Community Assessment of Borough Park

COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT OF BOROUGH PARK1

Community Assessment of Borough Park

Nadzeya Lazarev

New York City College of Technology

Dr. Aida Egues

June 13, 2012

Community Assessment of Borough Park

The following assessment is the assessment of the community with a zip code 11230, located within the area of Borough Park.

(1)Community development/services

1. Schools

• 5 public schools:
• P.S. 199 Frederick Wachtel, 1100 Elm Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 339-1422. Grades: PK-5. Student enrollment: 527. Average student-to-teacher ratio: 11.2.
• P.S. 217 Colonel David Marcus School, 1100 Newkirk Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 434-6960. Grades: PK-5. Student Enrollment: 1,285. Average student-to-teacher ratio: 12.9.
• P.S. 99 Isaac Asimov, 1120 East 10th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 338-9201. Grades: PK-8. Student enrollment: 698. Average student-to-teacher ratio: 13.8.
• Edward R. Murrow High School, 1600 Avenue L, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 258-9283. Grades: 9-12. Student enrollment: 7,609. Average student-to-teacher ratio: 40.6.
• Brooklyn Dreams Charter School, 259 Parkville Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 859-8400. Grades: K-4. Student enrollment: 248. Average student-to-teacher ratio: 12.
• 22 private schools:

• St. Rose of Lima Elementary School, 259 Parkville Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 434-1739. Grades: PK-8. Student enrollment: 141. Average student-to teacher ratio: 12.
• Lubavitcher School Chabad, 841 Ocean Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 434-0795. Grades: PK-8. Student enrollment: 184. Average student-to-teacher ratio: 10.
• Yeshivah of Flatbush Joel Braverman High School, 1609 Avenue J, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718)377-1100. Grades: 9-12. Student enrollment: 706. Average student-to-teacher ratio: 10.

1. Type of schools

• 16 elementary schools (grades: PK-5)
• 9 middle schools (grades: 6-8)
• 8 high schools (grades: 9-12)
• Private schools:
• mostly yeshivas affiliated with Jewish religion
• two schools affiliated with Roman Catholic religion
• one school affiliated with Seventh-Day Adventist religion

1. Types of community groups and places to meet

• Churches

• Catholic Churches:

-St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church, 269 Parkville Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 434-8040

-St. Brendan’s Catholic Church, 1525 East 12th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 339-2828

• Latter Day Saint Church:

-The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1218 Glenwood Road, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 859-7777

• 7th Day Adventist Church:

-Brooklyn Church SDA Church, 1260 Ocean Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 434-2437

• Mosque:

-Muslim Community Center, 1089 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 859-4485

• 8 Synagogues:

-Congregation Beth Torah, 1061 Ocean Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 252-9840

-Jewish Congregation Assemblies, 1410 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 253-0974

-Congregation Talmud Torah, 1305 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 377-2528

-Sharfman Label Rabbi, 1118 East 9th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 253-4579

-Kahanow Ely, 721 Avenue L, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 338-6728

• 4 Senior Citizens Centers

• Marien-Heim Tower & Senior Center, 870 Ocean Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 253-7511
• Brookdale Senior Citizen Center, 817 Avenue H, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 434-8670

• 1 public library

• Midwood Branch Library, 975 East 16th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 252-0967; Sat-Sun: closed; Mon, Wed, Fri: 10:00 am – 6:00 pm; Tue: 10:00 am – 8:00 pm; Thu: 1:00 pm – 8:00 pm

• 7 gyms

• Spartan Health Club, 116 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 434-2300
• Women’s Kosher Gym, 1800 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 645-0592

• 4 parks

• Colonel David Marcus Memorial Playground, Avenue P between East 4th Street and Ocean Parkway

1. Political offices

• A council member David D. Greenfield, a democrat, represents the 44th Council District, including Borough Park:

• District office: 4424 16th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11204, phone: (718)853-2704

• A council member Sara M. Gonzalez, a democrat, represents the 38th Council District, including Borough Park:

• District office: 5601 5th Avenue S-2, Brooklyn, NY 11220, phone: (718) 439-9012

• An assembly member James F. Brennan represents the 44th Assembly District:

• District offices: 416 7th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215, phone: (718)788-7221; 1414 Cortelyou Road, Brooklyn, NY 11226, phone: (718)940-0641

1. Community events

• Since the majority of the community is Jewish, many events and celebrations are religious.
• An important festive day, Shabbat: on every Friday’s evening, the siren makes a loud sound, heard in the whole Borough Park, three times;after the third sound Jews are freed fromthe labor, from Friday’s night to late Saturday’s afternoon they spend their time with the family, they eat, sing, and pray.
• When receiving the Torah, a synagogue celebrates this event with its community members by arranging the walk along the streets accompanied by joy religious music, while Jews are dancing and singing.
• Yard/ garage sales on weekends; advertisements are seen on the posts and/or placed on the car windshields.

1. Sense of community pride

• Many people unite to each other based on their origin and religion.
• There is no complete sense of community pride among all residents.
• While some streets are very clean and have beautiful landscape gardening, the others are accumulated with dirt and overgrown with grass.
• On some streets, there is malodorous smell from the garbage kept on the sidewalks near the buildings.

(2)Environment

1. Air quality

• Air quality: 22 on the scale 0-100 (higher is better). This is based on ozone alert days and number of pollutants in the air, as reported by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
• Air Quality Index (AQI): 37 on the scale 0-500 (less is better). For the AQI range 0-50, the level of health concern is good.
• Fumes:
• Total Suspended Particulate matter (TSP): 43.4 micrograms/cubic meter (the value is higher than the U.S. mean, 39.2 micrograms/ cubic meter, and the New York mean, 39 micrograms/ cubic meter)
• Lead in TSP: 0.04 micrograms/ cubic meter (less than the New York mean, 0.043 micrograms/ cubic meter, and higher than the U.S. mean, 0.0158 micrograms/ cubic meter)
• Carbon Monoxide (CO): 0.48 ppm (higher that the U.S. mean, 0.34 ppm, and the New York mean, 0.35 ppm)
• Sulfur Dioxide (SO2): 0.003 ppm (higher than the U.S. mean, 0.0022 ppm, and the New York mean, 0.0023 ppm)
• Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2): 0.0209 ppm (higher than the U.S. mean, 0.0091 ppm, and the New York mean, 0.0115 ppm)
• Ozone: 0.044 ppm ( less than the U.S. mean, 0.0447 ppm, and higher than the New York mean, 0.0426 ppm)
• Particulate Matter (PM)10: 17.7 micrograms/ cubic meter ( less than the U.S. mean, 18.9 micrograms/ cubic meter, and higher than the New York mean, 15.6 micrograms/ cubic meter)
• Particulate Matter (PM)2.5: 11.5 micrograms/ cubic meter (higher than the U.S. mean, 9.5 micrograms/ cubic meter, and the New York mean, 8.9 micrograms/ cubic meter)

1. Boundaries

• The community borders are delineated by 18th Avenue changed to Ditmas Avenue (after Coney Island Avenue), Avenue P, McDonald Avenue, and Ocean Avenue in the southwestern part of Brooklyn
• A part of a larger community, Borough Park

1. Geographies

• The landform: flat ground with elevation from 21ft. above the sea level at the corner of Avenue P and Ocean Avenue to 48 ft. at the corner of 18th Avenue and McDonald Avenue
• Land area: 4.748 square kilometers
• Water area: 0.0 sq. km
• Weather

• Annual maximum average temperature: 61.0 ºF
• Annual minimum average temperature: 48.0 ºF
• Average annual precipitation: 42.00”
• Weather index: 90 (U.S. index: 100; higher is better)

• Earthquake index: 107
• Flora and fauna

• Front landscapes, including trees with edible berries and fruits (e.g., mulberries, apricots)
• Squirrels running on the ground and climbing on the houses could spread various diseases

1. Industrial/factory areas

• Warehouses located along McDonald Avenue and Coney Island Avenue
• Large trucks load and unload cargo on McDonald Avenue and Coney Island Avenue

1. 4 public parks

• Friends Field, between Avenue L and Avenue M, between East 4th Street and McDonald Avenue
• Colonel David Marcus Memorial Playground, Avenue P between East 4th Street and Ocean Parkway
• Kolbert Playground, Avenue L between East 17th and East 18th Streets
• Ocean Parkway Malls, along Ocean Parkway, Park Circle To Coney Island Concourse (bicycling and greenways)

(3)Health

1. Type of services

• No acute care hospital within the boundaries of the community
• Hospitals near the community:

• Maimonides Medical Center, 4802 10th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11219, phone: (718) 283-6000. Total number of beds: 711.
• Coney Island Hospital, 2601 Ocean Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11235, phone: (718) 616-3000. Total number of beds: 371.
• New York Community Hospital, 2525 Kings Highway, Brooklyn, NY 11229, phone: (718) 692-5300. Total number of beds: 134.
• Beth Israel Medical Center, 3201 Kings Highway, Brooklyn, NY 11234, phone: (718) 951-9565. Total number of beds: 212.

• Private medical clinics/offices:

• Many specialties, including general practice, internal medicine, pain medicine, cardiology, dermatology, gastroenterology, ophthalmology, pediatrics, neurology, obstetrics-gynecology, dentistry, allergy and immunology
• Hours of operation:

-many offices have flexible hours throughout the week

-may open at 8:00 am and close at 9:00 pm

-most offices closed on Saturday

1. Access to services

• Hospitals:

• Easily accessible by public transportation during the day time
• Between 10:00 pm and 7:00 am, buses have less routes; thus, private transportation is preferred

• Private medical clinics/offices:

• Geographically distributed throughout the community in a way that may not require any kind of transportation
• If transportation is necessary, people can take a bus since buses make more frequent stopsduring the time interval between 8:00 am and 9:00 pm

(4)Health disparities

1. Top challenges to health

• Causes for premature death:

• According to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYDOHMH), “cancer causes the most premature death” with 24% of potential life lost (2006).
• Heart disease is the second highest causefor premature death with 21% of potential life lost.

• Cancer screening:

• “Women are getting Pap tests for cervical cancer (76%) and mammograms for breast cancer (73%) at rates well below the Take Care New York target of at least 85%” (NYDOHMH, 2006).

• Falls among older adults:

• “Hospitalizations for fall-related injuries – particular hip fractures – among older adults are more common in Borough Park than in Brooklyn overall” (NYDOHMH, 2006).
• More than 1 in 3 adults over the age of 65 fall each year.
• The rate of hospitalizations due to falls: 1,235 per 100,000 older adults (in Brooklyn overall 990/100,000)
• 30% of fall hospitalizations among older adults are for hip fractures.
• The fall-related hip fracture hospitalization rate: 545/100,000 (in Brooklyn overall 419/100,000)

(5)Housing

1. Age (year house built)

• Built 1939 or earlier: 42.34%
• Built 1940 to 1949: 15.38%
• Built 1950 to 1959: 12.22%
• Built 1960 to 1969: 10.43%
• Built 1970 to 1979: 4.73%
• Built 1980 to 1989: 3.48%
• Built 1990 to 1999: 4.14%
• Built 2000 to 2004: 2.94%
• Built 2005 or later: 4.31%

1. Condition

• Structurally stable: many houses designed/ constructed well and regularly maintained
• Few ramshackle houses
• Health hardware functions most of the time
• Housing units lacking complete plumbing facilities: 6.0%
• Housing units lacking complete kitchen facilities: 6.0%

1. Gardens

• Some private houses and few buildings have well-designed and well-maintained gardens in the front yard
• Most back yards are cemented over

1. Quality

• Many buildings are mixed:

• upper floors for residential use
• lower floors for commercial use and community facilities (e.g., medical offices/ clinics, stores)

• No recreation areas and benches near the buildings
• Houses are not cramped
• No overcrowded conditions in most houses
• Working elevators in the buildings with 5 and more floors
• Adequate heat, electricity, and water supplies in most houses
• Adequate indoor lighting in most houses:

• sources of natural and artificial light

1. Vacancy

• Total housing units: 36170

• Occupied: 96.53%

-Owner occupied: 27.60%

-Renter occupied: 72.40%

• Vacant: 3.47%

• For sale (resale and new homes): 203 homes
• Recently sold: 119 homes
• Foreclosures (pre-foreclosure, auction, and bank-owned stages of the foreclosure process): 88 homes
• Open houses: 19

1. Cost

• Average listing price: $454,286 for the week ending May 30, 2012
• Median sales price: $655,000 based on 23 sales from March to May, 2012
• Average price/sqft: $339

(6)People

1. Age

• Median resident age: 34.3 years
• Median male resident age: 32.4 years
• Median female resident age: 35.5 years
• The largest percent of the residents between 0-17 years and 25-44 years

1. Dress

• Orthodox Jews follow their dress code:

• Males: dress conservatively in suits, their heads are covered by a skullcap or a hat
• Females: dress modestly in blouses with long sleeves and high necklines, and long skirts; married women wear wigs

• Residents who was born in or have ancestry from the South Asia (India, Pakistan) follow their traditional dress style:

• Males: wear light-colored pants and a jacket below the knees
• Females: wear colorful saris with plenty of embellishments, or loose trousers topped by a long loose shirt, and a scarf that covers a head

• Other residents without significant distinction to religion or origin

• Wear casual clean clothes: jeans, skirts, t-shirts, sweaters
• People who are running or jogging dress in sportswear

1. Economic status

• Members of upper class (small percent), middle class (high proportion), and lower class live in the community

1. Gender

• Males: 48.6%
• Females: 51.4%

1. Languages

• Since about 40 % of the residents are foreign born, the residents speak many different languages.
• English, Russian, Spanish or Spanish Creole, Hebrew, Yiddish, Urdu, Chinese, French Creole, and other Asian or Pacific Island languages

1. Population density

• Very high: 43,732 people per square mile
• Total population in 2010: 86,408

1. Race/ethnicity

• High proportion of white population 71.4%
• Asian (13%), Hispanic (9%), African American (8.4%), and other populations

1. Religion

• About 60% of the residents are religious
• The residents affiliate with Catholic, Jewish, Islam, LDS, Baptist, and other Christian religions

1. Socioeconomics

• Income:

• Average Adjusted Gross Income: $48,194
• Median household income in 2010: $45,024 (the New York mean $55,217)
• Average household size: 2.8 people
• 22.5 % of the residents with income below the poverty level (in New York State 14.4%)

• Education:

• High percent of students enrolled in private elementary and middle (44.4%) and high schools (42.8%) in comparison to New York
• Educational attainment (%):

-Less than high school: 33.4

-High school or equivalent: 17.5

-Less than one year of college: 4.2

-One or more years of college: 8.5

-Associate degree: 5.6

-Bachelor’s degree: 17

-Master’s degree: 7.6

-Professional school degree: 3.3

-Doctorate degree: 2.9

• Occupation:

• Class of workers (%):

-Employee of private company: 48.9

-Government workers (local, state, federal): 21.2

-Self-employed: 15

• Males have mostly management and professional, sales and office, service, construction, extraction and maintenance occupations
• Females have management and professional, sales and office, and service occupations
• More than 40 % of the workers work 35 or more hours per week; about 46% of the workers have no regular hours

• Cost of living index: very high, 171.8 (U.S. average is 100)

(7)Safety services

1. EMS

• Comprises of Emergency Medical Service agencies from:

• Volunteer sector:

-ALS Services, Inc., 1340 East 9th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11230

-Chevra Hatzalah Volunteer Ambulance Service, 1340 East 9th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11230

• Proprietary sector:

-Transcare New York Inc. provides the service to the community residents; location: 5811 Foster Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11234

• Hospital-Based sector:

-Maimonides Medical Center EMS also serves the community; location: 4802 Tenth Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11219

• Municipal sector:

-New York City Fire Department, Bureau of EMS

-New York Police Department Emergency Services Unit

1. Fire Department

• One FDNY firehouse, Engine 250, located at 126 Foster Ave Brooklyn, NY 11230; open: 24 hours 7 day a week

1. Police Department

• 70th precinct of New York Police Department serves the community; location: 154 Lawrence Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 851-5511
• Policemen, walking or in a car, constantly monitor streets, respond to complaints by a phone call in a timely manner, and act quickly during accidents

1. Shelters

• Housing Partners of New York Inc

• 1412 Ave M Suite 2437, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 858-7900
• Non-profit organization
• Provides assistance and services to individuals who are either presently homeless or who recently obtained housing after being homeless
• Services include assisting the homeless to obtain housing, job training, mental health, andsubstance abuse services

• Council of Jewish Organization of Flatbush Inc

• 1550 Coney Island Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 377-2900; hours of operation: Monday-Thursday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm; Friday 9:00 am – 2:00 pm; Sunday by appointment only
• Non-profit organization
• Non-sectarian agency
• Assists all clients whose financial, housing, family, and living situations have become destabilized
• Provides emergency assistance, crisis intervention, social services, housing advocacy and assistance, education, job training, job placement, summer youth employment program, legal services

• Midwood Development Corporation

• 1416 Avenue M, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 376-1098
• Non-profit organization
• Provides housing information and guidance, after school activities for youth, employment and recreation activities for people developmental disabilities

• Chen Vchesed Vrachamim Inc

• 1375 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 208-4809
• Non-profit organization
• Group home and residential treatment facility (related to mental health)
• Provides mental health, crisis intervention, prevention of alcohol and drug abuse services

• Dynamite Youth Center

• 1830 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 376-7923
• Provides drug rehabilitation and treatment program and substance abuse services for drug dependent adolescents and young adults

(8)Shopping/common areas

1. Types of eateries

• Pizzerias, lounges, luncheonettes, bars, cafes, restaurants, bakeries, steakhouses, ice cream houses
• Cuisines: Russian, Polish, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Mexican, Jewish, Indian, Pakistanian, Caribbean, and American

1. Stores

• A lot of stores densely concentrated on Coney Island Avenue, Avenue M and McDonald Avenue
• Category of stores: grocery, clothing, shoe, liquor, electronics, religious goods, cell phone, video game, toy, stationery, office supply, medical supply, hardware, electrical supply
• Many 99 cents stores

1. Theatres

• Kent Theatre, 1170 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11230, phone: (718) 338-3371; hours of operation: Mon-Fri 9:00 am – 5:00 pm; Sat-Sun closed

1. Accessibility

• Shopping and common areas are easily accessible for the residents by public or private transportation, or even on foot
• Easy to navigate through the community since the streets have a numerical and alphabetical order, and perpendicular sections

1. Cost and prices

• Affordable prices for healthy food products
• Lunch varies from $4 to $8
• Cost of Kosher food is higher than non-Kosher
• Slightly high prices (not affordable for every resident) on clothing and shoes of European designs
• Since there is a high competition among the stores, there are constant sales and discounts

(9)Transportation