Residents of Victorian Flatbush are taking the neighborhood’s omission from New York Magazine’s recent list of the city’s top 50 neighborhoods with a satisfied smile.
“We get plenty of ‘marketing’ from the local press,” wrote one person on the Ditmas Park Blog. “I’m relieved we’re not on their list.”
Ditmas Park/Kensington — neighborhoods renowned for their expansive older homes and diverse population — came in 55th on the list as compiled by Nate Silver, the blogger behind fivethirtyeight.com, for the periodical.
“I think we have a really good thing going in the neighborhood,” remarked Liena Zagare, who runs the Ditmas Park Blog. “I’m a little worried about the speed of gentrification. I want it off the radar a little bit. It’s not for everybody, and I’d like to keep it like that.”
There is some irony in the fact that many relatively new residents of the area came from Park Slope, the neighborhood that New York Magazine ranked as number one in the city.
“I love that Park Slope is number one, and we are getting tons of Park Slopers moving here for bigger houses, better parking, yards, more of a sense of community, etc.,” wrote Deb from Ditmas.
Jan Rosenberg, the president of Friends of Cortelyou, concurred.
Noting that she had heard not only “old-timers” but also recent arrivals from Park Slope express a degree of relief — and some puzzlement — over the neighborhood’s absence from the list, Rosenberg said, “We’ve had so much publicity. Really the secret is out. There are so many places to go, and you can park and enjoy them, so people are coming here in significant numbers.”
Ultimately, Zagare added, the neighborhood doesn’t need New York Magazine’s seal of approval.
“We’re established enough as a neighborhood that we don’t need anybody else’s endorsement,” she said.
