Here are 50 odd facts about Brooklyn

Hey everyone, welcome back to *Brooklyn Echoes*, the podcast that keeps the borough’s legends and memories alive. I’m your host, Robert Henriksen.

Here are 25 odd facts about Brooklyn, New York, drawn from various historical and cultural quirks:

1. If Brooklyn were an independent city today, its population of over 2.5 million would make it the fourth-largest in the United States.

2. Though part of New York City, Brooklyn is geographically situated on the western end of Long Island—but locals don’t consider it part of “Long Island” culturally.

3. During World War II, Elvis Presley departed for his 18-month military service from the Brooklyn Army Terminal.

4. In extreme cold, the Brooklyn Bridge actually rises about three inches because its cables contract and expand.

5. The three-story brownstone at 58 Joralemon Street in Brooklyn Heights is a fake house—it’s actually a disguised subway ventilator and emergency exit.

6. In 1960, two airplanes collided mid-air, causing one to crash in Park Slope in what’s known as the “Park Slope Plane Crash.”

7. By 1906, Brooklyn was the world’s “Coffee Capital,” with the Arbuckle Brothers factory roasting about 25 million pounds of coffee monthly.

8. The teddy bear was invented by Brooklyn shopkeeper Morris Michtom in 1902, inspired by Theodore Roosevelt refusing to shoot a bear on a hunt.

9. Brooklyn’s name comes from the Dutch settlement “Breuckelen,” named after a town in the Netherlands, meaning “broken land.”

10. A secret Cold War bomb shelter stocked with crackers, blankets, medical supplies, and water drums was discovered under the Brooklyn Bridge in 2006.

11. Between 1822 and 1952, at least 26 major fires erupted along Brooklyn’s waterfront, killing eight or more people each time due to combustible ships and warehouses.

12. America’s first roller coaster, the Switchback Railway, debuted at Coney Island in 1884 and only went six miles per hour.

13. An 1818 New York guidebook described Brooklyn as a “narrow, dirty and disagreeable place” and warned visitors to avoid it.

14. To prove the Brooklyn Bridge’s safety in 1884, P.T. Barnum marched 21 elephants across it.

15. The hot dog is said to have been invented by Charles Feltman at Coney Island in 1867; his ex-employee later founded Nathan’s Famous.

16. In 1960, Topps dumped unsold baseball cards into the Atlantic Ocean from their Brooklyn warehouse, including most 1952 Mickey Mantle cards now worth nearly $500,000 each in mint condition.

17. The victory statue atop the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Arch in Grand Army Plaza fell from her chariot in 1976 but was restored in 1980.

18. Before becoming president, Barack Obama lived half a block from Prospect Park in a brownstone with his then-girlfriend.

19. After Prospect Park opened in 1867, stray farm animals were still a problem—in 1872 alone, 35 goats, 44 pigs, 23 horses, and 18 cows were impounded.

20. The Brooklyn Dodgers got their name from locals “dodging” the borough’s maze of dangerous trolley lines in the early 20th century.

21. Brooklyn was once the chocolate-making capital of America, a tradition continued today by artisanal makers like Jacques Torres.

22. The Atlantic Avenue Tunnel, built in 1844, is considered the world’s oldest subway tunnel and now sits abandoned.

23. Brooklyn’s MICRO Museum is one of the world’s smallest, with rotating exhibits in a space tinier than most living rooms.

24. The first bank credit card was invented in Brooklyn in 1946 at Flatbush National Bank as part of a local “charge-it” program.

25. Brooklyn’s Coney Island Cyclone roller coaster, opened in 1927, is still operating after nearly a century and is a designated NYC landmark.

Here are 25 more odd facts about Brooklyn, New York, to bring the total to 50 (continuing from the previous list). I’ve focused on unique ones drawn from additional sources:

26. Brooklyn has 30 miles of shoreline, including several beaches.

27. The median age of a Brooklyn resident is 34.7 years, which is younger than the national median.

28. Brooklyn is the birthplace of the deep-fried Twinkie and the artificial sweetener Sweet’N Low.

29. When it opened in 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world and the first to use steel cables.

30. In 1947, Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier while playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field.

31. Over 200 languages are spoken in Brooklyn, making it one of the most linguistically diverse places on Earth.

32. Famous writers like Walt Whitman, Truman Capote, and Arthur Miller have called Brooklyn home.

33. Iconic movies and shows set in Brooklyn include “Saturday Night Fever,” “The Warriors,” and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.”

34. Legendary musicians from Brooklyn include Jay-Z, Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, and members of the Talking Heads.

35. Some of America’s oldest pizzerias are in Brooklyn, such as Totonno’s, which opened in 1924.

36. Nathan’s Famous in Coney Island has hosted its annual July 4th hot dog-eating contest since 1916.

37. Brooklyn helped pioneer the American craft food movement, especially in areas like Red Hook and Williamsburg.

38. Prospect Park’s designers, Olmsted and Vaux, considered it their masterpiece—a more natural refinement of Central Park’s design.

39. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden features over 14,000 plant species and one of the oldest Japanese gardens outside Japan, dating to 1915.

40. Brooklyn Bridge Park is an 85-acre sustainable space converted from old industrial waterfront land.

41. Brooklyn is home to numerous urban farms, including the world’s largest rooftop soil farm at Brooklyn Grange.

42. The decommissioned City Hall subway station in Brooklyn has elaborate Guastavino tile vaults and chandeliers, viewable on special tours.

43. The Native Flora Garden in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden recreates the area’s pre-colonial ecosystem.

44. Nearly 40% of Brooklyn’s population is foreign-born.

45. The Manhattan Bridge was nearly named “Bridge Number Three” as it was the third bridge over the East River.

46. Green-Wood Cemetery’s entrance is a towering 106-foot brownstone Gothic structure.

47. Deno’s Wonder Wheel in Coney Island was bought in 1983 by an owner who renamed it after promising his wife “the biggest ring ever.”

48. Brooklyn’s merger with New York City in 1898 is dubbed “The Great Mistake” by some longtime residents.

49. Prospect Park spans 585 acres and was designed as Olmsted and Vaux’s “masterpiece” after Central Park.

50. Thanks to its mostly flat terrain, Brooklyn is the fastest borough for runners in the New York City Marathon, with an average pace of 8:14 minutes per mile.

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