Parts Of Flatbush, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens To Become 'Little Caribbean'

FLATBUSH, BROOKLYN — There's Little Italy, Chinatown, Little Pakistan. And soon, Brooklyn will be home to Little Caribbean.

A stretch of the borough including Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Ditmas Park and Flatbush will be renamed for unmistakable culture that permeates through the neighborhoods.

"For over 100 years, Caribbean people have been settling in Brooklyn, making the New York City borough home to one of the largest populations of Caribbean immigrants in the world," a website set up by the group caribBEING says.

"Now, it’s time to make this vibrant area an official cultural hub known as LITTLE CARIBBEAN. The designation of Little Caribbean will stimulate the promotion and development of food, culture, and small businesses in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Flatbush, East Flatbush, and Prospect Lefferts Gardens."

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The official "Little Caribbean" district will roughly contain the area along Flatbush Avenue, from Empire Boulevard to Nostrand Avenues; Church Avenue from Ocean to New York avenues; and Nostrand Avenue from Empire Boulevard to Flatbush avenues.

The renaming "will increase cross-cultural understanding of Caribbean culture and heritage by welcoming visitors from near and far to the district. This increase in traffic will stimulate small businesses and cultivate an appreciation of Caribbean food and lifestyles."

It was supported by Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, along with the Caribbean Tourism Organizatio and Flatbush Nostrand Junction BID and Merchant Associations. The push was spearhead by caribBEING, a Flatbush-based organization that promotes Caribbean culture.

"I’m proud to be a longtime supporter of the Little Caribbean, and I’m even prouder that this designation is coming to fruition," Adams said in a statement. "Brooklyn is the epicenter of the Caribbean Diaspora, and this branding promises to have an incalculable value on the economic development and cultural pride of Flatbush and East Flatbush."

The area is home to a host of Caribbean restaurants, shops, festivals and more. And the annual J'ouvert celebration and West Indian American Day Parade draws tens of thousands of people to the area every year.

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(Photo by Yana Paskova/Getty Images)