Hello,

We are planning a vacation in NY and we found an appartment on Eastern Parkway, near by Washington Ave, Brooklyn. We understood there are some unsafe neighbourhoods in Brooklyn, so we would like to know if it's safe for a few people from Europe to stay there for a couple of days? Thank you.

Apartment scams in NYC abound.

You should first be worrying about whether this apartment actually exist and is not just in the mind of some con artist's imagination.

timessquare makes an excellent point. Have you already paid somebody for an apartment you've only seen on the internet? Anyway, this location is probably east of Grand Army Plaza. It is called Crown Heights, and CAN be a high crime area. Lately, there has indeed been a flare-up of apparently racially-motivated crimes in this mixed neighborhood of Orthodox Jews, African-Americans, and West Indians.

let us be blunt - this is not where you want to stay. Done. ( two days a week I work several blocks away ).

Thank you all for your replies. We found the apartment on the internet at http://www.urbanliving-ny.com. We haven't made our reservation yet, but it seems a reliable website to us. A friend of mine rented an apartment using this website a few weeks ago and it definitely existed.

We haven’t made up our minds yet about staying in an area that might not be safe. On the map the apartment is right next to Brooklyn Botanic Gardens and in some way that doesn’t sound very dangerous to me. But of course what do I know about Brooklyn, never have been there and we do want to get back in one piece. So thanks again, we’ll decide tonight what we’ll do.

The intersection you describe is two and probably three long blocks east of the park. The buildings are indeed old classics and were undoubtedly beautiful and upscale decades ago. Now you are too close to potential difficulties.

I wouldn't recommend the area esp. if the they are coming to NYC for the very first time. If you found a location west of Flatbush Ave, you would probably find some decent areas.

PenPoison makes an excellent point, too. in 1981, I lived at Atlantic Ave, off Smith St, in downtown Brooklyn. Paying $325 mo/rent, the area was a dump, but I KNEW it! See, I'm a lifelong New YAWKA,
so I was prepared for hardships in that neighborhood, which is posh nowadays. Are you a big-city dweller, or from a small town? Crown Heights is a tough, big-city neighborhood, and the criminals
can take one look at you and know you are a vulnerable tourist. It's better (therefore, more expensive)
for you to stay in a bed-and-breakfast West of Grand Army Plaza, on the West side of Prospect Park.
The Brooklyn Marriott will definitely be pricey, but it is literally within walking distance of the Brooklyn
Bridge. You can rent bikes and ride over the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan every day; you can walk West into Brooklyn Heights and go camera-crazy from the views available along the Promenade in Brooklyn Heights.

on the plus side, you will be close to the brooklyn museum of art and walking distance to brooklyn botanic garden, brooklyn public library and prospect park.

you can also go to tom's diner for brunch.

i also practically live off washington ave!

what do they call that area due north of GAP, but south of Atlantic Ave, along Underhill Ave? Prospect Heights? and how far east does it run until you hit Crown Heights?

hope this helps footstool, you can move the map around.

http://www.brooklyn.com/map-22.html