Ocean Hill

Neighborhood · Brooklyn

Ocean Hill, a subsection on the eastern side of Bedford-Stuyvesant, stretches from Broadway and Bushwick south to East New York Avenue and Brownsville, between Ralph and Van Sinderen Avenues.

  • 0.72 square miles
  • 37,952 residents, 2020 Census
  • 149 street corners
  • 6 subway stations
  • 20 bus routes

Named for its slightly hilly ground, it was largely Italian from the early 1900s until the 1960s. On its eastern edge, the Broadway Junction station links A, C, J, L and Z trains in an area once called Jamaica Pass, the path British soldiers marched in 1776 in the Battle of Long Island. Public School 73 on MacDougal Street, built in 1888 and 1895 in a mix of Romanesque Revival, Italianate and Second Empire styles, is a city landmark.

Sources: Ocean Hill, Brooklyn (Wikipedia); Broadway Junction station (Wikipedia); Public School 73 (LP-1289) (NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission).

Map

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Ocean Hill borders six areas, and Herkimer Street holds more of its corners than any other street, 22 of 149.

Street map of Ocean Hill, Brooklyn, outlined among Brownsville, Bedford-Stuyvesant (East), Bushwick (East) and Crown Heights (North), with its six subway stations and Callahan-Kelly Playground.Bushwick (East)Cypress HillsEast New York (North)BrownsvilleCrown Heights (North)Bedford-Stuyvesant (East)
  • Ocean Hill
  • A neighboring area
  • Park
  • A station in the list
  • Another station

Neighborhood areas and streets: NYC Department of City Planning. Parks: NYC Parks. Stations: MTA.

Neighboring areas

Subway stations

  • Halsey St lines J
  • Chauncey St lines J Z
  • Broadway Junction lines A C J L Z
  • Ralph Av lines C
  • Rockaway Av lines C
  • Atlantic Av lines L

Getting around

Six subway stations and buses on 20 routes stop in or at the edge of Ocean Hill.

  • 6 subway stations
  • 20 local bus routes

Local bus routes

  • B7
  • B12
  • B14
  • B15
  • B20
  • B25
  • B26
  • B45
  • B47
  • B60
  • B65
  • B83
  • B111
  • Q24
  • Q56
  • T340
  • T426
  • T430
  • T433
  • T434

Safety record

Between 2021 and 2025, its corners averaged more police-reported crashes than the average Brooklyn corner.

  • 2,257 police-reported crashes at its corners
  • 15.1 a corner, on average
  • 10.5 the average Brooklyn corner
  • 3 corners with a clean record

Signal or safety changes on City record, at 60 of its corners

Leading pedestrian intervals
49
Accessible pedestrian signals
20
Turn calming
4
Barnes Dance all-way crossings
3
Safety Improvement Projects
3

Camera tickets

In 2025 its corners had more school-zone speed camera tickets than red-light or bus-lane tickets.

  • 15,369 red-light camera tickets at five corners
  • 17,342 school-zone speed camera tickets at seven corners
  • 0 bus-lane camera tickets
Most red-light tickets
Atlantic Avenue & Rockaway Avenue, 7,327
Most speed tickets
Ralph Avenue & Eastern Parkway, 6,029

People and homes

The 2020 Census counted 37,952 residents in Ocean Hill, about 52,700 per square mile.

  • 15,304 homes, 2020 Census
  • 3,248 homes added since April 2010, net, by City Planning's count

Half of its 3,379 residential lots hold buildings from 1910 or earlier, and 75% of them date from before 1940, by the City's tax lot records.

NYCHA developments

NYCHA's Brown and Kingsborough developments lie wholly or partly within Ocean Hill.

Brown
Within Ocean Hill
Kingsborough
Partly within Ocean Hill

Parks and landmarks

Parkland
13.9 acres of NYC Parks property
The largest pieces
Callahan-Kelly Playground (3.5 acres), South Pacific Playground (2.3 acres) and Ocean Hill Playground (1.6 acres)
Designated landmark
Public School 73

Streets and trees

Trees
3,403 in NYC Parks' records, most often thornless honeylocust, pin oak and London planetree
Street with the most corners
Herkimer Street, with 22 of the area's 149
Height above sea level
From 40 feet at Saratoga Avenue & Bainbridge Street to 109 feet at Pacific Street & Thomas S Boyland Street
Honorary street name
1 at its corners, enacted by local law

Schools and libraries

The City lists 13 schools and one library in Ocean Hill.

Public schools
9
Charter and private schools
4
Library
Saratoga Library

Bike share

By the station list of October 3, 2026, 27 bike-share stations stand in Ocean Hill.

  • 27 bike-share stations

Public safety

How complaints are counted

In 2025 the NYPD recorded 570 major felonies at places in Ocean Hill.

Recorded by the NYPD at places in Ocean Hill

  • 458 major felonies in 2024
  • 2,428 other felonies, misdemeanors and violations in 2025

In 2025, on the streets along the edge of Ocean Hill, the NYPD recorded another 183 major felonies. Counting the streets along its edge, in 2025 the NYPD recorded 19.8 major felonies for every thousand residents the 2020 Census counted in Ocean Hill.

Police precincts
73rd (most of the area), 81st, 75th
Major felonies recorded at places in Ocean Hill, 2021 to 2025

From January to June 2026 the NYPD recorded 245 major felonies at places in Ocean Hill, against 264 in the same months of 2025.

Sources: the NYPD's Complaint Data Historic, updated April 28, 2026, and Complaint Data Current (Year To Date), updated July 27, 2026, on NYC Open Data. Figures to June 30, 2026.

Street corners

How the figures above are measured: Methodology.