Carroll Gardens is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, USA. The area is named for Charles Carroll, a revolutionary war veteran who was also the only Roman Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence.[1] Carroll Park is a block-long area of playgrounds, walkways and sitting areas between Court and Smith Streets, with Carroll Street as its southern boundary and President Street on the northern side. It was constructed in the late 19th century and is also named for Carroll.[2] The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 6.[3]

A long-standing Italian-American neighborhood of family-run stores, Carroll Gardens is now sprinkled with cafes, boutiques and antique shops. It shares its northern boundary with Cobble Hill at Degraw Street and Boerum Hill at Warren Street, while extending south to Hamilton Avenue and Red Hook. Prior to the gentrification movement in the mid-1960s, this part of South Brooklyn was considered by residents to be part of Red Hook. In the late 1940s, however, the southern tip of Red Hook was cut off from the rest of the neighborhood by the building of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and Gowanus Expressway, and the area now known as Carroll Gardens took on a separate and distinct character of its own. Today, Carroll Gardens is more middle class, while Red Hook, which had retained its working-class, waterfront ambiance, has only recently begun to feel the effects of gentrification.

Before Italian-Americans settled in the area, Carroll Gardens was settled by Irish Americans in the early 19th century and, in the mid-19th century, by Norwegian-Americans, who founded the Norwegian Seamans’ Church, an imposing brownstone structure that was once visited by the King of Norway during an official visit to the United States, and which still stands (although it is now a condominium) on the corner of First Place and Clinton Street.[4] In 1846, Richard Butt created the “front gardens” to the famous brownstone houses in the oldest section of the neighborhood. The brownstones are set back from the street by 30–40 feet, to create atypical (for Brooklyn) large front gardens. The Carroll Gardens Historic District, which includes some of the finest examples of these brownstones with large front gardens, is bounded roughly by 3rd Place to the south, President Street to the north, Hoyt Street to the east and Smith Street to the west. Carroll Gardens has seen a strong French immigration since the late 1990s, and “Bastille Day” celebrations are held on July 14 of each year.[5]

Historical sites

• Gowanus Canal – Canal that centers the heavily industrial areas of South Brooklyn, permitting oil barges to pass through to local fuel companies. Though heavily polluted, the canal is nonetheless occupied by a few dozen houseboats.
• St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Church, 467 Court Street – Originally constructed to serve as a Cathedral, a beautiful church built with the finest Italian and European stones and marble. Also the location where Al Capone married Mae Josephine Coughlin.
• St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 199 Carroll Street – Founded in 1849, during the heyday of Brooklyn’s industrialization.
• Old Smith Theatre, also known as Court Threate, 375 Smith Street on the corner of third and smith- Now home to Lee’s Auto Services and Repairs Inc. This single screen theatre still holds a good amount of its original architecture. It’s been said to have closed c1940s.

Education

The New York City Department of Education operates public schools. The Carroll School is located in Carroll Gardens.

The Brooklyn Public Library operates the Carroll Gardens Branch at 396 Clinton Street and Union Street in Carroll Gardens. The library, originally the Carroll Park Branch, opened in 1901 in a rented facility. The library moved to its current Carnegie library facility, designed by William B. Tubby, in 1905. After extensive renovations occurred, the library received its current name according to a request from the community.[6]

Notable residents

Notable current and former residents of Carroll Gardens include:

• Jim Neu (1943–2010), playwright.[7]
• Zoe Kazan, actress and playwright.
• Solange Knowles, singer-songwriter/DJ
• Nate Silver, political blogger/statistician

Boerum Hill Cobble Hill Columbia Street Waterfront District Gowanus Park Slope Red Hook Sunset Park Windsor Terrace