This diverse, fast-growing New York City neighborhood is changing. Locals strive to ensure it's for the better.
Brooklyn’s Hippest Neighborhood Proves It’s Cool to Be Kind
Last year, Emily Anadu answered a call from New York City’s Parks and Recreation Department.
“Emily, I’m mad at you,” the man on the other end of the line told her.
Anadu, 45, and thousands of other Brooklynites had just convened in Fort Greene Park for the Lay Out, an annual gathering the Sunday before Juneteenth. People come together to eat, buy clothes and crafts, and just bond with one another.
“Oh, no,” Anadu replied, “did we do something wrong?”
“No,” he said. “You didn’t leave anything for us to do.” Attendees and organizers had returned the park in better condition than it was given. That spirit of help and community is nothing new for residents of this Brooklyn enclave, despite changes to the neighborhood over the past few decades, but it is something they’re working to protect and prioritize.
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A storied history
Decades ago, Fort Greene, a section of Brooklyn just off the Manhattan Bridge, was largely populated by first-time-homeowning Black families living on tree-lined streets where the sky’s view inspired limitless possibilities. It was a place where folks knew their butcher’s name. Kids played outside till dusk. You saw the same people every day.
The neighborhood became a mecca for art and culture, championed by filmmaker and hometown hero Spike Lee, who set his first movies there. In the 1840s, Walt Whitman helped found Fort Greene Park, the neighborhood’s beating heart, and almost a century later, Richard Wright wrote parts of Native Son in the 30-acre green space.
“It was more family oriented, and you felt that family love. Every parent had permission to check someone’s child,” says Carlos Jones, 56, CEO and co-founder of Switching Lifestylez, a group of volunteers in Fort Greene who help de-escalate conflict among youth. On any given day, members might walk kids home from school, step in if they see trouble brewing or just lend an ear.
“Now, it’s totally different, but we are bringing that vibe back,” he says of this 2024 Reader’s Digest Nicest Places in America finalist.
A community worth protecting
Things have changed, as anyone would expect. Skyrocketing housing costs and stark economic disparity between longtime residents and newer, wealthier residents have forced lifelong Fort Greeners out of certain parts of the neighborhood, if not out entirely. Amid it all, one thing remains firm: an intrinsic sense of both camaraderie and mutual support.
It’s that sense of belonging that the Lay Out aims to protect. The idea was born in a group chat during 2020’s Black Lives Matter marches—Anadu and friends just wanted to create a safe space in the park, which is beloved to Fort Greeners. Anadu knows it so well, she can follow its pathways while reading a book. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, she picked up trash alongside maintenance crews on her daily walks.
“I’m desperately trying to hold on to the history of this neighborhood, trying to make sure that Black people always have a presence,” says Anadu.
The Lay Out is more than a celebration in the park. Its organizers have created an entire ecosystem, with a network of more than 500 Black-owned businesses and cooking classes whose ticket proceeds keep community fridges stocked with delicious food, free for the taking, to name a few ongoing efforts. But Anadu stresses how important simply gathering in Fort Greene Park, a space that felt increasingly encroached upon, can be for residents to bask in the joy of shared connection.
“It was about reclaiming space, reclaiming each other, and this idea that peace is a form of resistance,” she says.
The neighborhood is a master class in preserving the mores of old while making just enough room for what’s new, dynamic and curative.
“I want people to see we aren’t like every other community,” says Jones. “Fort Greene is a wonderful place with a vibe like no other.”
Why trust us
For more than 100 years, Reader’s Digest has been known for its heartwarming true stories and focus on community. In 2016, we launched the Nicest Places in America, an annual contest that honors kind, inspiring people making a difference in their hometowns. Readers send in nominations, and Reader’s Digest’s editorial team vets the entries and whittles them down with the help of a panel of judges. This year, the judges included Today’s Al Roker, Tuesdays with Morrie author Mitch Albom, author and podcast host Mónica Guzmán, award-winning journalist and author Steve Petrow, Reader’s Digest CEO Bonnie Kintzer, and Craig Elston, a barber who helped Buffalo, New York, earn the title of Nicest Place in America in 2023. We are committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
Originally Published in Reader's Digest
