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BROOKLYN AIDS
TASK FORCE
“People Helping People”
CHAIRPERSON
Dr. Benny J. Primm
FOUNDING CHAIR
Victor Ayala, Ph.D.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Elaine Greeley
502 BERGEN STREET
BROOKLYN, NY
11217
718-622-2910
FAX: 718-623-1158
1921-25 FULTON STREET
BROOKLYN, NY
11233
718-771-4997
FAX: 718-771-4374
260
BROADWAY
BROOKLYN,
NY 11211
718-388-0028
FAX: 718-388-0896
25 CHAPEL STREET
BROOKLYN, NY 11201
718-596-3635
FAX: 718-596-3539
WWW
.BATF.NET
January 2006
2006 Northwest Brooklyn Profile including Brooklyn
Heights, Carroll Gardens, Clinton Hill, Downtown
Brooklyn, Fort Greene, Park Slope, & Red Hook
Created to provide community-based organizations (CBOs) with need statements for grant
applications & advocates with ammunition to fight for Brooklyn!
Northwest Brooklyn
has
8.7%
of Brooklyn’s population, yet
12.3% of its
people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA¹). In 2004,
with 1,797 people living with AIDS (PLWA), Northwest Brooklyn
had more than each of 18
states [1 & 2]. The rate of syphilis for
Northwest Brooklyn was 2nd in Brooklyn and 11th in NYC. [8]
HIV/AIDS reporting has hidden the need for HIV services in both Fort Greene
and Red Hook (See UHF Neighborhoods on page 3.) Fort Greene is arguably
the least served community with a significant AIDS/HIV population in
Brooklyn.
HISTORY
Fort Greene lies at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge in
northwestern Brooklyn, and was named for Nathaniel Greene, a colonial
general who oversaw the construction of Fort Putnam in 1776. A new ship-
yard opened in 1791, on the site of a tobacco plantation (1639) owned by
Peter Caesar Alberti, the first European settler and the first Italian in
Brooklyn.
This was followed by the Brooklyn Navy Yard which opened in
1801. During the 1840s a growing number of free Blacks settled and found
skilled work in shipbuilding, and by 1870 more than half of the Black
population of Brooklyn lived in the area. There were also many Irish, German,
and English immigrants. Shipbuilding remained the economic mainstay of the
neighborhood until the navy yard closed in 1966. [3]
The population became ethnically and economically mixed and several
housing projects were built by the NYC Housing Authority for tenants of low
and middle income. The neighborhood came to have many types of buildings
and in 1978 it was designated a Historical District. One landmark building, the
original Hanson Place Baptist Church served the Underground Railroad.
The
Williamsburgh Savings Bank (1929) was the tallest building in Brooklyn until
the 1990s. [3]
Prepared by Randi Baker, Community Resources Coordinator for the Brooklyn AIDS Task Force, Inc.
(BATF) 718-388-0028 X122/Fax718-388-0896/ rbaker@batf.net. The most recent copies of our
publications can be found at www.taclearinghouse.org (Click on “Educational Resources” then
“Epidemic in NY” then scroll to “Borough Fact Sheets” or “Community Profiles” (presented by
borough). They are also on the New York AIDS Coalition (NYAC) website
(Click on “News” then “[archived news]” for older publications. For information about BATF’s
services, call 718-622-2910 or go to www.batf.net.
1
To save space we use these acronyms. PWA are all people who have been diagnosed with AIDS. In NYC it is
estimated in 2004 that 41.2% of these individuals are not known to be dead or people ‘living’ with AIDS – PLWA.
Since 2000, HIV cases have been reportable in NYC. When the “H” is added, it means that the HIV numbers are also
included as in “PLWHA.”