Bridge Plaza, Brooklyn Bridge Plaza, Brooklyn Bridge Plaza is the northeastern corner of the downtown area of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Its borders are Flatbush Avenue Extension and Manhattan Bridge on the west, Tillary Street on the south, and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) on the north and east. The neighborhood was connected to Vinegar Hill until the 1950s, when construction of the BQE effectively isolated it from surrounding areas. Following this change, the "area shifted more towards auto shops, garages and warehouses, and its zoning only allowed industrial uses." Brooklyn real estate blog Brownstoner describes the area as "a time
East New York, Brooklyn of salt marshes and several creeks, which drained into Jamaica Bay. These areas were originally settled by the Jameco Native Americans, and later used by the Canarsee and Rockaway tribes as fishing grounds. In the 1650s, Dutch colonists began settling in the eastern sections of Brooklyn, forming the towns of Flatbush, Bushwick, and New Lots (the predecessor to East New York). The area along with the rest of Brooklyn and modern New York City was ceded to the British Empire in 1664. A few 18th Century roads, including the ferry road or "Palmer Turnpike" from Brooklyn to Jamaica, passed through