Brooklyn Brooklyn Brooklyn () is the most populous borough of New York City, with a census-estimated 2,648,771 residents in 2017. Named after the Dutch village of Breukelen, it borders the borough of Queens, at the western end of Long Island. Brooklyn also has several bridge connections to the boroughs of Manhattan (across the East River) and Staten Island (across the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge). Since 1896, the borough has been coterminous with Kings County, the most populous county in the U.S. state of New York and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, after the county of New York (which
Brooklyn during the 1890s, according to the new Municipal Charter of "Greater New York", Brooklyn was consolidated with the other cities, boroughs, and counties to form the modern "City of New York", surrounding the Upper New York Bay with five constituent boroughs. The borough continues, however, to maintain a distinct culture. Many Brooklyn neighborhoods are ethnic enclaves. Brooklyn's official motto, displayed on the Borough seal and flag, is , which translates from early modern Dutch as "Unity makes strength". In the first decades of the 21st century, Brooklyn has experienced a renaissance as an avant garde destination for hipsters, with concomitant