299 adelphi street brooklyn ny

299 Adelphi Street Brooklyn Ny: Walt Whitman. John Steinbeck. Spike Lee. Some of the biggest names in America’s cultural history have lived and worked on the streets of this leafy brownstone neighborhood. Named after a Revolutionary War fort, the area is home to Brooklyn‘s first park, the country’s longest continuously operating performing-arts center and the City’s most vibrant market. Long a model for racial integration, the neighborhood sheltered slaves through the Underground Railroad, nurtured the artistic careers of such seminal figures as Wynton Marsalis, Mos Def and Erykah Badu, and is home to Spike Lee’s production company.

Today, musicians, artists and authors of every stripe mix with families and young professionals at cozy eateries and casual bars.

Boutiques sell the wares of up-and-coming designers. And people from all five boroughs gather at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), Greenlight Bookstore and Fort Greene Park to support local heroes past, present and future at concerts, readings and other cultural events.