Borough Park (Boro Park)
Borough Park (or Boro Park) certainly earns its reputation as the
center for Orthodox Jewish life in NYC. For the last 20 years, the
community has shaped the neighborhood as their presence is strongly
evidenced in local businesses, schools, and real estate. The main
commercial strip along 13th Avenue is mostly community owned and
operated and is best known for its discount designer clothing stores,
kosher meat markets, pizzerias, and bakeries. Public schools have
uniquely small class sizes because most children in the area go to
private schools. Even the zoning in the neighborhood has been
influenced by community members who required extensions to their homes
to encompass growing families.
Borough Park may seem far out, but it is serviced by the D, M and N
trains, as well as various Brooklyn buses. Rental prices in the
neighborhood are marginally lower than nearby neighborhoods, with
studios around $950/mo and 1Br's around $1200/mo, but available
apartments are scarce since much of the housing is owned and rented to
community members. The same rarity is the case with residential sales,
though the median price of $800K is actually higher than that in much
more popular neighborhoods closer to Manhattan and Prospect Park.
