Homecrest, Brooklyn

Homecrest is a neighborhood situated in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It borders Kings Highway to the north, Avenue X to the south, Coney Island Avenue to the west, and Ocean Avenue to the east. Homecrest is in ZIP Code 11229. The area is served by Brooklyn Community Board 15 and the NYPD's 61st Precinct.

Demography
Traditionally the community has has been home to a large Italian population, but it has experienced an influx of people from Latin America, Israel and Syria and from Russia and other former Eastern-bloc nations.

In more recent years, however, Avenue U (from Ocean Parkway to Ocean Avenue) has evolved into New York City's newest Chinatown, as evidenced by the growing number of Chinese-run fruit markets, restaurants, beauty and nail salons, and computer and general electronics dealers.

Housing
Many condominiums sprang up in recent years. Many of the private residential two-story homes within the community have been renovated into mini-mansions, some estimated at a million dollars in value. Just south of Avenue V are many one-story bungalow type homes as well as rows of one-story brick homes with community backyards and driveways.

Education
Local schools include Nefesh Academy For Girls Yeshiva and Prospect Park Girls Yeshiva, which serve the student youth of the local Jewish community, and St. Edmunds Preparatory Academy Roman Catholic. There is Windmill Montessori School, and there are a number of public schools, including W. Cunningham Junior High School (JHS 234). Touro College Graduate School Of Education and Psychology is located on the southwest corner of Coney Island Avenue and Kings Highway (above Walgreen Drugs). Touro College has other campuses nearby. A "Stanley Kaplan" is located at East 16th Street and Kings Highway.

Transportation
The community is served by the BMT Brighton Line, with stations at Kings Highway, Avenue U and Neck Road. Limited-stop and local bus lines serve the area, and the express bus BM3 runs on Ocean Avenue to and from Manhattan, except on Sundays.

Emergency Health Services
Homecrest Health Center (NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene) is located at 1601 Avenue S, at East 16th Street. It is a public health facility. Coney Island Hospital, NY Presbyterian Community and Beth Israel Kings Highway Division serve the community. Many private outpatient medical facilities have also emerged.

Religious Groups
There is an ever-growing population of members of the Jewish faith in the community, served by quite a few Orthodox and Sephardic synagogues. St. Edmunds Roman Catholic Parish serves the community, as do the First Baptist Church Of Sheepshead Bay and the Homecrest Presbyterian Church; other congregations of various denominations serve the growing Asian population. There is a Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall at 1919 Gravesend Neck Road, near Ocean Avenue. .

Shopping
Kings Highway is one of the main retail shopping districts. Others are Coney Island Avenue, Avenue U, and Sheepshead Bay Road. Lester's clothing shops, Avenue U at Coney Island Avenue, has been a long-time staple.

Parks
William E. Kelly Memorial Park is a NYC Parks and Recreation Playground, located along Avenue S, from East 14th to East 15th Street. It is a large community park that features tennis courts, a kids playground, and basketball and handball courts. On-site tennis lessons are available from semi-pro instructors (there may be a fee). William E. Kelly was a postmaster of Brooklyn when it was a separate city from New York.

Students from nearby public schools and local yeshivas often use the playground when school is in session. In the 1960s and 1970s the playground featured a popular roller hockey rink.

Mellett Playground is a NYC Parks & Recreation Playground located along Avenue V from East 13th to East 14th Street. It is a small community park that features basketball hoops and a handball court as well as a kids playground area. In the 1970s, it was a late-night hangout for rowdy local youth. The attendant's park house was destroyed by a fire set by vandals. A vocal group of community residents organized and formed the Mellett Park Civic Association. Banded together they fought bureaucratic red tape to have the old fire-ravaged parkhouse refurbished, as well as the rest of the playground. In the mornings many Asian members of the community use the park to practice Tai-Chi.

In film

 * For A Bronx Tale (1993), starring Robert DeNiro and Chazz Palminteri, the majority of the street scenes were filmed along Gravesend Neck Road at the BMT Neck Road subway station and along Avenues V and W. Film cars, props, lighting, the classic transit bus DeNiro drove, and other gear were stored in Mellett Park during the filming.
 * Scenes from the November 2009 film release "Brooklyn's Finest," starring Richard Gere, Wesley Snipes, Don Cheadle, and Ellen Barkin, were filmed in the area of East 13th to East 15th Street from Kings Highway to Avenue R, especially a rented residence on East 15th Street.