Business Booms In Bed-Stuy, Report Finds

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN — Bed-Stuy is working it, according to a new report.

Brooklyn — the home of new feminist bookstore cafes, fresh and local fish shops, and Guyana soup joints — has seen a record-breaking bump in business since the recession ended in 2009, according to a recent report

And nowhere more so then Bed-Stuy.

The new Economic Snapshot of Brooklyn, conducted and released by the State Comptroller’s office, examined population data, private sector business growth and local incomes in a city-wide study of New York's economy.

Brooklyn saw the fastest growth in sales and jobs since the recession ended, and Bed-Stuy stood out among its neighborhoods.

The number of jobs skyrocketed most in Bed-Stuy with a 77 percent spike, Flatbush came in second with a 70 percent increase and Borough Park got the bronze with a 66 percent bump, the study found.

And Bed-Stuy was among the top three regions, along with Crown Heights and Williamsburg, for the biggest bump in taxable business sales. Numbers more than doubled in those neighborhoods as borough-wide sales grew by 48 percent for a record $13.6 billion in 2016.

But the study also noted gentrification has struck hardest in Bed-Stuy, Greenpoint and Williamsburg, where rents — and household incomes — doubled between 2000 and 2016.

But before the mason-jar clutching millennials could claim credit for the economic boost, researchers had another statistic to share. Brooklyn — the borough that saw the fastest growth in college degrees, sales, and job creation — is also home to nearly 1 million immigrants who make up more than a third of its population.

The eight-page report opens with these lines:

"Brooklyn is the most populous of the five boroughs that make up New York City. It has a large foreign-born population, which has contributed to its success."

Read the full report here.

Photo by Kathleen Culliton