FISKE TERRACE, LONG ISLAND

Fiske Terrace, Long Island

Fiske Terrace is a neighborhood located in the borough of Brooklyn, Long Island, New York. It is bounded by Foster Avenue on the north, Ocean Avenue on the east, the Long Island Rail Road right-of-way on the south, and the Brighton Beach subway line on the west. The neighborhood is served by the Avenue H (formerly Fiske Terrace) station of the Brighton Beach Line, whose century-old station house was declared a New York City landmark in 2004. The beautiful trees and suburban landscape of a century ago combine to make Fiske Terrace a haven within New York City. There are over 1,000 street trees, more than 40 species, line its sidewalks. Hundreds of trees and flowering shrubs still grace carefully landscaped and well-maintained malls along Glenwood Road and East 17th Street.

The T. B. Ackerson Company built a densely wooded tract of land and developed it by building 150 individually designed detached three story houses in 1905. They envisioned and built a planned community. They laid out streets and installed underground water, sewer, gas and electric lines and the community was ready within eighteen months. A number of the original Ackerson houses were replaced with apartment buildings in the 1920s, primarily along Ocean Avenue and Avenue H. Several other houses have undergone more recent alterations, most involving porch enclosures, exterior siding, or roofing materials. Despite these changes, the original character of the neighborhood remains intact. The C.F. Bond was built many of the homes on East 18th and East 19th Streets. Back then, these huge homes sold for $12,000. In 2004, Fiske Terrace was declared a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Today, it has plans call for its restoration.

Prominent people living in Fiske Terrace include Richard Hellmann (creator and founder of Hellmann's Mayonnaise) and Charles Ebbetts (American Sports Executive). The Fiske Terrace Association is one of the oldest and most active groups in Brooklyn dedicated to the preservation of the neighborhood. The association is working in concert with HDC and residents from neighboring Midwood Park to protect their neighborhood from the pressures of development and insensitive alteration. Together, Midwood Park, Fiske Terrace and the Avenue H subway station are symbolic of and give an integral view of a flourishing suburban neighborhood in Brooklyn in the early 1900s. The neighborhood has retained the scale and architectural quality that contribute to a strong sense of place. Local residents are concerned that growing pressure for developments designed to increase density will destroy an attractive area.