush Av 2 train icon 5 train icon 64 5,951,280 20,159 8,765 6,190

Recent Service Changes

An area with high ridership amongst the general population and a much lower income than the Brooklyn median ($36,000) would seem like a predicament for the MTA: can they provide comprehensive, safe, reliable service to an enormous number of people who cannot afford more fare hikes or transportation taxes? The answer is vastly more complicated than any chart of Census data could show.

So how was Flatbush affected by recent service cuts?

The B45 line was eliminated, which ran all the way from Downtown to Brownsville, is eliminated. The bus traveled on main roads like Flatbush, Atlantic and Washington Avenues, and took St. John’s Place through Crown Heights” (via brooklyntheborough). Other than that, no major service changes were made to Central Brooklyn bus lines.