A Quick Look at Greenwood Heights

Today's Sun visits the neighborhood the streets south of Park Slope that have gained the name Greenwood Heights in recent years, but that is still considered part of Sunset Park by neighborhood traditionalists. Whatever one chooses to label it, the Sun recounts the story of a booming neighborhood and delves into some of the backlash against rapid development in the neighborhood:

But with a half-dozen buildings billing themselves as "luxury" condominiums opening soon, and even more under construction, this longtime no-man's-land south of Park Slope won't be out of the way for long. Some brokers and restaurant owners sell it as "South Slope," or the more realistic "South South Slope." But most have galvanized behind the Greenwood Heights name, an allusion to the slumbering giant nearby, Green-Wood Cemetery...

The rezoning hasn't stopped all of the construction fights: The neighborhood gets a lot of attention in real estate circles for homemade videos that capture construction permit violations by developers, often posted in protest online.

"You had a lot of folks who all of a sudden had to be very fluent in building and zoning codes," a cofounder of the advocacy group Concerned Citizens for Greenwood Heights, Aaron Brashear, said.

Within five months of moving into his home on 23rd Street in 2003, Mr. Brashear said, four homes on his block were sold. Homeowners who spent $300,000 on their houses five years ago were suddenly fetching $800,000 for them, spurring a rush of construction by developers eager to recoup on their investments, he said.

"It was a war zone," Mr. Brashear recalled.

Definitely check out the entire story.