Is Brownsville Safe? Brooklyn Livability, Crime & Rent
Brownsville scores 6.5 composite on strong transit and parks, but it is a high-activity area on crime.
Brownsville at a glance
- Borough
- Brooklyn
- Livability score
- 6.5/10
- Borough rank (NYC Open Data guides)
- #8 of 28
- Safety verdict
- High Activity Area
- Crimes (12 mo)
- 7,041
- ZIP codes
- 11212 (99%)Share of residential units, NYC PLUTO 26v2
- Subway stations
- 6 (Sutter Av, Livonia Av, New Lots Av)
- Data updated
- 2026-09-26
Is Brownsville Safe?
Brownsville, Brooklyn scores 6.5/10 for overall livability, ranking #8 of 28 Brooklyn neighborhoods scored from NYC Open Data. Brownsville scores 6.5 composite on strong transit and parks, but it is a high-activity area on crime.
The livability score draws on HPD housing violations, subway access, NYC Parks' tree inventory and parks, and 311 noise complaints per resident from NYC Open Data, refreshed periodically rather than live. It does not include crime; NYPD complaint and shooting figures are on the Brownsville safety page. Safety varies by block — check a specific Brownsville address below for a block-level breakdown.
Score Overview
Vertical line = borough median. Scale: 0-10.
Practical measures HPD housing violations per residential lot over the last 12 months (higher = fewer violations). Borough medians are computed across DwellCheck's Brooklyn neighborhood guides.
Neighborhood Character
You'll find more green than the name Brownsville suggests: about 210 NYC Parks-inventoried trees in a typical 200m circle and a tree density of 8/10, and 33 NYC Parks properties inside the neighborhood, the largest being Betsy Head Park, Brownsville Playground and the Floyd Patterson Ballfields. The nearest to the center, the MHBA Living Laboratory, is 71m away.
Transit is the neighborhood's strongest number. Six subway stations sit inside it: Sutter Av, Livonia Av and New Lots Av on the L, and Saratoga Av, Rockaway Av and Junius St on the 3. By tax lot the building stock is mostly small: one-family houses are 40% of residential lots, two-family 27% and walk-ups 26%. Lot shares are not shares of homes: apartment campuses such as the NYCHA developments listed among its highlights sit on few lots.
Safety is the hard part. DwellCheck's verdict is a high-activity area: Brownsville has a lower crime rate per resident than 6% of Brooklyn neighborhoods, with 7,041 reported crimes and 17 shootings in 12 months.
Livability & Restoration
Trees
210 trees
Expected in a 200m circle (NYC Parks tree inventory) | Density: 8/10 (city percentile)
In Toronto, 10 more trees on a city block went with a rise in self-rated health comparable to being 7 years younger (Kardan et al., 2015, Scientific Reports). In a cross-sectional study of London boroughs, each additional street tree per km of street went with 1.18 fewer antidepressant prescriptions per 1,000 residents (Taylor et al., 2015, Landscape and Urban Planning).
Park Access
33 parks
NYC Parks properties inside the neighborhood | largest: Betsy Head Park | nearest to the center: MHBA Living Laboratory, 71m | 3 nearest average 149m from the neighborhood's center
Acoustic Quality
3/10
Noise proxy score (higher = quieter)
Environmental noise exposure increases the occurrence of hypertension and cardiovascular disease; WHO's night-noise guidelines call average outdoor night noise above 55 dB increasingly dangerous for public health (Basner et al., 2014, The Lancet).
What is the ART Score?
ART stands for Attention Restoration Theory (Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989) — the framework environmental psychologists use to measure whether a place helps your brain recover from mental fatigue, or pushes it deeper into overload. Cities deplete directed attention (the effortful focus you use at work); exposure to restorative environments replenishes it.
DwellCheck uses the idea in two separate places, and they measure different things. The neighborhood ART score below comes from neighborhood-wide data: up to 5 points from tree density (a city percentile) and up to 5 from how few 311 noise complaints there are per resident. An address report has no ART score. It runs the Wellness checks below, and their points go into the address’s overall score.
Within a point of the Brooklyn median.
What an address report checks instead (Wellness)
- ±Sensory environment. A calm score minus a busy score, each starting at 50. Busy: a firehouse within 100m (+15) or 200m (+8), and 311 noise complaints within 200m over 6 months (15+ adds 5, 40+ adds 12, 80+ adds 20, and 3 more at 20+ complaints that include vehicle or street noise). Calm: a library (+15), community garden (+12) or public plaza or atrium (POPS; +15 indoor, +8 outdoor) within 200m, and a park within 300m (+10; +15 at 1+ acre; +20 at 5+ acres). A difference of +20 or more adds 8 points; −10 to −29 costs 2; −30 or less costs 4. Bars, museums, tourists and foot traffic are not counted.
- +Third places (Oldenburg, 1989). Public libraries, public plazas and atriums (POPS) and community gardens within 400m: 1–2 add 5 points, 3 or more add 10. Cafés and community centers are not counted. In a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies, loneliness or social isolation went with a 29% higher risk of incident coronary heart disease (Valtorta et al., 2016, Heart).
- 0Street vitality (Jacobs, 1961). Permitted block parties, farmers markets and similar community events in the borough over the past 12 months. The event data has no coordinates, so this is a borough-wide count shown for context. It doesn’t change the score.
Health mechanism. The theory holds that natural settings let directed attention recover. The evidence is mixed: a systematic review of 31 studies (Ohly et al., 2016, Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B) found that time in natural environments improved 3 of 13 pooled attention measures (Digit Span Forward, Digit Span Backward and Trail Making Test B) and showed no marked benefit on the other 10.
Theoretical foundations. Kaplan & Kaplan (1989), The Experience of Nature; Jacobs (1961), The Death and Life of Great American Cities; Oldenburg (1989), The Great Good Place.
Transit & Commute
Subway Stations
Commute Score
8/10
Borough median: 5.5/10
Outdoor & Green Space
Avg Tree Count
210
Trees expected in a 200m circle
Tree Density
8/10
1,668 trees per km² in NYC Parks' tree inventory (street and park trees); city percentile, 1 = sparsest
Largest Parks In or Near the Neighborhood
- Betsy Head Park
- Brownsville Playground
- Floyd Patterson Ballfields
- Osborn Playground
- Dr. Green Playground
Nearest to the neighborhood's center: MHBA Living Laboratory, about 71m. The 3 nearest NYC Parks properties average 149m from the center (approximate park centers, not entrances).
Practical Living
Practical (HPD violations): 6/10 (Brooklyn median 7.5). It measures HPD housing violations per residential lot over the last 12 months (higher = fewer violations).
Building Mix (Residential Tax Lots)
Share of the 3,569 residential tax lots in the neighborhood by PLUTO building class (NYC Department of City Planning).
Who Brownsville Is For
Subway-dependent commuters
Commute scores 8/10 against a borough median of 5.5, with six stations on the L and 3 inside the neighborhood.
Renters who want parks close by
Outdoor scores 7.6/10 (borough median 5.9), with 33 NYC Parks properties inside the neighborhood, including Betsy Head Park.
Residents already rooted in the area
The safety record (high-activity verdict, 17 shootings in 12 months) weighs most on newcomers who don't yet know the blocks.
Pros & Cons
Strengths
Two subway lines inside the neighborhood
Six stations: three on the L (Sutter Av, Livonia Av, New Lots Av) and three on the 3 (Saratoga Av, Rockaway Av, Junius St); commute 8/10.
Parks and trees
Outdoor 7.6/10 and tree density 8/10, with about 210 trees in a typical 200m circle.
Low sanitation complaints
331 sanitation complaints in 12 months, 5.5 per 1,000 residents, labelled Low.
Trade-offs
High crime and shootings
A lower crime rate per resident than only 6% of Brooklyn neighborhoods; 7,041 crimes and 17 shootings in 12 months.
More housing violations than the borough
Practical scores 6/10 against a borough median of 7.5, meaning more HPD violations per residential lot.
Crime is not falling
The 12-month crime trend is stable (+3.7%).
Score Any Address in Brownsville
Get detailed livability scores based on building health, transit access, safety, noise levels, and 15+ NYC data sources.
Search an Address in BrownsvilleFrequently Asked Questions about Brownsville
1Is Brownsville safe?
By NYPD data, Brownsville is rated "High Activity Area", with a lower crime rate per resident than 6% of Brooklyn neighborhoods. 7,041 crime incidents and 17 shooting incidents over the past 12 months. See the safety page for the full breakdown.
2What is the average rent in Brownsville?
Rents in Brownsville, Brooklyn vary significantly by building and apartment type. Market pricing isn't aggregated for this neighborhood yet; use DwellCheck to research specific addresses for HPD registration, HPD violations, and other building-level records. DwellCheck doesn't show rent-stabilization status; request the apartment's rent history from DHCR for that.
3How is transit access in Brownsville?
Brownsville has a commute score of 8/10. 6 subway stations serve the area: Sutter Av, Livonia Av, New Lots Av.
4What are the best streets in Brownsville?
The best streets depend on your priorities. Use DwellCheck to compare specific addresses across livability, safety, transit, and environmental factors.
5What is Brownsville known for?
Brownsville sits in Brooklyn and ranks #8 of 28 Brooklyn neighborhoods scored from NYC Open Data on DwellCheck's livability score (6.5/10). It's served by 6 subway stations (Sutter Av, Livonia Av, New Lots Av). Brownsville scores 6.5 composite on strong transit and parks, but it is a high-activity area on crime.
6What is it like to live in Brownsville?
DwellCheck scores Brownsville, Brooklyn from NYC Open Data on practical (HPD housing violations per residential lot over the last 12 months (higher = fewer violations)), commute (subway stations and lines in the neighborhood), ART (tree density and 311 noise complaints per resident), outdoor (trees and park proximity). Brownsville's composite is 6.5/10. Brownsville scores 6.5 composite on strong transit and parks, but it is a high-activity area on crime. For the block-by-block view, run any specific Brownsville address through DwellCheck.
7Where is Brownsville?
Brownsville is in Brooklyn, New York City. DwellCheck maps it to the Brownsville Neighborhood Tabulation Area (BK1602), which falls in the Census tabulation area that approximates Brooklyn Community District 16 (Ocean Hill-Brownsville). Its main ZIP code is 11212. Subway stations in the neighborhood include Sutter Av, Livonia Av and New Lots Av.
8What ZIP code is Brownsville in?
Brownsville is in ZIP code 11212 (99% of residential units). Shares are of the 24,731 residential units in the Brownsville Neighborhood Tabulation Area (BK1602), from NYC PLUTO 26v2 tax-lot records. 2 other ZIP codes each hold under 5%.
9Can you walk around Brownsville at night?
Brownsville is classified as "High Activity Area" by NYPD complaint data. Over the past 12 months it recorded 17 shooting incidents and 7,041 total crime incidents. Walking at night carries the same risk profile as anywhere in NYC: stay on commercial corridors with foot traffic, avoid empty side streets after midnight, and prefer subway lines that run 24/7.
10Is Brownsville dangerous?
By NYPD data, Brownsville is rated "High Activity Area", with a lower crime rate per resident than 6% of Brooklyn neighborhoods. 7,041 crime incidents over 12 months. Block-level risk varies; check the address-level safety score for any specific street or building.
11What parts of Brownsville should I avoid?
NYPD complaint records carry approximate incident coordinates, but a neighborhood total can't tell you which blocks drive it, so we don't publish an "avoid this street" list. For a specific block, use DwellCheck's address-level safety score, which counts NYPD crime complaints within a 300m radius of the building over the latest 12 months of published data and compares that count with the borough average.
12Is Brownsville a good place to live?
Brownsville scores 6.5/10 for overall livability and has a lower crime rate per resident than 6% of Brooklyn neighborhoods. Brownsville scores 6.5 composite on strong transit and parks, but it is a high-activity area on crime. Whether it's a good fit depends on what you weight: families, solo renters, and remote workers each prioritize different factors (noise, transit access, parks, building quality).
13What is the average DwellScore in Brownsville?
The composite score is 6.5. Commute (8), Outdoor (7.6) and ART/Livability (5) are above the Brooklyn medians of 5.5, 5.9 and 4.4; Practical (6) is below the median of 7.5.
14Is Brownsville safe?
DwellCheck rates it a high-activity area: it has a lower crime rate per resident than 6% of Brooklyn neighborhoods, with 7,041 reported crimes and 17 shootings in the past 12 months. The trend is stable (+3.7%).
15Which subway lines serve Brownsville?
The L stops at Sutter Av, Livonia Av and New Lots Av, and the 3 stops at Saratoga Av, Rockaway Av and Junius St, all inside the neighborhood.
16How noisy is Brownsville?
There were 5,585 noise complaints in 12 months, 92.4 per 1,000 residents, labelled Moderate among the NYC neighborhoods DwellCheck tracks.
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