Starrett City is a neighborhood in the borough of Brooklyn, New York. It is part of Brooklyn Community Board 5. Starrett City is a very diverse neighborhood. With its many grassy fields, Fresh Creek, and Spring Creek Towers Shopping Center, it is different in landscape, community, and neighborhood life than other regions of Brooklyn.
As of 2010 census, there were 13,354 people, 6,258 households, and 3,488 families residing in the area. The median income for a household in the village is $29,861.
Starrett City is a lower-income residential neighborhood around Pennsylvania Avenue. It is more public than private development which has always been highly subsidized. The area has benefited from below-market-interest-rate loans, tax abatement on the property, tax breaks for wealthy owners, rental subsidies, and senior assistance.
The neighborhood was originally called the Twin Pine Project and has been occupied since the mid 1970s. It braces over 153 acres and has 5,881 apartment units in 46 buildings with over 20 thousand people living on it, many of who have jobs at lower levels of hierarchy. The project has tried to include most things families need everyday, such as schools, shopping, recreation and even parking. A power plant is also part of the project.
On November 30, 2006, the Starrett City Associates started to offer the sale of the entire property, raising fears that a new owner will raise rents and squeeze out current tenants. Some real estate analysts predict that the complex could be auctioned for more than $1 billion. Upon finding out about the sale, tenants at Starrett City began organizing in response to the sale of their homes. The Tenants and Neighbors, the state’s largest tenant’s rights group has met with Starrett tenants to inform them of their rights and options.
Starrett City’s 46 towers are divided into eight sections or loops in which each include several buildings, its own field, recreational area (park, basketball court, jungle gym) and its own garage for the residents in that section. These sections are Ardsley, Bethel, Croton, Delmar, Elmira, Freeport, Geneva, and Hornell; each named after municipalities in upstate New York. Starrett City maintains its own Special Police Force which makes it a very safe to live.
The Grenadier Realty managed Starrett City for most of its history in which owns the complex and has an owned security force. The latter is armed and authorized to make arrests. This must be one of the important factors for the relatively low rate of crime in the neighborhood. Starrett City also published their own community newspaper known as the Spring Creek Sun. Boxing has unusually high exposure and a large following in Starrett City.
The Starrett City Boxing Club actively promotes the sport and has a good track record of performances by its members and trainees in local sporting events. It has presented exhibition bouts at Prospect Park to mark Brooklyn’s past, and has a positive role in building sporting values and self-confidence in local youth. The Starrett City Boxing Corporation on Hornell Loop also has a major role in the sport.
