:Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn

The neighborhood's name combines the names of what was the hamlet of Bedford, and the Stuyvesant Heights neighborhoods, initially separate neighborhoods which grew together. The 17th century hamlet of Bedford was named after the market town of Bedford in England. Stuyvesant Heights was named for Peter Stuyvesant, the last governor of the colony of New Netherland.

In the second half of the 17th century, the lands which constitute the present neighborhood belonged to three Dutch settlers: Dirck Janse Hooghland, who operated a ferryboat on the East River, and farmers Jan Hansen, and Leffert Pietersen van Haughwout. In pre-revolutionary Kings County, Bedford was the first major settlement east of the Village of Brooklyn, on the ferry road to the town of Jamaica and eastern Long Island. Stuyvesant Heights, however, was farmland; the area became a community after the American Revolutionary War.

For most of its early history, Stuyvesant Heights was part of the outlying farm area of the small hamlet of Bedford, settled by the Dutch during the 17th century within the incorporated town of Breuckelen. The hamlet had its beginnings when a group of Breuckelen residents decided to improve their farm properties behind the Wallabout section, which gradually developed into an important produce center and market. The petition to form a new hamlet was approved by Governor Stuyvesant in 1663. Its leading signer was Thomas Lambertsen, a carpenter from Holland. A year later, the English capture of New Netherland signaled the end of Dutch rule. In Governor Nicolls' Charter of 1667 and in the Charter of 1686, Bedford is mentioned as a settlement within the Town of Brueckelen. Bedford hamlet had an inn as early as 1668, and, in 1670, the people of Breuckelen purchased from the Canarsie Indians an additional area for common lands in the surrounding region.

Bedford Corners, approximately located where the present Bedford Avenue meets Fulton Street, and only three blocks west of the present Historic District, was the intersection of several well traveled roads. The Brooklyn and Jamaica Turnpike, constructed by a corporation founded in 1809 and one of the oldest roads in Kings County, ran parallel to the present Fulton Street, from the East River ferry to the village of Brooklyn, thence to the hamlet of Bedford and on toward Jamaica via Bed–Stuy. Farmers from New Lots and Flatbush used this road on their way to Manhattan. Within the Stuyvesant Heights Historic District, the Turnpike ran along the approximate line of Decatur Street. Cripplebush Road to Newtown and the Clove Road to Flatbush also met at Bedford Corners. Hunterfly Road, which joined the Turnpike about a mile to the east of Clove Road, also served as a route for farmers and fishermen of the Canarsie and New Lots areas.

At the time of the Revolution, Leffert's son Jakop was a leading citizen of Bedford and the town clerk of Brooklyn. His neighbor, Lambert Suydam, was captain of the Kings County cavalry in 1776. An important part of the Battle of Long Island took place in and near the Historic District. In 1784, the people of the Town of Brooklyn held their first town meeting since 1776.

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In 1800, Bedford was designated one of the seven districts of the Town of Brooklyn, and, in 1834, it became part of the seventh and ninth wards of the newly incorporated City of Brooklyn. With the building of the Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad in 1833, along Atlantic Avenue, Bedford was established as a railroad station near the intersection of current Atlantic Avenue and Franklin Avenues. In 1836, the Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad was taken over by the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), which in 1878 would gain a connection to the Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island Railway's northern terminal.{{cite web|url=http://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/Early_Rapid_Transit_in_Brooklyn,_1878-1913#The_Brooklyn.2C_Flatbush_and_Coney_Island_Railroad_.28The_Brighton_Line.29.2FThe_New_York_and_Manhattan_Beach_Railroad|title=The Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island Railroad (The Brighton Line)/The New York and Manhattan Beach Railroad|work=nycsubway.org|access-date=January 16, 2013}} The Weeksville subsection, founded in 1838, was recognized as one of the first, free African-American communities in the United States.Ramirez, Anthony.[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/05/nyregion/05weeksville.html?_r=1&oref=slogin "Haven for Blacks in Civil War Riots Now Safeguards History"], The New York Times, June 5, 2005. Accessed November 17, 2007.

The present street grid was laid out in 1835, as shown by the Street Commissioners map of 1839, and the blocks were divided into lots. The new street grid led to the abandonment of the Brooklyn and Jamaica Turnpike in favor of a continuation of Brooklyn's Fulton Street, though the lands for the street grid were not sold to the City of Brooklyn until 1852. When Charles C. Betts purchased Maria Lott's tract of land the same year, this marked the end of two centuries of Dutch patrimonial holdings. Most of the streets were not opened until the 1860s, at which point Bedford–Stuyvesant's streets were named after prominent figures in American history.

The Dripps Map of 1869 shows that the area was still largely rural with a few freestanding houses mostly on MacDonough Street. The real development of the district began slowly at first, accelerating between 1885 and 1900, and gradually tapering off during the first two decades of the 20th century.

In 1857, the City of Brooklyn acquired part of the estate of Tunis Johnson (grandson of Jeremiah Johnson) to establish a public park. The park was opened in 1871, named Tompkins Park after Daniel D. Tompkins. In 1985 it was renamed Herbert Von King Park after the local community leader.{{cite web |title=Herbert Von King Park |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/herbert-von-king-park/history |website=NYC Parks |access-date=April 7, 2023}}

File:Brooklyn brownstones in Stuyvesant Heights built between 1870-1899.jpg

Construction of masonry row houses in the 1870s began to transform the rural district into an urban area. The first row of masonry houses in Stuyvesant Heights was built in 1872 on MacDonough Street for developer Curtis L. North. In the 1880s and 1890s, more rows were added, most of the Stuyvesant Heights north of Decatur Street looked much as it does today. Stuyvesant Heights was emerging as a neighborhood entity with its own distinctive characteristics. The houses had large rooms, high ceilings and large windows, and were built primarily by German immigrants.{{cite web |last=Gregor |first=Alison |title=Bedford-Stuyvesant: Diverse and Changing |website=The New York Times |date=July 13, 2014 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/13/realestate/bedford-stuyvesant-diverse-and-changing.html |access-date=September 18, 2018}} The people who bought these houses were generally upper-middle-class families, mostly lawyers, shopkeepers, and merchants of German and Irish descent, with a sprinkling of English people; there were also a few professionals. A contemporary description calls it a very well kept residential neighborhood, typical of the general description of Brooklyn as "a town of homes and churches".

Built in 1863, the Capitoline Grounds were the home of the Brooklyn Atlantics baseball team.{{cite web |url=http://www.covehurst.net/ddyte/brooklyn/capitoline.html |title=Capitoline Grounds |last=Ross |first=Andrew |author2=David Dyte |publisher=covehurst.net |access-date=October 31, 2008}} The grounds were bordered by Nostrand Avenue, Halsey Street, Marcy Avenue, and Putnam Avenue. During the winters, the operators would flood the area and open an ice-skating arena. The grounds were demolished in 1880.{{citation needed|date=January 2013}}

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In 1890, the city of Brooklyn founded another subsection: Ocean Hill, a working-class predominantly Italian enclave. In the last decades of the 19th century, with the advent of electric trolleys and the Fulton Street Elevated, Bedford–Stuyvesant became a working-class and middle-class bedroom community for those working in downtown Brooklyn and Manhattan in New York City. At that time, most of the pre-existing wooden homes were destroyed and replaced with brownstone rowhouses.

In 1907, the completion of the Williamsburg Bridge facilitated the immigration of Jews and Italians from the Lower East Side of Manhattan.{{cite book |last=Newfield |first=Jack |title=Robert Kennedy: A Memoir |publisher=Penguin Group |edition=reprint |date=1988 |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/robertkennedyme000newf/page/87 87–109] |isbn=0-452-26064-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/robertkennedyme000newf/page/87 }}

During the 1930s, major changes took place due to the Great Depression years. Immigrants from the American South and the Caribbean brought the neighborhood's black population to around 30,000, making it the second largest Black community in the city at the time. During World War II, the Brooklyn Navy Yard attracted many black New Yorkers to the neighborhood as an opportunity for employment, while the relatively prosperous war economy enabled many of the Jewish and Italian residents to move to Long Island and New Jersey. By 1950, the number of black residents had risen to 155,000, comprising about 55 percent of the population of Bedford–Stuyvesant. In the 1950s, real estate agents and speculators employed blockbusting to turn a profit. As a result, formerly middle-class white homes were being turned over to poorer black families. By 1960, eighty-five percent of the population was black.

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Gang wars erupted in 1961 in Bedford–Stuyvesant, and Alfred E. Clark of The New York Times referred to it as "Brooklyn's Little Harlem".Clark, Alfred E. "[https://www.nytimes.com/1961/05/02/archives/gang-wars-upset-area-in-brooklyn-bedford-stuyvesant-tense-following.html GANG WARS UPSET AREA IN BROOKLYN; Bedford – Stuyvesant Tense Following Two Slayings]." The New York Times. Tuesday May 2, 1961. Page 31. Retrieved on January 22, 2010. One of the first urban riots of the era took place there due to social and racial divisions in the city contributed to the tensions. The relationship between the NYPD and the city's black community became strained due to perceptions of the NYPD as being oppressive and racially biased, and at that time, few black policemen were present on the force.[https://web.archive.org/web/20081205135542/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,873963-6,00.html "No Place Like Home"]. Time. July 31, 1964. Predominantly black neighborhoods received disproportionate rates of arrests and prosecutions for drug-related crimes, and the NYPD's 79th Precinct in Bedford–Stuyvesant had been one of the only three police precincts in the NYPD to which black police officers were assigned.Darien, Andrew. [http://www.hofstra.edu/pdf/CLD_RLR_s00_police.pdf "Police Fraternity and the Politics of Race and Class in New York City, 1941–1960"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021083109/http://www.hofstra.edu/pdf/CLD_RLR_s00_police.pdf |date=October 21, 2013 }}. Regional Labor Review. Spring 2000. Race riots followed in 1967 and 1968, as part of the political and racial tensions in the United States of the era, aggravated by continued high unemployment among blacks, continued de facto segregation in housing, and the failure to enforce civil rights laws.

File:Kennedy discusses school with young Ricky Taggart.jpg speaks with a boy while touring Bedford–Stuyvesant]]With the help of local activists and politicians, such as Civil Court Judge Thomas Jones, grassroots organizations of community members and businesses willing to aid were formed and began the rebuilding of Bedford–Stuyvesant. In 1965, Andrew W. Cooper, a journalist from Bedford–Stuyvesant, brought suit under the Voting Rights Act against racial gerrymandering{{cite news |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2002_Jan_30/ai_82336550 |title=The City Sun Editor-in-Chief Andrew W. Cooper dies |access-date=January 30, 2009 |date=January 30, 2002 |publisher=Business Wire}} under the grounds that Bedford–Stuyvesant was divided among five congressional districts, each with a white representative.{{cite web |url=http://www.answers.com/topic/andrew-w-cooper |title=Andrew W. Cooper |access-date=January 30, 2009 |publisher=Answers.com}} It resulted in the creation of New York's 12th Congressional District and the election in 1968 of Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman and West Indian American ever elected to the US Congress.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/30/nyregion/andrew-w-cooper-74-pioneering-journalist.html |title=Andrew W. Cooper, 74, Pioneering Journalist |access-date=January 30, 2009 |last=Lueck |first=Thomas J. |date=January 30, 2002 |work=The New York Times}}

In 1967, Robert F. Kennedy, U.S. senator for New York state, launched a study of problems facing the urban poor in Bedford–Stuyvesant, which received almost no federal aid and was the city's largest non-white community.{{cite news |author=Paul F. O'Rourke |title=A Health Project for Bedford–Stuyvesant |newspaper=RFK Senate Legislature Papers (SLP), Box 11, JFK Library |year=1968 |url=https://www.zotero.org/andrewcummins/items/itemKey/M4ZFRHE5 |access-date=February 5, 2012|author-link=Paul F. O'Rourke }}Schlesinger, Arthur{{cite book |title=Robert Kennedy and his times |page=[https://archive.org/details/robertkennedyhis01schl/page/786 786] |isbn=0-618-21928-5 |last1=Schlesinger |first1=Arthur Meier |year=2002 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |url=https://archive.org/details/robertkennedyhis01schl/page/786 }} Under Kennedy's leadership and with the help of activists, the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation was established as the United States' first community development corporation.{{cite web |url=http://www.brownstoner.com/history/walkabout-savin-3/ |title=Bed Stuy Brooklyn History |work=Brownstoner |author=Spellen, Suzanne |date=May 24, 2011 |access-date=October 27, 2016}} The Manhattan-based Development and Services Corporation (D&S) was established with business, banking and professional leaders which advised and raised private funding for the BSRC's projects. The abandoned Sheffield Milk bottling plant on Fulton Street was turned into the BSRC offices in 1967, and the BSRC bought and renovated many housing units as well as administered a $73 million mortgage assistance program to encourage African-American homeownership. The BSRC also implemented a controversial plan by I.M. Pei to close off St. Marks Avenue and Prospect Place, between Kingston and Albany Avenues, and convert these into community spaces.

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In the late 1980s, resistance to illegal drug-dealing included, according to Rita Webb Smith, following police arrests with a civilian Sunni Muslim 40-day patrol of several blocks near a mosque, the same group having earlier evicted drug sellers at a landlord's request, although that also resulted in arrests of the Muslims for "burglary, menacing and possession of weapons", resulting in a probationary sentence.Smith, Rita Webb, & Tony Chapelle, The Woman Who Took Back Her Streets: One Woman Fights The Drug Wars And Rebuilds Her Community (Far Hills, New Jersey: New Horizon Press, 1991 ({{ISBN|0-88282-065-6}})), pp. 289–291.{{rp|290}}

Beginning in the 2000s, the neighborhood began to experience gentrification. The two significant reasons for this were the affordable housing stock consisting of brownstone rowhouses located on quiet tree-lined streets, as well as a significant decrease of crime in the neighborhood. Many properties were renovated after the start of the 21st century, and new retailers began moving to the neighborhood. Both the Fulton Street and Nostrand Avenue commercial corridors became part of the Bed-Stuy Gateway Business Improvement District, bringing along with it a beautification project.{{cite web|url=http://www.restorationplaza.org/about/news/beautification-of-bed-stuy|title=Beautification of the Bed-Stuy Gateway streetscape receives major financial support - Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806221226/http://www.restorationplaza.org/about/news/beautification-of-bed-stuy|archive-date=August 6, 2016|access-date=July 1, 2016}} Through a series of "wallscapes" (large outdoor murals), the campaign honored famous community members, including community activist and poet June Jordan, activist Hattie Carthan, and rapper The Notorious B.I.G.Notorious B.I.G.'s residence: {{cite news|url=http://www.theinsider.com/news/1548004_Much_change_in_Biggie_Smalls_neighborhood|title=Much change in Biggie Smalls' neighborhood|last=Franklin|first=Marcus|date=January 17, 2009|access-date=October 10, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100212112344/http://www.theinsider.com/news/1548004_Much_change_in_Biggie_Smalls_neighborhood|archive-date=February 12, 2010|publisher=The Insider|agency=Associated Press}}
  Other than Notorious B.I.G.'s residence: [https://web.archive.org/web/20060303221200/http://gothamgazette.com/community/36/news/1340 Grace, Melissa, New P.R. Campaign: "Bed-Stuy and Proud of it"], in Gotham Gazette, March 10, 2005, from New York Daily News, at Wayback Machine, March 3, 2006, 10:12:00 p.m., as accessed October 20, 2013. The campaign sought to show off the area's positive accomplishments.Grace, Melissa, New P.R. Campaign: "Bed-Stuy and Proud of it", op. cit.

Several long-time residents and business owners expressed concern that they would be priced out by newcomers, whom they disparagingly characterize as "yuppies and buppies [black urban professionals]", according to one neighborhood blog.{{cite web|url=http://colorlines.com/archives/2013/01/bed_stuy_billboards.html|title=Series of Brooklyn Billboards Put Racial Inequity on Display|date=January 11, 2013|access-date=July 1, 2016|archive-date=October 31, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031194141/http://colorlines.com/archives/2013/01/bed_stuy_billboards.html|url-status=dead}} They feared that the neighborhood's ethnic character would be lost. However, Bedford–Stuyvesant's population has experienced much less displacement of the black population than other areas of Brooklyn, such as Williamsburg and Cobble Hill.http://66.111.110.102/newyork/DetailsAr.do?file=features/499/499.thebattlefor.html {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928055859/http://66.111.110.102/newyork/DetailsAr.do?file=features%2F499%2F499.thebattlefor.html |date=September 28, 2007 }} "The Battle for Bed-Stuy: The Price of Art" Time Out New York April 2005 Bedford–Stuyvesant saw the influx of more upwardly mobile middle class African American families, as well as immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean. Surrounding neighborhoods in northern and eastern Brooklyn have a combined population of about 940,000 and are roughly 82% black, making them the largest concentration of African Americans in the United States.{{cite web |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFFacts?_event=ChangeGeoContext&geo_id=86000US11203&_geoContext=01000US%7C04000US36%7C05000US36047&_street=&_county=&_cityTown=&_state=04000US36&_zip=11203&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=geoSelect&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=010&_submenuId=factsheet_1&ds_name=DEC_2000_SAFF&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null®=null%3Anull&_keyword=&_industry= |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212053125/http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFFacts?_event=ChangeGeoContext&geo_id=86000US11203&_geoContext=01000US%7C04000US36%7C05000US36047&_street=&_county=&_cityTown=&_state=04000US36&_zip=11203&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=geoSelect&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=010&_submenuId=factsheet_1&ds_name=DEC_2000_SAFF&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null®=null:null&_keyword=&_industry= |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 12, 2020 |title=American FactFinder |publisher=Factfinder.census.gov |access-date=May 13, 2014 }}

In July 2005, the NYPD designated the Fulton Street–Nostrand Avenue business district in Bedford–Stuyvesant as an "Impact Zone", which directed significantly increased levels of police protection and resources to the area for two consecutive 6-month periods, resulting in a 15% decrease in crime within one year. Despite the improvements and increasing stability of the community, Bedford–Stuyvesant has continued to be stigmatized in some circles. In March 2005 a campaign was launched to supplant the "Bed-Stuy, Do-or-Die" slogan with "Bed-Stuy, and Proud of It".{{cite web|last=Grace|first=Melissa|title=Say It Loud: Bed-stuy And Proud|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-03-10/local/18287657_1_new-slogan-bed-stuy-proud|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120730085435/http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-03-10/local/18287657_1_new-slogan-bed-stuy-proud|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 30, 2012|publisher=NY Daily News|access-date=February 29, 2012}} Violent crime also remained a problem in the area, and the two precincts that cover Bedford–Stuyvesant reported a combined 37 murders in 2010.{{cite web|url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/downloads/pdf/crime_statistics/cs079pct.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=May 27, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527220350/http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/downloads/pdf/crime_statistics/cs079pct.pdf |archive-date=May 27, 2014 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/downloads/pdf/crime_statistics/cs081pct.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=May 27, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140917190508/http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/downloads/pdf/crime_statistics/cs081pct.pdf |archive-date=September 17, 2014 }}

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Despite the largest recession to hit the United States in the last 70 years, gentrification continued steadily, and the blocks west of the Nostrand Avenue/Fulton Street intersection and north of Fulton Street and Stuyvesant Avenue were particularly impacted. In 2011, Bedford–Stuyvesant listed three Zagat-rated restaurants for the first time; by 2014, there were over ten Zagat-rated establishments.{{cite web|url=http://www.zagat.com/search/place/?text=bedford-stuyvesant |title=Best Places in New York City | Foodie, Nightlife & Shopping News |publisher=Zagat.com |access-date=May 13, 2014}} Moreover, in June 2013, 7 Arlington Place, the setting for Spike Lee's 1994 film Crooklyn, was sold for over its asking price, at $1.7 million.{{cite news|url=http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130617/bed-stuy/crooklyn-house-sells-for-17m-reflection-of-bed-stuy-real-estate-boom|title='Crooklyn' House Sells for $1.7M, a Reflection of Bed-Stuy Real Estate Boom|date=June 17, 2013|publisher=DNAinfo.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140324033710/http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130617/bed-stuy/crooklyn-house-sells-for-17m-reflection-of-bed-stuy-real-estate-boom|archive-date=March 24, 2014}}

A diverse mix of students, hipsters, artists, creative professionals, architects, and attorneys of all races continued to move to the neighborhood. A business improvement district was launched along the Fulton and Nostrand Corridor, with a redesigned streetscape planned to include new street trees, street furniture, pavers, and signage and improved cleanliness in an effort to attract more business investment.{{cite web|url=http://www.nycedc.com/project/bedford-stuyvesant-streetscape-project |title=Bedford-Stuyvesant Streetscape Project |publisher=NYCEDC |date=January 28, 2014 |access-date=May 13, 2014}} Major infrastructure upgrades have been performed or are in progress, such as Select Bus Service bus rapid transit on the {{NYC bus link|B44}} route along Nostrand and Bedford Avenues, which began operating in late 2013.{{cite web|url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/brt/html/routes/nostrand.shtml |title=Bus Rapid Transit - Nostrand/Rogers Avenues |publisher=Nyc.gov |access-date=May 13, 2014}} Other infrastructure upgrades in the neighborhood included major sewer and water modernization projects,{{cite web|url=http://www.balkanplumbing.com/new-sewer-water-lines-brooklyn-ny-installation/ |title=New Brooklyn Sewer Connections, New Brooklyn Water Lines |publisher=Balkanplumbing.com |date=October 10, 2012 |access-date=May 13, 2014}} as well as fiber-optic and cable service upgrades.{{cite web|url=http://newscenter.verizon.com/press-releases/verizon/2010/verizon-continues-rollout-of.html |title=Verizon | Verizon Continues Rollout of FiOS TV in New York City |publisher=Newscenter.verizon.com |access-date=May 13, 2014}} Improved natural and organic produce continued to become available at local delis and grocers, the farmer's market on Malcolm X Boulevard, and through the Bed-Stuy Farm Share.{{cite web|author=Bed Stuy Farm Share |url=http://www.bedstuyfarmshare.org/ |title=Bed Stuy Farm Share |publisher=Bed Stuy Farm Share |access-date=May 13, 2014}} FreshDirect services the neighborhood, and a large member constituency of the adjacent Greene-Hill Food Coop are from Bedford–Stuyvesant.

According to the 2020 census data from New York City Department of City Planning on the neighborhood racial demographics, western Bedford-Stuyvesant now has an almost equal population of White and Black residents with each of their population residents at between 30,000 and 39,999 along with having between 10,000 and 19,999 Hispanic residents. Eastern Bedford-Stuvyvesant has 40,000+ Black residents, 20,000 to 29,000 White residents, and 10,000 to 19,999 Hispanic residents. The 2020 census data show Bedford-Stuyvesant with an increasing diverse racial community.{{Cite web|url=https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/planning-level/nyc-population/census2020/dcp_2020-census-briefing-booklet-1.pdf|title=Key Population & Housing Characteristics; 2020 Census Results for New York City|publisher=New York City Department of City Planning|date=August 2021|access-date=November 7, 2021|pages=21, 25, 29, 33}}{{cite web | title=Map: Race and ethnicity across the US | website=CNN | date=August 14, 2021 | url=https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/us/census-race-ethnicity-map/ | access-date=November 7, 2021}} In 2024, the installation of Bed-Stuy Aquarium highlighted the broader social tensions surrounding gentrification in the neighborhood. In one notable incident, two residents attempted to remove some of the fish, citing cruelty, which sparked a larger debate about the neighborhood’s changing dynamics.{{cite web |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/m-le-mag/article/2024/08/27/brooklyn-s-fish-pond-of-discord_6722508_117.html |title=Brooklyn's fish pond of discord |last=de Metz |first=Etienne |date=2024-08-27 |website=Le Monde |access-date=2024-09-23}}{{cite web |url=https://nypost.com/2024/08/21/us-news/nyc-rally-to-keep-goldfish-swimming-in-hydrant-puddle-through-winter-as-activists-call-it-animal-abuse/ |title=NYC residents rally to keep goldfish swimming in hydrant puddle through winter as activists call it animal abuse |last=Rosenthal |first=Nicole |date=2024-08-21 |website=New York Post |access-date=2024-09-23}}{{cite news |last1=Maag |first1=Christopher |title=Was the Great Brooklyn Goldfish Heist a Rescue? Or a Robbery? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/09/nyregion/goldfish-sidewalk-pond-brooklyn.html |access-date=25 October 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=9 August 2024}}

Bedford is located toward the western end of Bedford-Stuyvesant. Before the American Revolutionary War times, it was the first settlement to the east of the Village of Brooklyn. It was originally part of the old village of Bedford, which was centered near today's Bedford Avenue–Fulton Street intersection. The area "extends from Monroe Street on the north to Macon Street and Verona Place on the south, and from just east of Bedford Avenue eastward to Tompkins Avenue," according to the Landmarks Preservation Commission.[http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2514.pdf Bedford Historic District: Designation Report], December 8, 2015.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/05/nyregion/in-bedford-stuyvesant-a-black-stronghold-a-growing-pool-of-whites.html|title=Striking Change in Bedford-Stuyvesant as the White Population Soars|author=Sam Roberts|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 4, 2011|quote=The extent of racial integration, so far, has been mixed in the more rapidly changing Bedford section, which the city's Planning Department defines roughly as bounded by Throop, Classon and Flushing Avenues and Fulton Street.}} Bedford is adjacent to Williamsburg, Crown Heights, and Clinton Hill.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RuUCDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA64|title=The Brooklyn Experience: The Ultimate Guide to Neighborhoods & Noshes, Culture & the Cutting Edge|author=Ellen Freudenheim|publisher=Rutgers University Press|year=2016|page=64|isbn=9780813577456}}

Stuyvesant Heights is located toward the southern-central section of Bedford-Stuyvesant. It has historically been an African-American enclave. It derives its name from Stuyvesant Avenue, its principal thoroughfare. It was originally part of the outlying farm area of Bedford for most of its early history. A low-rise residential district of three- and four-story masonry row houses and apartment buildings with commercial ground floors, it was developed mostly between 1870 and 1920,[http://home2.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/STUYVESANT_HEIGHTS_HISTORIC_DISTRICT.pdf Stuyvesant Heights Historic District: Designation Report] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203164505/http://home2.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/STUYVESANT_HEIGHTS_HISTORIC_DISTRICT.pdf |date=February 3, 2017 }}, September 14, 1971.[https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/plans/bedford-stuyvesant/bed_stuy.pdf Bedford-Stuyvesant South Rezoning - Approved!] mainly between 1895 and 1900. The Stuyvesant Heights Historic District is located within the area bounded roughly by Tompkins Avenue on the west, Macon and Halsey Streets on the north, Malcolm X Boulevard on the east, and Fulton Street on the south.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/11/28/archives/-real-nice-community-now-historic.html|title='Real Nice' Community Now 'Historic'|author=Michael J. Hall|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 28, 1971}}

Ocean Hill is located toward the eastern end Ocean Hill received its name in 1890 for being slightly hilly. Hence it was subdivided from the larger community of Stuyvesant Heights. From the beginning of the 20th century to the 1960s Ocean Hill was an Italian enclave. By the late 1960s Ocean Hill and Bedford-Stuyvesant proper together formed the largest African American community in the United States.

Weeksville is located toward the southeast. Weeksville was named after James Weeks, an ex-slave{{cite web|url=http://www.preservationnation.org/travel-and-sites/save-americas-treasures/success-stories/weeksville.html |title=Plan your next trip with the National Trust | National Trust for Historic Preservation |access-date=April 21, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222185205/http://www.preservationnation.org/travel-and-sites/save-americas-treasures/success-stories/weeksville.html |archive-date=December 22, 2014 }} from Virginia, who in 1838{{cite news |last=Ramirez |first=Anthony |title=Haven for Blacks in Civil War Riots Now Safeguards History |newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 5, 2005 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/05/nyregion/05weeksville.html |access-date=July 9, 2010}} bought a plot of land and founded Weeksville.

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = Stuyvesant Heights Historic District

| nrhp_type = hd

| image = Decatur Stuyvesant Heights HD 2.JPG

| caption = On Decatur Street

| location = Roughly bounded by Macon, Tompkins, Decatur, Lewis, Chauncey, and Stuyvesant, New York, New York

| coordinates = {{coord|40|40|52|N|73|56|14|W|display=inline}}

| locmapin = New York City

| built = 1870

| architecture = Italianate, Queen Anne, Romanesque

| added = December 4, 1975

| area = {{convert|42|acre|sigfig=2}}

| refnum = 75001193{{NRISref|version=2009a}}

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = Stuyvesant Heights Historic District (Boundary Increase)

| embed = yes

| nrhp_type = hd

| image =

| caption =

| location = Roughly, Decatur St. from Tompkins to Lewis Aves., Brooklyn, New York

| architect = multiple

| architecture = Italianate, Second Empire, Queen Anne

| added = November 15, 1996

| area = {{convert|10|acre|sigfig=2}}

| refnum = 96001355

| nocat = yes

}}

}}

The Stuyvesant Heights Historic District in Bedford-Stuyvesant comprises 577 contributing residential buildings built between about 1870 and 1900. The district encompasses 17 individual blocks (13 identified in 1975 and four new in 1996). The buildings within the district primarily comprise two- and three-storey rowhouses with high basements, with a few multiple dwellings and institutional structures. The district includes the Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church, the Romanesque Revival style Mount Lebanon Baptist Church, and St. Phillip's Episcopal Church.{{cite web|url=http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=3289|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration:Stuyvesant Heights Historic District|date=August 1972|access-date=March 19, 2011|author=Stephen Lash and Betty Ezequelle|publisher=New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019112759/http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=3289|archive-date=October 19, 2012}} See also: {{cite web|url=http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=3287|title=Accompanying nine photos|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924141549/http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=3287|archive-date=September 24, 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=3359|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration:Stuyvesant Heights Historic District (Boundary Increase)|date=September 1996|access-date=March 19, 2011|author=Peter D. Shaver|publisher=New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019112822/http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=3359|archive-date=October 19, 2012}} See also: {{cite web|url=http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=3360|title=Accompanying seven photos|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924141629/http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=3360|archive-date=September 24, 2015}} It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and expanded in 1996.

There are several other historic districts in the neighborhood {{As of|2024|lc=y}}, designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Bedford Stuyvesant/Expanded Stuyvesant Heights Historic District was designated on April 16, 2013,{{Cite web|last=Ishayik|first=Edna|date=2013-04-16|title=Bedford-Stuyvesant Historic District Triples in Size|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/16/bedford-stuyvesant-historic-district-triples-in-size/|access-date=2024-06-27|website=City Room|language=en}} and extended the Stuyvesant Heights district north to Jefferson Avenue, east to Malcolm X Boulevard, and west to Tompkins Avenue.{{cite web|url = http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/2496.pdf|title = Bedford Stuyvesant/Expanded Stuyvesant Heights Historic District – Designation Report|date = April 16, 2013|access-date = April 20, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160313091831/http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/2496.pdf|archive-date = March 13, 2016|url-status = dead}} The Bedford Historic District was created on December 8, 2015, and is roughly bounded by Fulton Street, Bedford Avenue, Monroe Street, and Tompkins Avenue.{{cite web | last=Frishberg | first=Hannah | title=Bedford Historic District Approved by Landmarks Commission | website=Brownstoner | date=December 9, 2015 | url=https://www.brownstoner.com/history/bedford-historic-district-approved-by-landmarks-commission/ | access-date=June 27, 2024}} The Willoughby–Hart Historic District was designated on June 25, 2024,{{cite web | last=Bradley-Smith | first=Anna | title=Locals Celebrate New Willoughby-Hart Historic District | website=Brownstoner | date=June 25, 2024 | url=https://www.brownstoner.com/architecture/willoughby-hart-historic-district-bed-stuy-landmarked-lpc/ | access-date=June 27, 2024}} and includes about 50 buildings on Willoughby Avenue and Hart Street.{{cite web | last=Luces | first=David | title=Willoughby-Hart Section In Bed-Stuy Named Historic District | website=Bed-Stuy, NY Patch | date=June 26, 2024 | url=https://patch.com/new-york/bed-stuy/willoughby-hart-section-bed-stuy-named-historic-district | access-date=June 27, 2024}}{{cite web | title=Landmarks approves new Bed-Stuy brownstone historic district | website=Brooklyn Eagle | date=June 26, 2024 | url=https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2024/06/26/landmarks-approves-new-bed-stuy-brownstone-historic-district/ | access-date=June 27, 2024}} Along Atlantic Avenue, on the border with Crown Heights, is the Alice and Agate Courts Historic District, a set of 36 Queen Anne row houses{{cite web |last= |first= |last3= |first3= |last4= |first4= |date=May 21, 2008 |title=New Bed-Stuy Historic District in the Offing |url=https://www.brownstoner.com/history/new-bedstuy-his/ |access-date=June 27, 2024 |website=Brownstoner}} which were designated on February 10, 2009.{{cite web | title=LPC Moves Ahead With Two New Historic Districts | website=NBC New York | date=February 11, 2009 | url=https://www.nbcnewyork.com/local/brown-lpc-moves-ahead-with-two-new-historic-districts/1907568/ | access-date=June 27, 2024}}{{cite web | title=Landmarks in Plain Sight | website=The Architect's Newspaper | date=February 10, 2009 | url=https://www.archpaper.com/2009/02/landmarks-in-plain-sight/ | access-date=June 27, 2024}}

File:Miracle Temple Brooklyn.JPG|Miracle Temple

File:Decatur Stuyvesant Heights HD 1.JPG|On Decatur Street

File:200 block Decatur Brooklyn.JPG |On Decatur Street

File:St Philips Brooklyn.JPG|St. Phillip's Episcopal Church

File:Mt Lebanon Brooklyn 2.JPG |Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church

File:Mt Lebanon Brooklyn 1.JPG |Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church

File:On Lewis Brooklyn.JPG|On Lewis Street

The entirety of Community Board 3 had 152,403 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 76.8 years.{{Cite web|url=https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/data/2018chp-bk3.pdf|title=Bedford–Stuyvesant (Including Bedford–Stuyvesant, Kensington and Ocean Parkway)|date=2018|website=nyc.gov|publisher=NYC Health|access-date=March 2, 2019}}{{Rp|2, 20}} This is lower than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods.{{Cite web|url=https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/tcny/community-health-assessment-plan.pdf|title=2016-2018 Community Health Assessment and Community Health Improvement Plan: Take Care New York 2020|date=2016|website=nyc.gov|publisher=New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene|access-date=September 8, 2017}}{{Rp|53 (PDF p. 84)}}{{cite web | title=New Yorkers are living longer, happier and healthier lives | website=New York Post | date=June 4, 2017 | url=https://nypost.com/2017/06/04/new-yorkers-are-living-longer-happier-and-healthier-lives/ | access-date=March 1, 2019}} Most inhabitants are middle-aged adults and youth: 24% are between the ages of 0 and 17, 33% between 25 and 44, and 22% between 45 and 64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 10% and 11% respectively.{{Rp|2}}

As of 2022, the median household income in Community Board 3 was $71,123. In 2018, an estimated 23% of Bedford–Stuyvesant residents lived in poverty, compared to 21% in all of Brooklyn and 20% in all of New York City. One in eight residents (13%) were unemployed, compared to 9% in the rest of both Brooklyn and New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 53% in Bedford–Stuyvesant, higher than the citywide and boroughwide rates of 52% and 51% respectively. As of late 2021, Bedford–Stuyvesant is considered to be gentrifying.{{Rp|7}}David Brooks, "Blame the Bobos," The Atlantic, September 2021, page 64

The 1790 census records of Bedford lists 132 freemen and 72 slaves. Rapid population growth followed major improvements to public transportation. By 1873, Bed-Stuy's (predominantly white) population was 14,000.{{Cite web|url=http://theweeklynabe.com/2012/06/23/bed-stuy-brooklyn-a-very-brief-history/|title=Bed-Stuy: a very brief history|last=Williams|first=Keith|website=The Weekly Nabe|language=en-US|access-date=August 9, 2019|archive-date=August 8, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190808233838/http://theweeklynabe.com/2012/06/23/bed-stuy-brooklyn-a-very-brief-history/|url-status=dead}} In the early 1900s, prosperous black families began buying up the mansions of Bed-Stuy, many of which were designed by prominent architects.{{Cite web|url=https://www.6sqft.com/bed-stuy-from-harlem-and-hip-hop-to-hipsters-hassids-and-high-rents/|title=Bed-Stuy: From Harlem and Hip-Hop to Hipsters, Hassids and High Rents|website=6sqft|date=October 15, 2014 |language=en-US|access-date=August 9, 2019}} The population was quick to grow, but it wasn't until the 1930s that Bed-Stuy's black population boomed. Following the introduction of the IND Fulton Street Line (a.k.a. the A/C line) in 1936, African-Americans left crowded Harlem in search of better housing opportunities. Bed-Stuy quickly became the second destination for black New Yorkers and the New York Times even dubbed it "Little Harlem" in 1961.

After a large decline during the 1970s (mirroring the citywide decline), the population in Bedford Stuyvesant grew by 34 percent between 1980 and 2015 (faster than the citywide growth rate of 21 percent) to reach 150,900 residents. The population increased by 25 percent between 2000 and 2015, more than three times faster than the citywide rate. The ethnic and racial mix of the population has undergone dramatic changes in the past 15 years as the neighborhood has attracted new residents. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, three-quarters of the residents identified as black or African-American in 2000, but this share had declined to less than half of the population by 2015. In 2015, one-quarter of the residents were white and nearly one-fifth were Hispanic. By comparison, in 2000, less than 3 percent of the population was white (the Hispanic share of the population has remained relatively unchanged).{{Cite web|url=https://www.osc.state.ny.us/osdc/rpt5-2018.pdf|title=An Economic Snapshot of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Neighborhood|last=DiNapoli|first=Thomas P.|date=September 2017|website=Office of the New York State Comptroller|access-date=August 8, 2019}} The Asian population has grown, but remains relatively small, making up less than 5 percent of the neighborhood. According to the US Census Bureau, in 2022 the population was 41% Black, 29% White, 18% Hispanic, 4% Asian, and 8% other or from two or more races.

The neighborhood is part of New York's 8th congressional district,[http://www.latfor.state.ny.us/maps/2012c/CD_map_rep_08.pdf Congressional District 8], New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment. Accessed May 5, 2017.[http://www.latfor.state.ny.us/maps/2012c/CD_nyc.pdf New York City Congressional Districts], New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment. Accessed May 5, 2017. represented by Democrat Hakeem Jeffries {{as of|2013|lc=y}}.{{cite web | title=U.S. House Election Results 2018 | website=The New York Times | date=January 28, 2019 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/06/us/elections/results-house-elections.html | access-date=February 21, 2019}} It is also part of the 18th and 25th State Senate districts,[http://www.latfor.state.ny.us/maps/2012s/SD_map_rep_18.pdf Senate District 18], New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment. Accessed May 5, 2017.

• [http://www.latfor.state.ny.us/maps/2012s/SD_map_rep_25.pdf Senate District 25], New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment. Accessed May 5, 2017.[http://www.latfor.state.ny.us/maps/2012s/SD_nyc.pdf 2012 Senate District Maps: New York City], New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment. Accessed November 17, 2018. represented respectively by Democrats Julia Salazar and Jabari Brisport,{{cite web|url=https://www.nysenate.gov/district/18|title=NY Senate District 18|website=NY State Senate|access-date=January 18, 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nysenate.gov/district/25|title=NY Senate District 25|website=NY State Senate|access-date=January 18, 2019}} and the 54th, 55th, and 56th State Assembly districts,[http://www.latfor.state.ny.us/maps/2012a/AD_map_rep_054.pdf Assembly District 54], New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment. Accessed May 5, 2017.
• [http://www.latfor.state.ny.us/maps/2012a/AD_map_rep_055.pdf Assembly District 55], New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment. Accessed May 5, 2017.
• [http://www.latfor.state.ny.us/maps/2012a/AD_map_rep_056.pdf Assembly District 56], New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment. Accessed May 5, 2017.[http://www.latfor.state.ny.us/maps/2012a/AD_nyc.pdf 2012 Assembly District Maps: New York City], New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment. Accessed November 17, 2018. represented respectively by Democrats Erik Dilan, Latrice Walker, and Stefani Zinerman.{{cite web | title=New York State Assembly Member Directory | website=Assembly Member Directory | url=https://nyassembly.gov/mem/ | access-date=March 4, 2019}} Bed-Stuy is located in the New York City Council's 36th and 41st districts,[http://www.nyc.gov/html/dc/downloads/pdf/brooklyn.pdf Current City Council Districts for Kings County], New York City. Accessed May 5, 2017. represented respectively by Democrats Chi Ossé and Darlene Mealy.{{cite web | title=District 36 | website=New York City Council | date=March 25, 2018 | url=https://council.nyc.gov/district-36/ | access-date=March 4, 2019}}{{cite web | title=District 41 | website=New York City Council | date=March 25, 2018 | url=https://council.nyc.gov/district-41/ | access-date=March 4, 2019}}

Bedford–Stuyvesant is patrolled by two precincts of the NYPD.{{cite web | title=Find Your Precinct and Sector - NYPD | website=www.nyc.gov | url=https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/bureaus/patrol/find-your-precinct.page | access-date=March 3, 2019}} The 81st Precinct is located at 30 Ralph Avenue, serving the area east of Marcus Garvey Boulevard,{{Cite web|url=https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/bureaus/patrol/precincts/81st-precinct.page|title=NYPD – 81st Precinct|website=www.nyc.gov|access-date=October 3, 2016}} and the 79th Precinct is located at 263 Tompkins Avenue, serving the area west of Marcus Garvey Boulevard.{{Cite web|url=https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/bureaus/patrol/precincts/79th-precinct.page|title=NYPD – 79th Precinct|website=www.nyc.gov|access-date=October 3, 2016}}

The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) operates seven fire stations in Bedford–Stuyvesant.{{cite web | title=NYPD Precincts & Firehouses - Brooklyn CB 3 | website=Welcome to NYC.gov | url=https://www1.nyc.gov/site/brooklyncb3/resources/nypd-precincts-firehouses.page | access-date=March 3, 2019}}{{Cite FDNY locations}}

{{As of|2018}}, preterm births and births to teenage mothers are more common in Bedford–Stuyvesant than in other places citywide. In Bedford–Stuyvesant, there were 95 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 26.9 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide).{{Rp|11}} Bedford–Stuyvesant has a relatively low population of residents who are uninsured, or who receive healthcare through Medicaid.[http://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/medicaid/redesign/dsrip/pps_applications/docs/maimonides_medical_center/3.8_maimonides_cna.pdf New York City Health Provider Partnership Brooklyn Community Needs Assessment: Final Report], New York Academy of Medicine (October 3, 2014). In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 11%, which is slightly lower than the citywide rate of 12%.{{Rp|14}}

The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant, in Bedford–Stuyvesant is {{convert|0.0081|mg/m3|oz/ft3}}, higher than the citywide and boroughwide averages.{{Rp|9}} Nineteen percent of Bedford–Stuyvesant residents are smokers, which is higher than the city average of 14% of residents being smokers.{{Rp|13}} In Bedford–Stuyvesant, 29% of residents are obese, 13% are diabetic, and 34% have high blood pressure—compared to the citywide averages of 24%, 11%, and 28% respectively.{{Rp|16}} In addition, 22% of children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%.{{Rp|12}}

Eighty-four percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is slightly lower than the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 76% of residents described their health as "good", "very good", or "excellent", slightly less than the city's average of 78%.{{Rp|13}} For every supermarket in Bedford–Stuyvesant, there are 57 bodegas.{{Rp|10}}

There are several hospitals in the Bed-Stuy area, including the Woodhull Medical Center and the Interfaith Medical Center.{{rp|19–20}}

Bedford–Stuyvesant is covered by four primary ZIP Codes (11206, 11216, 11221, 11233) and parts of three other ZIP Codes (11205, 11213, and 11233). The northern part of the neighborhood is covered by 11206; the central part, by 11221; the southwestern part, by 11216; and the southeastern part, by 11233. In addition, the ZIP Code 11205 covers several blocks in the northwestern corner of Bed-Stuy, and 11213 includes several blocks in the extreme southern portion of the neighborhood.{{cite web | title=Bedford-Stuyvesant, New York City-Brooklyn, New York Zip Code Boundary Map (NY) | website=United States Zip Code Boundary Map (USA) | url=https://www.zipmap.net/New_York/Kings_County/Z_Bedford-Stuyvesant.htm | access-date=March 28, 2019 | archive-date=March 28, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328150536/https://www.zipmap.net/New_York/Kings_County/Z_Bedford-Stuyvesant.htm | url-status=dead }} The United States Postal Service operates four post offices nearby: the Restoration Plaza Station at 1360 Fulton Street,{{cite web | title=Location Details: Restoration Plaza | website=USPS.com | url=https://tools.usps.com/go/POLocatorDetailsAction!input.action?locationTypeQ=po&address=11225&radius=20&locationType=po&locationID=1379126&locationName=RESTORATION+PLAZA&address2=&address1=1360+FULTON+ST+STE+1 | access-date=March 5, 2019}} the Shirley A Chisholm Station at 1915 Fulton Street,{{cite web | title=Location Details: Shirley A Chisholm | website=USPS.com | url=https://tools.usps.com/go/POLocatorDetailsAction!input.action?locationTypeQ=po&address=11225&radius=20&locationType=po&locationID=1383815&locationName=SHIRLEY+A+CHISHOLM&address2=&address1=1915+FULTON+ST | access-date=March 5, 2019}} the Bushwick Station at 1369 Broadway,{{cite web|title=Location Details: Bushwick|url= https://tools.usps.com/go/POLocatorDetailsAction!input.action?locationTypeQ=po&address=11225&radius=20&locationType=po&locationID=1356467&locationName=BUSHWICK&address2=&address1=1369+BROADWAY|access-date=June 20, 2018}} and the Halsey Station at 805 MacDonough Street.{{cite web|title=Location Details: Halsey|url= https://tools.usps.com/go/POLocatorDetailsAction!input.action?locationTypeQ=po&address=11225&radius=20&locationType=po&locationID=1366006&locationName=HALSEY&address2=&address1=805+MACDONOUGH+ST|access-date=June 20, 2018}}

Bedford–Stuyvesant generally has a lower ratio of college-educated residents than the rest of the city {{as of|2018|lc=y}}. While 35% of residents age 25 and older have a college education or higher, 21% have less than a high school education and 43% are high school graduates or have some college education. By contrast, 40% of Brooklynites and 38% of city residents have a college education or higher.{{Rp|6}} The percentage of Bedford–Stuyvesant students excelling in reading and math has been increasing, with reading achievement rising from 32 percent in 2000 to 37 percent in 2011, and math achievement rising from 23 percent to 47 percent within the same time period.{{Cite web|url=http://furmancenter.org/files/sotc/BK_03_11.pdf|title=Bedford–Stuyvesant – BK 03|date=2011|publisher=Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy|access-date=October 5, 2016}}

Bedford–Stuyvesant's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is higher than the rest of New York City. In Bedford–Stuyvesant, 30% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per school year, compared to the citywide average of 20% of students.{{Rp|24 (PDF p. 55)}}{{Rp|6}} Additionally, 70% of high school students in Bedford–Stuyvesant graduate on time, lower than the citywide average of 75% of students.{{Rp|6}}

File:PS93 Prescott Nostrand Av Herkimer St jeh.jpg

Several public schools serve Bedford-Stuyvesant. The zoned high school for the neighborhood is Boys and Girls High School on Fulton Street. The Brooklyn Brownstone School, a public elementary school located in the MS 35 campus on MacDonough Street, and was developed in 2008 by the Stuyvesant Heights Parents Association and the New York City Board of Education. At the eastern edge of the neighborhood is Paul Robeson High School for Business and Technology.

Many public schools are named after prominent African-Americans and, as stated by Nikole Hannah-Jones in The New York Times, were "intended to evoke black uplift".{{cite web|author=Hannah-Jones, Nikole|author-link=Nikole Hannah-Jones|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/magazine/choosing-a-school-for-my-daughter-in-a-segregated-city.html?_r=0|title=Choosing a School for My Daughter in a Segregated City|work=The New York Times|date=June 9, 2016|access-date=November 18, 2019}} Hannah-Jones wrote in 2016 that many wealthier residents choose to use magnet schools or private schools instead of neighborhood schools.

For the early grades Ember Charter School for Mindful Education and Success Academy Bed-Stuy 1 and 2 are charter schools. Bed-Stuy is also home to the Brooklyn Waldorf School, which moved to Claver Castle (at 11 Jefferson Avenue) in 2011.

Other institutions include:

• Boys High School
• Girl's High School
• Pratt Institute
• Brooklyn Brownstone Elementary School
• Weeksville Heritage Center
• Bedford Academy High School

By 2021 the interim location of the German School of Brooklyn (GSB) was the former Coop School in the Bedford Stuyvesant and Clinton Hill area. In 2021 the school moved all levels to its permanent site at 9 Hanover Place in Downtown Brooklyn.{{cite web|url=http://germanschoolbrooklyn.org/|title=Home|publisher=German School Brooklyn|accessdate=July 30, 2021}}

The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) has four branches in Bedford-Stuyvesant:

• The Bedford branch and Bedford Learning Center, at 496 Franklin Avenue near Fulton Street. The branch opened in 1905.{{cite web|url=https://www.bklynlibrary.org/locations/bedford|title=Bedford Library|date=August 17, 2011|website=Brooklyn Public Library|access-date=February 21, 2019}}
• The Marcy branch, at 617 DeKalb Avenue near Nostrand Avenue.{{cite web|url=https://www.bklynlibrary.org/locations/marcy|title=Marcy Library|date=August 22, 2011|website=Brooklyn Public Library|access-date=February 21, 2019}}
• The Macon branch, at 361 Lewis Avenue near Macon Street. The branch is a Carnegie library that opened in 1907. It contains the Dionne Mack-Harvin Center, a collection dedicated to African American culture.{{cite web|url=https://www.bklynlibrary.org/locations/macon|title=Macon Library|date=August 22, 2011|website=Brooklyn Public Library|access-date=February 21, 2019}}
• The Saratoga branch, at 8 Thomas S. Boyland Street near Macon Street. The branch is a Carnegie library that opened in 1909.{{cite web|url=https://www.bklynlibrary.org/locations/saratoga|title=Saratoga Library|date=August 22, 2011|website=Brooklyn Public Library|access-date=February 21, 2019}}

{{multiple image

| total_width = 450

| image1 = IND Crosstown Bedford-Nostrand Avenues Southbound Platform.jpg

| caption1 = The Bedford–Nostrand Avenues station of the New York City Subway's IND Crosstown Line

| image2 = LIRR 9944 (6029110921).jpg

| caption2 = The Nostrand Avenue station of the Long Island Rail Road during reconstruction

}}

Bedford–Stuyvesant is served by the New York City Subway's IND Fulton Street Line ({{NYCS trains|Fulton}}), which opened in 1936. This underground line replaced the earlier, elevated BMT Fulton Street Line on May 31, 1940. The BMT Franklin Avenue Line has provided service and connections to southern Brooklyn since opening as an excursion railroad in 1878. The IND Crosstown Line ({{NYCS trains| Crosstown}}), running underneath Lafayette Avenue and Marcy Avenue, opened for service in 1937. The elevated BMT Jamaica Line ({{NYCS trains|Jamaica west}}) also serves the neighborhood, running alongside its northern boundary at Broadway. In the past, the elevated BMT Lexington Avenue Line served Lexington Avenue until 1950 and the elevated BMT Myrtle Avenue Line served Myrtle Avenue to the north until 1969.

Bedford–Stuyvesant is also served by the Nostrand Avenue station of the Long Island Rail Road.{{Cite web|title=MTA LIRR - Nostrand Avenue|url=http://lirr42.mta.info/stationInfo.php?id=13|access-date=March 17, 2021|website=lirr42.mta.info}}

Several bus routes, operated by MTA Regional Bus Operations, run through Bedford–Stuyvesant. The {{NYC bus link|B7|B15|B43|B44|B44 SBS|B46|B46 SBS|B47|B48|B49|prose=y}} routes run primarily north to south through the neighborhood, while the {{NYC bus link|B25|B26|B38|B52|B54|B57|prose=y}} run primarily west to east, and the {{NYC bus link|Q24}}, B46, and B47 run northwest to southeast on Broadway.{{Cite NYC bus map|B}}

{{Category see also|People from Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn}}

{{colbegin|colwidth=30em|small=yes|rules=yes}}

• Aaliyah (1979–2001), Grammy-nominated singer.Farley, Christopher John. [https://books.google.com/books?id=rwlBoSSahkYC&pg=PA20 Aaliyah: More Than a Woman], p. 20. Accessed July 2, 2016. Simon and Schuster, 2002. {{ISBN|9780743455664}}. "She was born on January 16, 1979, in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, but, at the age of four, her parents relocated to the Motor City where Aaliyah spent her formative years."
• Aja (born 1994), drag queen and performer.Lasher, Megan. [https://www.seventeen.com/celebrity/g26143718/aja-drag-race-facts/ "9 Aja Facts That Prove They're So Much More Than Just a Drag Race Icon They're a true artist, inside and out."], Seventeen, February 6, 2019. Accessed April 5, 2022. "Aja was born in Brooklyn; They were born and raised in Bedford–Stuyvesant, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY."
• Isaac Asimov (1920-1992), writer, attended Boys High SchoolSpellen, Suzanne. [https://www.brownstoner.com/neighborhood/boys-high-school-bedford-stuyvesant-brooklyn-history/ "Building of the Day: 832 Marcy Avenue, Bedford Stuyvesant's Boys High School"], Brownstoner, September 09, 2015. Accessed October 08, 2024.
• Big Daddy Kane (born 1968), rapper.Gill, Lauren. [http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/39/27/dtg-bb-big-daddy-kane-concert-2016-07-01-bk.html "Legendary Bed-Stuy rapper Big Daddy Kane performs outside former Albee Square Mall"], The Brooklyn Paper, June 28, 2016. Accessed July 2, 2016. "Legendary Bedford-Stuyvesant-born rapper Big Daddy Kane entertained shoppers and commuters with a free show on Fulton Mall on Friday, and the wordsmith showed off just as much charisma as when he used to spit his rhymes in rap battles in Kings County’s streets, according to organizers."
• Memphis Bleek (born 1978), rapper.Avalone, Blake. [http://www.dubmagazine.com/home/stars/item/8449-memphis-bleek-and-the-young-gunz "Memphis Bleek and the Young Gunz"], DUB, May 16, 2005. Accessed July 2, 2016. "For years, fans came to recognize the gritty Bleek as an heir to Jay’s throne. With consistently impressive rhymes focusing on the contrast between the grim realities of the Bedford Stuyvesant streets and the glitz and glamour of a recording career, Memphis Bleek did not disappoint."
• Kurt Boone (born 1959), author known for his work documenting street cultureBindley, Katherine. [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/nyregion/thecity/05mess.html "The Paper Chase"], The New York Times, April 3, 2009. Accessed January 2, 2024. "Born in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, and raised in Cambria Heights, Queens, where he lives today, Kurt Boone is a writer at heart and a messenger by trade."
• Mark Breland (born 1963), boxerBerkow, Ira. [https://www.nytimes.com/1996/01/28/sports/boxing-breland-returns-to-ring-modestly-in-brooklyn.html "Boxing; Breland Returns to Ring Modestly in Brooklyn"], The New York Times, January 28, 1996. Accessed July 2, 2016. "Breland was back in Brooklyn, where he had started his career, coming out of the tough Tompkins projects in Bedford-Stuyvesant and going on to become a five-time New York Golden Gloves champion, the 1984 Olympic gold-medal champion, and twice the world's welterweight champ."
• Foxy Brown (born 1978), rapperLynch, Sean. [https://web.archive.org/web/20150226182209/http://www.mtv.com/news/1712606/wiz-khalifa-mac-miller-foxy-brown-collabo-rumors/ "Foxy Brown Addresses Rumors She's Teaming With Wiz, Mac Miller"], MTV News, August 19, 2013. Accessed April 5, 2022. "It had been a minute since many fans had seen Foxy Brown up close and personal, but that changed this past week when the Bedford-Stuyvesant femcee made a tearful appearance on RapFix Live, as part of the unofficial kickoff to the 2013 VMAs in Brooklyn."
• Lil Cease (born 1977), rapper[https://web.archive.org/web/20131004034514/http://www.mtv.com/artists/lil-cease/] Lil' Cease], MTV. Accessed July 6, 2016. "Rapper Lil' Cease was born and raised in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant area, at age 15 becoming a protégé of the Notorious B.I.G."
• Shirley Chisholm (1924–2005), congresswomanhttp://history.house.gov/People/Listing/C/CHISHOLM,-Shirley-Anita-(C000371)/ CHISHOLM, Shirley Anita], United States House of Representatives History, Art & Archives. Accessed July 6, 2016. "Elected in 1968 because of her roots in the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood, Chisholm was catapulted into the national limelight by virtue of her race, gender, and outspoken personality."
• Aaron Copland (1900-1990), composer, attended Boys High School
• Imani Coppola (born 1978), singer-songwriterLester, Paul. [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/jul/03/bandoftheday.culture "No 344: Little Jackie; Today's new artist sounds like Lily Allen meets Lauryn Hill - seriously, what's not to like?"], The Guardian, July 3, 2008. Accessed July 6, 2016. "Coppola's songs are as idiosyncratically infectious as Allen's, only instead of observations about life in LDN she's focused on the antics and mores of the Big Apple in general and the area surrounding her Bedford-Stuyvesant (Chris Rock's old stomping ground) apartment in particular."
• Alan Dale (1925–2002), singer and star of The Alan Dale ShowO'Kane, Jim. Jefferson Avenue: Stories from a Brooklyn Boyhood 1941-1958. New York: Createspace, 2013.
• Tommy Davis (1939–2022), professional baseball player and coach, who played in Major League Baseball as a left fielder and third baseman from 1959 to 1976 for ten different teams, most notably for the Los Angeles DodgersRifkin, Glenn. [https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/04/sports/baseball/tommy-davis-dead.html "Tommy Davis, Batting Star With the ’60s Dodgers, Dies at 83"], The New York Times, April 4, 2022. Accessed April 5, 2022. "Herman Thomas Davis Jr. was born on March 21, 1939, the only child of Herman Sr. and Grace Lenore Davis. He grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn."
• Deemi (born 1980), singerHamilton, Tiffany. [http://allhiphop.com/2005/09/23/deemi-diamond-in-the-rough/ "Deemi: Diamond In The Rough"], AllHipHop, September 23, 2005. Accessed July 6, 2016. "Although she is from the streets, Deemi is not an emcee – and she's definitely not your usual R&B diva. Born and raised in Bedford Stuyvesant, the 24-year-old songstress definitely has a story to tell."
• Desiigner (born 1997), rapperWeiner, Natalie. [http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/magazine-feature/7400285/desiigner-on-panda-difficult-past-kanye-west-advice "Desiigner on His Difficult Past and How His No. 1 Hit 'Panda' Gave Him a Way Out"], Billboard (magazine), June 9, 2016. Accessed May 1, 2017. "'Out' means out of Bedford-Stuyvesant, the Brooklyn neighborhood where Desiigner grew up."
• Easy Mo Bee (born 1965), record producerFernando Jr., S. H. (2021). From the Streets of Shaolin: The Wu-Tang Saga. Hachette Books. ch. 6. {{ISBN|0-30687-444-X}}. "One of the first producers he approached was a fresh face on the scene named Easy Mo Bee (Osten Harvey Jr.). Born in Brooklyn's Bed-Stuy and raised in the Lafayette Gardens projects, Mo belonged to that same first generation that grew up with hip-hop."
• Ansel Elgort (born 1994), actor and singerBernstein, Jacob. [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/01/fashion/ansel-elgort-baby-driver.html "Is There Anything Ansel Elgort Can’t Do?"], The New York Times, July 1, 2017. Accessed September 28, 2022. "Mr. Elgort’s latest star turn is a heist picture about a guy operating a getaway car for bank robbers, but he had sat passively in the back seat of an Escalade on the ride to Midtown from his home in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn."
• Nelson Erazo (born 1977), professional wrestler better known by his ring name Homicide{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}
• Aprille Ericsson (born 1963), aerospace engineer{{Cite web|url=https://usasciencefestival.org/people/dr-aprille-ericsson/|title=Dr. Aprille Ericsson|website=USASEF|language=en|access-date=2020-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191228072715/https://usasciencefestival.org/people/dr-aprille-ericsson/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2019-12-28}}
• Fabolous (born 1977), rapperVasquez, Emily. [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/18/nyregion/18rapper.html "Brooklyn-Born Rapper Is Arrested After Being Shot"], The New York Times, October 18, 2005. Accessed October 7, 2007. "Mr. Jackson, raised in the Bedford–Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, became famous in late 2001 with his debut single, "I Can’t Deny It.""
• Bobby Fischer (1943–2008), eleventh World Chess ChampionMartin-Joy, John. [https://books.google.com/books?id=M1jPDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA60 Diagnosing from a Distance: Debates over Libel Law, Media, and Psychiatric Ethics from Barry Goldwater to Donald Trump], p. 60. Cambridge University Press, 2020. {{ISBN|9781108486583}}. Accessed April 5, 2022. "'Portrait of a Genius as a Young Chess Master,' which appeared in Harper'sin January, profiled reclusive chess player Bobby Fischer. Eighteen years old, half Jewish by background, and living in a walkup in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, Fischer was about to challenge 'Russia's traditional hold' on chess championships."
• William Forsythe (born 1955), actorDew, John. [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-03-25-ca-357-story.html "Multiple Personality"], Los Angeles Times, March 25, 1989. Accessed April 5, 2022. "Forsythe, who grew up in the tough Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, landed his first professional job after high school in the chorus of The Merry Widow at the Harvard Club in New York."
• Jackie Gleason (1916–87), actor, comedian[http://www.upi.com/topic/Jackie_Gleason/ "Jackie Gleason"], United Press International. Accessed October 25, 2013.
• Carl Gordon (1932–2010), actorFox, Margalit. [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/23/arts/23gordon.html "Carl Gordon, a Late-Blooming Actor, Dies at 78"], The New York Times, July 23, 2010. Accessed May 1, 2017. "Rufus Carl Gordon Jr. was born on Jan. 20, 1932, in Goochland, Va.; he later jettisoned the 'Rufus.' When he was a child his family moved to Brooklyn, where he grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood."
• Kadeem Hardison (born 1965), actor, portrays Dwayne Wayne on A Different WorldStaff. [http://humormillmag.com/on-this-day-in-comedy-in-1965-kadeem-hardison-was-born/ "On This Day In Comedy… In 1965 Kadeem Hardison Was Born!"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180813111752/http://humormillmag.com/on-this-day-in-comedy-in-1965-kadeem-hardison-was-born/ |date=August 13, 2018 }}, Humor Mill, July 24, 2015. Accessed May 1, 2017. "Actor, director, Kadeem Hardison was born in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn New York."
• Richie Havens (1941–2013), musician and poetMartin, Douglas. [https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/arts/music/richie-havens-guitarist-and-singer-dies-at-72.html "Richie Havens, Folk Singer Who Riveted Woodstock, Dies at 72"], The New York Times, April 22, 2013. Accessed May 1, 2017. "Richard Pierce Havens was born on Jan. 21, 1941, in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, where he grew up."
• Connie Hawkins (1942–2017), Basketball Hall of Fame playerSegal Jonathan B. [https://www.nytimes.com/1972/03/26/archives/foul-the-connie-hawkins-story-by-david-wolf-400-pp-new-york-holt.html "Foul!"], The New York Times, March 26, 1972. Accessed May 1, 2017. "To fill in the details a bit, Hawkins, the subject of Foul!, was a great black schoolyard basketball player from New York's Bedford-Stuyvesant section who became, in the jivin', hand-slapping, pressure-cooker world of ghetto ball, a revered figure for his spectacular and flashy play."
• Lena Horne (1917–2010), actress and singerGavin, James. [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/books/excerpt-stormy-weather.html "'Stormy Weather'"], The New York Times, July 17, 2009. Accessed May 1, 2017. "'I came from what was called one of the First Families of Brooklyn,' Horne explained. They shunned discussing the slave ancestry that had spawned them all — 'yet it was the rape of slave women by their masters which accounted for our white blood, which, in turn, made us Negro "society."' Home was an immaculate four-story brownstone in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant section."
• Jay-Z (born 1969), rapper and entrepreneur, who lived in the Marcy Housing Projects for most of his childhoodPareles, Jon. [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/arts/music/13pare.html "An Overdog to Root For"], The New York Times, September 9, 2009. Accessed May 1, 2017. "His songs have told and retold the poverty-to-bling story of Shawn Carter, Jay-Z’s real name, who grew up in the tough Marcy Houses in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, and dealt drugs before turning to hip-hop."
• Jaz-O (born 1964), rapper{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}
• Joey Badass (born 1995), rapperTempey, Nathan. [http://gothamist.com/2015/06/06/joey_badass_is_not_excited_about_ge.php "Interview: Joey Badass Is Not Excited About Gentrification"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161025124441/http://gothamist.com/2015/06/06/joey_badass_is_not_excited_about_ge.php |date=October 25, 2016 }}, Gothamist, June 6, 2015. Accessed May 1, 2017. "Joey Badass grew up Jo-Vaughn Scott in Bedford-Stuyvesant."
• Norah Jones (born 1979), singerEldredge, Barbara. [http://www.brownstoner.com/brooklyn-life/norah-jones-eat-pray-love-house-brooklyn-172-pacific-street-renovation/ "Norah Jones Is Renovating Her Movie-Worthy, Landmarked Cobble Hill Carriage House"], Brownstoner, March 8, 2016. Accessed May 1, 2017. "Famous musician and Bed Stuy native Norah Jones is renovating the sweet Pacific Street stable she bought last fall."
• June Jordan (1936–2002), Caribbean American poet, novelist, journalist, biographer, dramatist, teacher and activistLee, Felicia R. [https://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/04/books/a-feminist-survivor-with-the-eyes-of-a-child.html "A Feminist Survivor With the Eyes Of a Child"], The New York Times, July 4, 2000. Accessed May 1, 2017. "Ms. Jordan grew up in Harlem and Brooklyn, reading Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe before she turned 5, she says. Her family moved from a Harlem housing project to the Bedford-Stuyvesant area in Brooklyn because it seemed like a better place to raise a family."
• Wee Willie Keeler (1872–1923), Baseball Hall-of-Famer[http://thedeadballera.com/Obits/Obits_K/Keeler.Willie.Obit.html "Willie Keeler Dies of Heart Disease""] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200123014059/http://www.thedeadballera.com/Obits/Obits_K/Keeler.Willie.Obit.html |date=January 23, 2020 }}, The New York Times, January 2, 1923. Accessed October 29, 2013.
• Brian Kokoska (born 1988), artist{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}
• Lenny Kravitz (born 1964), musicianCorcoran, Kate. [https://www.brownstoner.com/brooklyn-life/lenny-kravitz-bed-stuy-boyhood-home-to-become-six-family-apartment-building/ "Lenny Kravitz' Bed Stuy Boyhood Home to Become Six-Family Apartment Building"], Brownstoner, June 02, 2014. Accessed October 08, 2024.
• Talib Kweli (born 1975), emcee{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}
• Lil' Kim (born 1974), rapperOgunnaike, Lola. [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/20/nyregion/20kim.html "A Flourish, and Lil' Kim Goes From Star to Inmate"], The New York Times, September 20, 2005. Accessed October 19, 2007. "Ms. Jones spoke about her rise from Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, to stardom and about her deepening relationship with God."
• Maino (born 1973), rapperMlynar, Phillip. [http://www.villagevoice.com/music/qanda-maino-on-growing-up-in-bed-stuy-hearing-rumors-about-himself-and-his-song-that-isnt-about-lil-kim-6620028 "Q&A: Maino On Growing Up In Bed-Stuy, Hearing Rumors About Himself, And His Song That Isn't About Lil Kim"], Village Voice, February 27, 2012. Accessed May 1, 2017. "For the early part of his career, the Bedford-Stuyvesant-born Maino was better known as another New York City rapper with a nefarious background (he saw out a ten year jail bid for attempted kidnap) who traded in block-corner crime rhymes to the extent that he was as much someone in the street who also happened to rap as anyone approaching an artist."
• Masta Ace (born 1966), rapper{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}
• Frank McCourt (1930–2009), a writer, and Malachy McCourt (born 1931), an actor, writer and politician. Frank's autobiographical bestseller Angela's Ashes describes their early childhood life in a working-class apartment building on Classon AvenueGrimes, William. [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/books/20mccourt.html "Frank McCourt, Whose Irish Childhood Illuminated His Prose, Is Dead at 78"], The New York Times, July 19, 2009. Accessed May 1, 2017. "Francis McCourt was born Aug. 19, 1930, on Classon Avenue on the edge of the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, where his Irish immigrant parents had hoped to make a better life."
• Ralph McDaniels (born 1962), music video director.{{cite web|url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2011/11/16/ralph-mcdaniels-keeps-hip-hop-culture-moving-forward/ |title=Ralph McDaniels Keeps Hip-Hop Culture Moving Forward |work=The Village Voice|author=J. Pablo|date=November 16, 2011|accessdate=February 25, 2015}}
• Frank Mickens (1946–2009), educatorHevesi, Dennis. [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/11/nyregion/11mickens.html "Frank Mickens, Who Brought Success to a Tough Brooklyn High School, Dies at 63"], The New York Times, July 10, 2009. Accessed May 1, 2017. "Frank Nathaniel Mickens was born in Bedford-Stuyvesant on June 22, 1946, the only child of John and Hortense Mickens."
• Stephanie Mills (born 1957), singerGowen, Annie. [https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1996-02-23-9602230391-story.html "There's Still No Place Like Home For Mills"], Chicago Tribune, February 23, 1996. Accessed January 12, 2021. "A native of the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn, N.Y., Mills, 38, first began appearing in Broadway musicals while she was in grade school."
• Sauce Money (born 1969), rapper{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}
• Dianne Morales (born 1967), non-profit executive, 2021 mayoral candidate for New York CityShahrigian, Shant. [https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/new-york-elections-government/ny-dianne-morales-mayoral-run-20201102-mcfpk6yy2racnep6rn2nqcphhu-story.html "Progressive mayoral candidate Dianne Morales wants to rewrite NYC’s 'social contract'"], New York Daily News, November 2, 2020. Accessed January 12, 2021. "Dianne Morales, who is running for New York mayor, outside her Bed-Stuy home."
• Tracy Morgan (born 1968), comedian and actorStaff. [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114009203 "Tracy Morgan On Being 'The New Black'"], National Public Radio, October 22, 2009. Accessed July 23, 2010.
• Mos Def (aka Yasiin Bey) (born 1973), rapper[https://bkreader.com/2022/02/20/feb-20-brooklyn-black-history-maker-yasiin-bey-aka-mos-def/ "Feb 20: Brooklyn Black History Maker, Yasiin Bey aka Mos Def"]{{Dead link|date=January 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, BK Reader, February 20, 2022. Accessed April 5, 2022. "Yasiin Bey aka Mos Def was born Dante Terrell Smith on December 11, 1973, in Bedford Stuyvesant."
• Ali Shaheed Muhammad (born 1970), DJ, producer and member of A Tribe Called QuestTorres, Andre. [https://linearlabsmusic.com/artist/ali-shaheed-muhammad/ "Ali Shaheed Muhammad – About"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123163950/https://linearlabsmusic.com/artist/ali-shaheed-muhammad/ |date=January 23, 2021 }}, Linear Labs, Accessed February 27, 2019. "The soft-spoken and contemplative Brooklyn native began a life of music at an early age, spending years DJing parties in his Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood before co-founding Tribe in 1985."
• Jack Newfield (1938–2004), journalist
• Harry Nilsson (1941–1994), musician, songwriter and authorStaff. [http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/harry-nilssons-childhood-home "Harry Nilsson's Childhood HomeThe childhood home of one of America's greatest unsung troubadours still stands in a much changed Brooklyn neighborhood"], Atlas Obscura. Accessed June 17, 2017. "The crooner was born to a poor family in the Bed-Stuy section of Brooklyn on June 15th, 1941. He lived on the top floor of 762 Jefferson Avenue, a simple Romanesque Revival-style apartment building constructed in 1901, until the family fled to California a decade later."
• The Notorious B.I.G. (born Christopher Wallace; also Biggie Smalls) (1972–1997), rapper, grew up near the Clinton Hill-Bed Stuy border.[http://www.complex.com/music/2013/02/the-100-best-opening-lines-in-rap-history-part-2-50-1/notorious-big-unbelievable "The 100 Best Opening Lines in Rap History, Part 2: 50 - 1"], in ComplexMusic, February 21, 2013, as accessed September 15, 2013.{{cite web|author=Bed-Stuy |url=http://bed-stuy.patch.com/groups/real-estate/p/biggie-s-one-room-shack-in-bed-stuy-now-up-for-sale |title=Biggie's 'One-Room Shack' in Bed-Stuy Now up for Sale - Real Estate - Bed-Stuy, NY Patch |publisher=Bed-stuy.patch.com |date=April 3, 2013 |access-date=May 13, 2014}}
• Oddisee (born 1985), rapper and producerHeins, Scott. [https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/interview-oddisee-takes-on-gentrification-donald-trump-and-his-own-hip-hop-identity "Interview: Oddisee Takes On Gentrification, Donald Trump, And His Own Hip-Hop Identity"], Gothamist, May 13, 2016. Accessed April 5, 2022. "There's lots of open space inside Oddisee's Bed-Stuy apartment. In the morning, sunlight floods his living room and makes every surface shine."
• Ol' Dirty Bastard (1968–2004), rapper{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}
• Papoose (born 1978), rapperLiddy, Tom. [https://nypost.com/2008/04/27/ambulance-in-rap-slap/ "Ambulance In Rap Slap"], New York Post, April 27, 2008. Accessed April 5, 2022. "The head of a Brooklyn volunteer ambulance service is steaming mad at rapper Papoose for duping him into using his wagon for a violent rap video and plans to sue. Rocky Robinson, co-founder of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Volunteer Ambulance Corps, said associates for the gangsta rapper, a Bed-Stuy native also known as Shamele Mackie, approached him last year and 'said they wanted to do a video shoot about what we do in the community.'"
• Floyd Patterson (1935–2006), boxer[https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-15-101430-9 Floyd Patterson: The Fighting Life of Boxing’s Invisible Champion], Publishers Weekly. Accessed April 5, 2022. "In this deftly written biography, sports writer Stratton examines one of the most complex fighters ever to wear the heavyweight crown. Raised in the Brooklyn ghetto of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Floyd Patterson struggled with family poverty and his own intense awkwardness."
• Martha M. Place (1849–1899), first woman to be put to death in the electric chair[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=18990320&id=C8EhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LZ0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=5226,6178341 "Put to Death: Mrs. Place Made No Scene in the Electric Chair"], The Reading Eagle, March 20, 1899. Accessed October 29, 2013.
• Max Roach (1924-2007), jazz dummer and composer, grew up at 541 Green Avenue; the intersection of Greenve and Marcy Avenues was renamed "Max Roach Way" in 2024[https://www.bkmag.com/2024/06/22/a-bed-stuy-corner-is-renamed-in-honor-of-jazz-pioneer-max-roach/ "A Bed-Stuy corner is renamed in honor of jazz pioneer Max Roach"], Brooklyn Magazine, June 24, 2024. Accessed October 08, 2024.
• Jackie Robinson (1919–1972), professional baseball player with the Brooklyn DodgersHarpaz, Beth J. [http://bigstory.ap.org/article/guide-exploring-jackie-robinsons-brooklyn "A Guide to Exploring Jackie Robinson's Brooklyn"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029183913/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/guide-exploring-jackie-robinsons-brooklyn |date=October 29, 2013 }}, The Associated Press, April 10, 2013. Accessed October 25, 2013.
• Chris Rock (born 1965), actor/comedianOsterhout, Jacob E. [http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/chris-rock-new-york-documentary-good-hair-set-open-tour-hometown-article-1.379885 "Chris Rock's New York: As his documentary 'Good Hair' is set to open, a tour of his hometown"], New York Daily News, October 3, 2009. Accessed October 25, 2013. Also made a TV series about his early life, with much of it based in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
• Tony Rock (born 1974), comedian and younger brother of Chris RockAppleford, Steve. [https://www.latimes.com/socal/glendale-news-press/tn-gnp-et-0504-tony-rock-20160506-story.html "Tony Rock mines life for stand-up laughs"], Glendale News-Press, May 6, 2016. Accessed April 5, 2022. "Tony Rock comes from a family of big families. His late father was one of 15 kids, and then had eight of his own. Add to that growing up in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, at the height of the crack epidemic, and Rock found himself with endless material to pick from after he became stand-up comic."
• Susanna Russell (born c. 1844), first known female property developer in Brooklyn Spellen, Suzanne. [https://www.brownstoner.com/history/women-brooklyn-19th-century-developers-architects-builders-susanna-russell-carrie-hine/ "The Story of Brooklyn's Lady Developers, Architects and Builders"], The Brownstoner, August 13, 2018. Accessed July 29, 2024
• Gabourey Sidibe (born 1983), Academy Award-nominated actressGreen, Penelope. [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/01/fashion/gabourey-sidibe-memoir.html "Gabourey Sidibe Doesn’t Want to Talk About Her Body"], The New York Times, May 1, 2017. Accessed January 12, 2021. "She deployed it to fine effect in her upside-down household in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, where she and her older brother were raised by their warm, Southern mother and stern African father, whose family traditions extended to polygamy — 'I know!' Ms. Sidibe said — and who called his firstborn daughter 'fatso,' as did her relatives, while outlining her future as a good Muslim wife."
• Skyzoo (born 1982), rapperMlynar, Phillip. [https://www.villagevoice.com/2012/09/14/skyzoo-on-bed-stuys-breakfast-options-and-supermarkets-spike-lee-and-not-getting-signed-by-jay-z/ "Skyzoo On Bed-Stuy’s Breakfast Options And Supermarkets, Spike Lee, And Not Getting Signed By Jay-Z"], The Village Voice, September 14, 2012. Accessed January 12, 2021. "Skyzoo is a Bed-Stuy-raised rapper whose new album, A Dream Deferred, will be released at the start of October via the Brooklyn institution Duck Down."
• Brandon Stanton (born 1984), Humans of New York author and photographerDeBenedetto, Paul. [https://www.huffpost.com/entry/brandon-stanton-humans-of-new-york-photos-bed-stuy-ymca_n_3163298 "Brandon Stanton, 'Humans Of New York' Photographer, Honored For Bed-Stuy YMCA Fundraising"], Huffington Post, April 26, 2013. Accessed April 5, 2022. "Stanton, who lives in Bed-Stuy, discovered the storefront after an acquaintance forwarded photos, congratulating him for his 'collaboration' with the company, he said."
• Nelson Stevens (1938–2022), African-American painter and muralist[http://galeriemyrtis.net/nelson-stevens-biography/ Nelson Stevens (1938-2022)], Galerie Myrtis. Accessed March 27, 2023. "Nelson Stevens was born in 1938 in Bedford-Stuyvesant (Bed-Sty), Brooklyn, New York. One of his earliest childhood memories was of drawing in chalk on the sidewalk in front of his home."
• Tek (born 1973), one half of Smif-N-Wessun
• Bill Thompson (born 1953), New York City 2013 Mayoral candidate[http://www.brooklynrail.org/2003/04/local/william-thompsons-challenges William Thompson's Challenges], in The Brooklyn Rail, April–May 2003.
• Conrad Tillard (born 1964), politician, Baptist minister, radio host, author and civil rights activistWitt, Stephen. [https://politicsny.com/2022/08/05/senatorial-candidate-conrad-tillard-takes-action-following-mcdonalds-shooting/ "Senatorial candidate Conrad Tillard takes action following McDonalds shooting"], PoliticsNY, August 5, 2022. Accessed December 6, 2022. "Bedford-Stuyvesant Democratic Candidate for state senate Rev. Conrad Tillard this week put out an urgent message to the young people in the district of the importance of respecting life and property even when there are differences."
• Mike Tyson (born 1966), boxer, lived there with his family until the age of 10{{Cite book | url=http://www.bookrags.com/biography/mike-tyson-cri/#gsc.tab=0 |title = Mike Tyson Summary}}
• Martha Wainwright (born 1976), singer[https://www.nbcnewyork.com/local/martha-wainwright-on-nyc_s-_sea-of-trying__new-york/1967482/ "Martha Wainwright on NYC's Sea of Trying"], NBC New York, November 7, 2012. Accessed January 12, 2021. "We stepped into Martha Wainwright’s Bed-Stuy brownstone for some tea and a brief chat about her dynamic and heartbreaking new album, Come Home to Mama, which is at times a communication with her recently-deceased mother, Kate McGarrigle."
• Dan Washburn (born 1973), author of The Forbidden Game: Golf and the Chinese Dream.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}
• Whodini, hip-hop group
• Lenny Wilkens (born 1937), Basketball Hall of Fame player and coachBeck, Howard. [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/28/sports/basketball/28knicks.html "Pro Basketball; Wilkens Denies He Was Asked to Go"], The New York Times, September 28, 2005. Accessed November 20, 2007. "A native of Brooklyn's Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood, Wilkens had added motivation to succeed in New York, which made leaving so quickly that much tougher."
• Juan Williams (born 1954), journalist and political analystSmith, Elmer. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110367915/juan-williams-of-bedford-stuyvesant/ "Dismissal at NPR will reverberate"], Philadelphia Daily News, October 22, 2010. Accessed September 28, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "When I first met him, Juan Williams was maybe 19 or 20, a student at Haverford College and an intern at the old Philadelphia Bulletin.... He grew up in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant section, went to Haverford on a scholarship."
• Ted Williams (born 1957), voiceover artist{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}
• Vanessa A. Williams (born 1963), actress{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

{{colend}}

• Billy Joel's 1980 song "You May Be Right", from his album Glass Houses, includes "I walked through Bedford-Stuy alone" among the foolhardy things the song's narrator has done.Barbarino, Al. [https://commercialobserver.com/2014/03/you-may-be-right-about-bedford-stuyvesant/ "'You May Be Right' About Bedford-Stuyvesant"], Commercial Observer, March 12, 2014. Accessed July 6, 2016. "In Billy Joel's 1980 hit, 'You May Be Right,' the singer boasted of his 'crazy' antics crashing parties, riding his motorcycle in the rain and even walking 'through Bedford-Stuy alone.'"
• In her 1980 one-woman film Gilda Live, Gilda Radner included a sketch featuring her Emily Litella character working as a substitute teacher in Bedford-Stuyvesant, filling in for a teacher who'd been stabbed by one of his students.Staff. [https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/73507796/ "Gilda Live"], The Pantagraph, May 15, 1980. Accessed July 6, 2016. "Twittery Emily Litella substitute-teaches in Bedford-Stuyvesant (her use of eraser and chalk stand out in Radner's repertoire of physical gags)."
• Do the Right Thing, a movie by Spike Lee, takes place in Bed–Stuy.{{rp|290}} In 2015, the portion of Stuyvesant Street where the film was shot was renamed "Do The Right Thing Way", marking the first time that a city street was given an honorary name for a movie filmed at a specific location.Blum, Sam. [https://www.bkmag.com/2015/08/11/do-the-right-thing-street-in-bed-stuy-officially-named-after-spike-lee-movie/ "Do The Right Thing: Street In Bed-Stuy Officially Named After Spike Lee Movie"], Brooklyn Magazine, August 11, 2015. Accessed March 2, 2023. "Just yesterday Mayor de Blasio gave further recognition to the film, by signing legislation that officially renames Stuyvesant Avenue between Lexington Avenue and Quincy Street, 'Do the Right Thing Way'. It’s the first time a street in New York City has ever been named after a film."
• Notorious B.I.G., a rapper who included Bed–Stuy in his lyrics, he "publicly {{Nowrap|claim[ed]}} Bedford-Stuyvesant as his neighborhood".[http://bed-stuy.patch.com/groups/around-town/p/today-s-pride-of-bed-stuy-christopher-wallace-aka-the5964734f17 Morris, C. Zawadi, Today's Pride of Bed-Stuy: Christopher Wallace aka The Notorious B.I.G., in Bed-Stuy Patch, February 29, 2012, 5:00 p.m.], as accessed September 15, 2013 (reprint from February 24, 2011). A 2009 film, Notorious, about life in Bed–Stuy in the 1990s, emphasized Notorious B.I.G.[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/nyregion/20notorious.html?_r=0 Eligon, John, Film About a Rapper Captures Bed-Stuy as It Once Was, in The New York Times, January 19, 2009], accessed September 15, 2013.
• The period television sitcom, Everybody Hates Chris is set in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood (which is where series creator Chris Rock's family lived in during the 1970s and 1980s).Gill, John Freeman. [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/04/nyregion/thecity/wonder-years-by-way-of-bedstuy.html "Wonder Years, by Way of Bed-Stuy"], The New York Times, December 4, 2005. Accessed January 13, 2020. "This fall, with the new hit UPN television show Everybody Hates Chris, the country is finally seeing a representation of Bed-Stuy shaped by one of its own: Chris Rock, the show's co-creator and narrator, on whose Decatur Street childhood the program is loosely based. Set in Bed-Stuy in 1982, Everybody Hates Chris is a nostalgic, warmly illuminated take on the Rock family's tough working-class life in the predominantly black neighborhood." The show occasionally refers to the neighborhood by its often-used nickname "Bed-Stuy Do or Die".
• A selection from Black Enough; Stories of Being Young & Black in America, "The Ingredients" by Jason Reynolds, takes place in Bed-Stuy, involving a group of friends walking home from Kosciuszko Pool.{{Cite web|title=Black Enough|url=https://www.harpercollins.com/products/black-enough-ibi-zoboitracey-baptistecoe-boothdhonielle-claytonbrandy-colbertjay-coleslamar-gilesleah-hendersonjustina-irelandvarian-johnsonkekla-magoontochi-onyebuchijason-reynoldsnic-stoneliara-tamanirene-watsonrita-williams-garcia|access-date=October 4, 2020|website=HarperCollins|language=en}}
• Halsey, the American singer, mentions "Bed-Stuy" in her song "Hurricane".[https://genius.com/Halsey-hurricane-lyrics] Lyrics of the 2014 song: Hurricane by Halsey.

• 13th Regiment Armory, former armory in Bed–Stuy
• Magnolia grandiflora (Brooklyn), a landmark tree in Bed–Stuy

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Commons category|Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn}}

• {{wikivoyage inline|Brooklyn/Bedford-Stuyvesant and Flatbush|Bedford-Stuyvesant and Flatbush}}
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{{Adjacent communities

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| NORTH=Williamsburg

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| WEST=Clinton Hill

| CENTER= Bedford-Stuyvesant

| EAST=Bushwick/East New York

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| SOUTH=Crown Heights/Brownsville

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}}

{{Brooklyn}}

{{National Register of Historic Places listings in Brooklyn}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn}}

Category:Neighborhoods in Brooklyn

Category:Historic districts in Brooklyn