Downsizing in Brooklyn

Downsizing in Brooklyn at a glance

Brooklyn is the borough of New York that sits in Kings County, and the city divides it into 18 community districts, each with a community board. Until 1898 it was a city of its own. The building that served as Brooklyn's city hall became Borough Hall when Brooklyn consolidated with New York City that year, and the Borough President's office is still there.

For a homeowner thinking about moving smaller, the useful unit is rarely the whole borough. A Park Slope brownstone block, a Bay Ridge apartment building and a Sheepshead Bay bungalow street have little in common apart from the county, including their subway access, their building rules and their flood questions. This page sets out what the official sources say about each part of the borough and points to the neighborhood guides.

Sources: NYC Community Boards, Brooklyn; NYC DCAS, Brooklyn Borough Hall.

Homes for downsizers in Brooklyn

The official descriptions of individual neighborhoods show how varied the housing is.

• Brownstone and brick row houses. The Landmarks Preservation Commission describes its 2016 Park Slope extension as mainly single-family row houses and flats buildings built from the mid-19th to the early 20th century, and Carroll Gardens as rows of two and three-story brownstones set back behind front yards. A row house means stairs, a boiler and a roof, and sometimes a rental unit. Our older home guide covers the selling side.
• One and two family houses. Brooklyn Community Board 10 describes most homes in Bay Ridge as well-maintained one and two family brick, brownstone or limestone houses, with apartment buildings added after the Fourth Avenue subway opened in 1915.
• Single-family homes, bungalows and newer apartment buildings. The city's 2013 post-Sandy report describes Sheepshead Bay as mostly single-family homes and newer multi-family buildings, Manhattan Beach as mostly large single-family homes, and Gerritsen Beach as mostly single-family homes with hundreds of bungalows.
• Co-op and condo apartments. A co-op purchase is shares plus a proprietary lease with board approval and building rules. A condo is a deeded unit. The state Attorney General advises reading the full offering plan with an attorney before you sign.

Do not assume a building is a co-op, a condo or a rental from its address. Confirm it in the offering plan or through the seller's attorney. The co-op and condo guide covers what to request, and the comparison of co-op, condo, townhouse and house lays out the trade-offs.

Sources: LPC, Carroll Gardens Historic District report; LPC, Park Slope Historic District Extension II; Brooklyn Community Board 10; NYC, A Stronger, More Resilient New York, Southern Brooklyn; NY Attorney General.

Where to start: Brooklyn neighborhood guides

Five Brooklyn neighborhoods have full guides. Each names the parks, hospitals and older adult centers for that part of the borough and tells you what to ask before an offer.

• Brooklyn Heights: a designated historic district, a waterfront promenade and several subway stations.
• Park Slope: row houses and apartment buildings beside Prospect Park.
• Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill: landmarked brownstone blocks along Court and Smith Streets.
• Bay Ridge: the R line on Fourth Avenue and Shore Road Park.
• Sheepshead Bay and Manhattan Beach: a bayfront neighborhood where flood checks come first.

The full list of districts is further down this page. For other boroughs, start at the neighborhoods hub.

Getting around Brooklyn: subway, ferry and LIRR

The MTA line maps show which trains serve which parts of the borough.

• Fourth Avenue. The R runs local along Fourth Avenue to Bay Ridge-95 St. The N also runs along Fourth Avenue to 86 St, and its Sea Beach line runs on to Coney Island-Stillwell Av.
• Brighton line. The B and Q run through Prospect Park, Church Av, Kings Hwy and Sheepshead Bay. The Q continues to Coney Island-Stillwell Av. The B map shows weekday service.
• Carroll Gardens and Park Slope. The F and G share stations at Bergen St, Carroll St, Smith-9 Sts, 4 Av-9 St and 7 Av. The G ends at Church Av.
• The 2 line. Stops in Brooklyn include Borough Hall, Nevins St, Atlantic Av-Barclays Ctr, Bergen St, Grand Army Plaza and Eastern Pkwy-Brooklyn Museum.

Accessibility varies station by station. On the R line, for example, the MTA marks Jay St-MetroTech, DeKalb Av, Atlantic Av-Barclays Ctr, 59 St, 86 St and Bay Ridge-95 St as accessible, while Union St and 4 Av-9 St are not marked. Check the MTA's accessibility information for the exact station you would use.

NYC Ferry's South Brooklyn route stops at Atlantic Avenue/Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 6, Red Hook, Sunset Park/Brooklyn Army Terminal and Bay Ridge, with DUMBO/Fulton Ferry on the weekend extension. The East River route stops at DUMBO/Fulton Ferry, South Williamsburg, North Williamsburg and Greenpoint. The Long Island Rail Road has trains that begin or end at Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn.

Riders 65 or older can use the MTA's reduced fare. Per mta.info it is $1.50 on subways and local buses, half the $3 base fare, and $3.60 on express buses outside weekday peak hours. See getting around New York City after 65 and use the MTA trip planner for bus routes.

Sources: MTA line maps for the R, N, B, Q, F, G and 2; MTA, Reduced-Fare program; NYC Ferry, South Brooklyn and East River; MTA, Long Island Rail Road.

Hospitals and health care in Brooklyn

These hospitals are among those in the borough, each with the address on its own site. Check that your plan and your doctors work with the one you would rely on.

• NYU Langone Hospital, Brooklyn, 150 55th Street in Sunset Park, a Level 1 trauma center certified by the American College of Surgeons. NYU Langone also runs an off-campus emergency department in Cobble Hill at 70 Atlantic Avenue, open 24 hours.
• NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, 506 6th Street in Park Slope.
• Maimonides Medical Center, 4802 Tenth Avenue.
• The Brooklyn Hospital Center, 121 DeKalb Avenue in Fort Greene.
• Mount Sinai Brooklyn, 3201 Kings Highway.
• University Hospital at Downstate, 445 Lenox Road.
• South Brooklyn Health, part of NYC Health + Hospitals.

Older adult centers and libraries in Brooklyn

NYC Aging says membership in an older adult center is free and open to New Yorkers 60 and older, and that more than 300 centers and affiliated sites operate across the five boroughs. Its service finder lists more than 100 locations with Brooklyn addresses, and each neighborhood guide names centers near that area. Aging Connect, at 212-AGING-NYC (212-244-6469), can also help you find services. See the resources page for more.

The Brooklyn Public Library has its own branches. Its location finder lists each branch and its hours.

Sources: NYC Aging, Older Adult Centers; NYC Aging, Contact.

Flooding, storms and insurance in Brooklyn

Kings County was among the counties in the federal disaster declaration for Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. Brooklyn has a long shoreline, and the risk differs sharply from one address to the next. The city's post-Sandy report said inundation in Southern Brooklyn was widespread and that much of it came from bays, creeks and inlets rather than the open ocean. A city brochure says Red Hook saw unprecedented flooding during Sandy. Many Brooklyn blocks, of course, sit well inland and higher.

• Enter the address in the Hurricane Evacuation Zone Finder. The city explains its six zones on its evacuation page.
• Check the FEMA Flood Map Service Center for the flood insurance map. It is a different map from the evacuation zones.
• Standard homeowners policies exclude flood. Ask about a separate flood policy, and see the city's flood maps page.
• FloodHelpNY lists Gerritsen Beach, Sheepshead Bay, Gravesend, Bensonhurst, the Southeast Brooklyn Waterfront and the Southern Brooklyn Peninsula among the areas eligible for its sewer backwater valve program. Eligibility changes, so check the site.

See our flood and storm insurance guide before you make an offer on a waterfront or low-lying property.

Sources: NYS DHSES, Hurricane Sandy declaration; NYC, Southern Brooklyn chapter; NYC, Red Hook Integrated Flood Protection System brochure; FEMA, flood insurance.

Property taxes for Brooklyn homeowners

Brooklyn homeowners deal with the same city programs as the rest of New York. The Senior Citizen Homeowners' Exemption covers one to three family homes, condos and co-ops (co-ops apply separately) for owners 65 or older with combined income of $58,399 or less, with a March 15 filing deadline (March 16 in 2026). Enhanced STAR reduces school taxes for owners 65 and older within its income limit; a buyer registers with the state. A co-op or condo owner's building may qualify for the city's tax abatement, which the board applies for. On a sale, state and city transfer taxes apply, and the net proceeds calculator estimates them. See costs and money and the senior property tax exemptions guide. Rules change, so have a New York lawyer or CPA confirm them.

Sources: NYC 311, SCHE; NY Tax Department, STAR; NYC Finance, co-op and condo abatement; NYC Finance, RPTT.

Questions to ask before you buy in Brooklyn

• Is this a house, a co-op or a condo, and which document proves it?
• How many steps lead from the street to my door, and which subway station would I use?
• What does the address show on the evacuation zone finder and on FEMA's map?
• For a co-op, what are the maintenance, the flip tax and the board's sublet rules?
• Does the building or block have lower-level space that has taken on water?

Every Brooklyn neighborhood, by community district

The list follows NYC Planning's neighborhood boundaries, grouped by community district. Neighborhoods with a full guide are linked.

The downsizing plan walks through the steps in order, and the 55+ communities page covers Long Island options. To be introduced to an agent, get matched with one on the operating team at eXp Realty; introductions go only to agents on that team, so this is not a search of the whole market.