10 Facts About Park Slope You Probably Didn’t Know

From ghosts to butterflies, we pulled together some of Park Slope’s more interesting and unique facts, so unique that our knowledgable Park Slope residents and agents, Christine McAndrews and Cheriece White, even learned a couple of things about their home neighborhood.

1) Park Slope’s name derives from its location relative to Prospect Park.

The neighborhood starts at Prospect Park West (the avenue adjacent to Prospect Park) and continues down a sloped angle away from the park.

2) On December 16th, 1960 a United Airlines plane crashed in Park Slope killing 127 people.

Today, if you look closely at the bricks at 123 Sterling Place, you can see a slight discoloration of the bricks at the crash site.

3) Former President Barack Obama lived in Park Slope in the early ‘80s.

Before Obama was running the country, he lived on the top floor of a brownstone on Second Street between Eighth Avenue and Prospect Park with his girlfriend at the time, Genevieve Cook.

4) The Park Slope Armory used to be a military site for the American Revolution and the Civil War.

Now converted into a YMCA, the Park Slope Armory on 15th Street was once the headquarters for the 14th Regiment of the New York State militia. Within the armory is a hidden veterans museum and abandoned shooting ranges. It’s no surprise that a site with so much history has had multiple reports of eerie footsteps and veteran ghost sightings.

5) Park Slope is home to one of the city’s oldest street signs.

The 7th Avenue street sign on 1st street was installed in 1964, which makes the sign over 50 years old.

6) There are over 50 species of butterflies and over 25 species of dragonflies at Prospect Park.

7) Prospect Park was designed by the same architects who created Central Park.

Consisting of 585 acres, Prospect Park was designed by Frederick Olmsted and Calvert Vaux in 1867. Today, it is the largest public park in Brooklyn.

8) The Brooklyn Dodgers used to play at Park Slope from 1879 to 1889.

The original Dodgers stadium was at the Washington Park between Third and Fourth Avenues on First Street.

9) Al Capone’s childhood roots are from Park Slope.

Growing up with his family of seven siblings, Al Capone once lived on 38 Garfield Street. He attended Public School 133 on Butler Street where he was expelled for hitting a teacher.

10) The goddess of victory statue on the Grand Army Plaza took a tumble in 1976.

Perched on top of the plaza’s arch is the large winged goddess of victory in a chariot with two horses. In 1976, Lady Victory fell off the building, but was restored in 1980.

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