Borough Park (Boro Park)

Borough Park (or Boro Park) certainly earns its reputation as the center for Orthodox Jewish life in NYC. For the last 20 years, the community has shaped the neighborhood as their presence is strongly evidenced in local businesses, schools, and real estate. The main commercial strip along 13th Avenue is mostly community owned and operated and is best known for its discount designer clothing stores, kosher meat markets, pizzerias, and bakeries. Public schools have uniquely small class sizes because most children in the area go to private schools. Even the zoning in the neighborhood has been influenced by community members who required extensions to their homes to encompass growing families. Borough Park may seem far out, but it is serviced by the D, M and N trains, as well as various Brooklyn buses. Rental prices in the neighborhood are marginally lower than nearby neighborhoods, with studios around $950/mo and 1Br’s around $1200/mo, but available apartments are scarce since much of the housing is owned and rented to community members. The same rarity is the case with residential sales, though the median price of $800K is actually higher than that in much more popular neighborhoods closer to Manhattan and Prospect Park.