Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn

Prospect-Lefferts Gardens is the name given to a neighborhood in Flatbush in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The area is bounded by Empire Boulevard (formerly Malbone Street) to the north, Clarkson Avenue to the south, New York Avenue to the east, and Ocean Avenue/Prospect Park to the west. Prospect Lefferts Gardens is part of Brooklyn Community Board 9 and is serviced by the NYPD 71st Precinct.

The area was originally founded by a Dutch family in 1660. In 1893 the Lefferts estate was divided by James Lefferts into 600 building lots, now known as Lefferts Manor, and sold to developers. Lefferts observed construction from the Lefferts homestead, then located on Flatbush Avenue between Maple and Midwood Streets (now a historic museum located in Prospect Park). In order to ensure that the neighborhood would contain homes of a substantial nature, Lefferts attached land-use deed restrictions, dictating that each lot contain a single family residence built of brick or stone at least two stories in height, among other restrictions. The land-use covenant still exists in Lefferts Manor. Houses in Lefferts Manor were mostly constructed during the late 19th Century, the last of which were constructed in the late 1950s. Lefferts Manor and parts of Lefferts Avenue and Sterling Street, not in the single-family covenant, were granted landmark status by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission on October 9, 1979.

Concurrent with the development of Lefferts Manor was the growth of the surrounding area, now known collectively as Prospect-Lefferts Gardens. Many one and two family homes were constructed in the early 20th Century. Presently, other areas of Prospect-Lefferts Gardens contain a mixture of single-family and multi-family homes as well as larger apartment houses.

Currently the neighborhood contains an ethnically diverse community with a largely Caribbean population.

The Prospect Lefferts Gardens neighborhood is serviced by the Franklin Avenue Shuttle and the and  trains (BMT Brighton Line) at the Prospect Park station and the Q and B trains at the Parkside Avenue stop, as well as the Sterling Street and Winthrop Street stops on the IRT Nostrand Avenue Line ( and  trains).