Living in East New York: rent, commute and grades

Brooklyn · Updated October 2026

Two green onion domes on a brick church rise above trees and a fence on a sunny day.

A bus waits at a corner beneath the green elevated subway structure on Jamaica Avenue and Alabama Avenue.

Elevated subway tracks above a low brick building with spring trees in the foreground.

An orange brick Romanesque building with a round tower at a street corner in East New York.

A limestone building with columns and construction scaffolding next to it, parked cars in front.

Photo credits

Photo: Tdorante10, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Tdorante10, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo: User:Jim.henderson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Smallbones, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Tdorante10, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Rent in East New York

$1,603 a month

Type of homeA room in a 2-bedroom, shared by two

East New York is cheaper with roommates

Find people looking in East New York

DOverall

East New York graded

Grades compare NYC neighborhoods with each other. How the grades work.

Everyday life

C-Walkability
The average home has 4 of 5 everyday needs within a 10-minute walk (grocery store, restaurant, cafe, subway station, park) and about 95 places to eat or shop.
Residents: Having a car makes life there easier. Born and raised in East New York, Aug 2026
FFood and shopping
Within a 10-minute walk of the average home: about 21 places to eat, 10 kinds of cuisine, 3.2 large grocery stores and 44 open storefronts.
Residents: Fresh fruit and vegetables are hard to find nearby. New resident, Oct 2025
City data alone would give C-; what residents say in 7 Reddit threads moves it to F.
CParks and green space
92% of residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park of an acre or more, with about 55 acres of parkland within 1 km and about 459 street trees within 300 m of the average home.

People

DCommunity
15% of households moved in since 2018, 5% are roommates sharing a home, 18% of residents are 22 to 34, and there are about 4 cafes and bars within a 10-minute walk of the average home.
Residents: Quiet near Glenmore Avenue and Logan Street, with a strong sense of community. Lives near Glenmore Avenue and Logan Street, Aug 2025
DNightlife
About 3 bars, clubs and restaurants licensed to serve alcohol on site within a 10-minute walk of the average home.
Residents: There is nothing fun to do in the area. Renter near the C train, Mar 2025

Home and safety

DSafety
10.2 murders, robberies, felony assaults and burglaries were reported per 1,000 residents in 2025 (1,430 in all).
Residents: Crime rates are higher than in many neighborhoods, so you need to keep your wits about you, but alert residents get along fine. Former resident, Dec 2024
City data and 7 resident threads on Reddit agree on this grade.
B-Quiet
34 noise complaints to 311 per 1,000 residents in 2025, not counting helicopter complaints, and counting each address at most 12 days a year. That measures how often people complain, not how loud it is.
C-Building upkeep
37.8 serious housing code violations (class B or C) were issued in 2025 per 100 rented homes, and there were 10.4 heat or hot water complaints per 100 rented homes.
Residents: A dated apartment, though not dingy, that has had mouse problems in the past. Renter near the C train, Mar 2025

Who lives there

Families with kids

What residents say

Residents like

CommunityQuiet near Glenmore Avenue and Logan Street, with a strong sense of community. Lives near Glenmore Avenue and Logan Street, Aug 2025
Food and shoppingSupermarkets are decent. Born and raised in East New York, Aug 2026
SafetyNot bad at all to live in day to day. Resident, Jun 2026
CommunitySix years on the Brownsville border brought a few catcalls but no real trouble, and neighbors look out for each other. Resident of 6 years, Apr 2025
Food and shoppingNeighborhood takeout, like a Chinese spot on New Lots Avenue, is no frills but decent. Former resident, Jun 2026

Residents don’t like

Food and shoppingFresh fruit and vegetables are hard to find nearby. New resident, Oct 2025
NightlifeThere is nothing fun to do in the area. Renter near the C train, Mar 2025
WalkabilityHaving a car makes life there easier. Born and raised in East New York, Aug 2026
Food and shoppingChoices are thin enough that the area counts as a food desert, and serious eating means heading to Williamsburg or Manhattan. Resident, Jun 2026

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Safety

Crime rates are higher than in many neighborhoods, so you need to keep your wits about you, but alert residents get along fine.
Former resident, Dec 2024
Four years of emergency calls in the area showed that its reputation for crime is earned.
Former first responder in the area, Mar 2026
Still very dangerous, with ambulance crews answering frequent trauma calls for shootings and assaults in spring 2025.
Not a resident, Apr 2025

Community

Six years between the Broadway Junction and Liberty Avenue stops brought no trouble walking home after midnight; neighbors look out for people they know.
Resident of 6 years, Apr 2025

Food and shopping

Some parts are food deserts, so it pays to check for a decent grocery store nearby.
Not a resident, Feb 2026
Near one local school there are only takeout places and bodegas, nowhere to go out to dinner and no pharmacy chain.
Works at a local school, Feb 2026
Coffee shops, bookstores and sit-down restaurants are scarce; Bushwick and Bed-Stuy have far more.
Not a resident, Aug 2025

Nightlife

There is nothing to do in the area.
Works at a local school, Feb 2026

Walkability

More spread out than Flatbush, and a workable home base mainly if you drive.
Not a resident, Sep 2026

Quiet

Calm and quiet on winter visits, though summer is likely to be livelier.
New resident describing visits before moving, Aug 2026
Not a place to count on peace and quiet through the night.
Former first responder in the area, Mar 2026

Parks and green space

Has the most community gardens in Brooklyn, and some run market stands.
Not a resident, Oct 2025

Building upkeep

A dated apartment, though not dingy, that has had mouse problems in the past.
Renter near the C train, Mar 2025
Some of the housing lottery apartments near the elevated train are really nice inside.
Born in East New York, Sep 2026

Getting around from East New York

By subway or bus, arriving by 9:00 on a weekday:Under 30 min30 to 45 min45 to 60 minOver an hourEast New York

Alabama Av JZ
Atlantic Av L
East 105 St L
Euclid Av AC
Grant Av A
Liberty Av C
New Lots Av 3
Pennsylvania Av 3
Shepherd Av C
Van Siclen Av JZ
Van Siclen Av C
Van Siclen Av 3

Residents: Parts of the neighborhood near Euclid Avenue are a few blocks from the A train. Resident, Jun 2026

Residents: Door to door to Midtown takes 50 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes each way, depending on how often the C train comes. Renter near the C train, Mar 2025

What to know about East New York

East New York was once part of the town of New Lots, annexed by Brooklyn in the late 1800s. In the early 1900s its steel fabrication and other industries earned it the nickname Brooklyn's Little Pittsburgh. Source
East New York had 79,566 residents in a 2016 city study, with a growing community of African and Caribbean Americans, Bangladeshis, Dominicans and Puerto Ricans. Source
Fulton Street, under the elevated J and Z trains, is the local shopping street, with restaurants, household goods stores and hair and beauty services. Atlantic Avenue is one of Brooklyn's busiest roads. Source
Between Fulton Street, Atlantic Avenue and Pitkin Avenue, the side streets are lined with two- to three-story row houses and small three- to four-story apartment buildings from the early 1900s, the neighborhood's heyday. Source
The city's Nehemiah Housing Program built small two-story row houses on land left vacant by demolitions in the 1970s and 1980s, to offer affordable homeownership. Source
New Lots Reformed Church at 630 New Lots Avenue, a small wooden country church, was raised by volunteers at a raising bee in May 1823. It became a city landmark in 1966. Source
The 2016 East New York Neighborhood Plan rezoned the area, with the city committing $267 million in local investments; the rezoning was projected to add about 5,800 homes over 15 years. Source