The Brooklyn Community Foundation backs these news and information initiatives to promote more informed and engaged communities that are better equipped to take on local challenges.

• Community Data and Trends 

The Brooklyn Community Foundation established the Center for the Study of Brooklyn to be the first and only research center devoted exclusively to the study of public affairs in Brooklyn.

Identifying a need for dedicated research into the type of statistical trend data that a “city” of 2.5 million would typically have, the Foundation commissioned the Center to develop a series of reports as part of a new joint information initiative.

In the first part of initiative--the Brooklyn Neighborhood Reports--the Center produced civic data profiles of Brooklyn's 18 Community Districts, as well as the borough as a whole, with comparative information on demographics, economy, education, health, housing, environment, civic engagement, arts and culture, and public safety.  

Launching in Fall 2012, Brooklyn Trends will feature nine in-depth reports on each of these areas, looking at compelling data trends throughout the borough. The first report on Civic Engagement was released in October 2012, in advance of the presidential election. 

• Local News and Investigative Reporting 

If it were independent of New York City, Brooklyn would be America’s fourth-largest city, yet it lacks a major unifying news source.

Via The Brooklyn Bureau, a project of the Brooklyn Community Foundation and City Limits, reporters produce enterprise journalism on local issues and activities of the borough’s nonprofit sector, civic and social institutions, and diverse communities.

The Brooklyn Bureau is a winner of the 2011 Knight Community Information Challenge.

Learn more