A Cultural Mecca Grows in Brooklyn

"For years, the Bloomberg administration has been trying to revitalize the down-at-heel area around Fort Greene’s Brooklyn Academy of Music (widely known as BAM)," writes Andrew Klappholz. "Now, those efforts finally seem to be gaining traction, with a bevy of new residential buildings underway. The so-called Downtown Brooklyn Cultural District — between DeKalb and Atlantic avenues — is even drawing comparisons to Manhattan’s now-pricey Lincoln Center neighborhood."

"Since 2004, the city has spent more than $100 million in the Downtown Brooklyn Cultural District on new facilities, public spaces and affordable housing projects. That includes the new BAM Fisher Building, which opened in 2012. And the district will soon have a total of six performing arts theaters," adds Klappholz.

"Tucker Reed, president of the nonprofit Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, said within the next four years the neighborhood will have about 40 arts and cultural organizations, ranging in size from mega institutions like BAM to smaller arts incubators like the Alliance of Resident Theaters/New York."

"And unlike Lincoln Center, he noted, the area will have a diverse range of venues, ranging from the 19,000-seat Barclays Center to the 200-seat BAM Fisher and century-old BAM Opera House."

“We like to think of this as a cultural district that caters to everyone — not just the New York elite,” Reed said.