Little Paris; Little France (Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn)

Brroklyn became gentrified in the 1990s, and many French speakers settled in Carroll Gardens (formerly known as an Italian neighborhood). “The Brownstone Brooklyn neighborhood that was once an Italian stronghold is quickly becoming the city’s Little Paris,” the New York (NY) Daily News observed on March 9, 2009. “New York’s Little France blossoms” was an article in the Global Post in 2010.
 
Both “Little Paris” and “Little France” have been used to describe Carroll Gardens, but “Little France” has been used more often.
 
     
Wikipedia: Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
Carroll Gardens is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Taking up around 40 city blocks, it is bounded by Degraw and Warren Streets (north), Hoyt and Smith Streets (east), Ninth Street or the Gowanus Expressway (south) and the Brooklyn Queens (BQE) and Gowanus Expressways (west). The neighborhoods that surround it are Cobble Hill to the northwest, Boerum Hill to the northeast, Gowanus to the east, Red Hook to the south and southwest, and the Columbia Street Waterfront District to the west.
 
Originally considered to be part of South Brooklyn or, more specifically, Red Hook, the neighborhood started to have its own identity in the 1960s. The new name came from Charles Carroll, an Irish immigrant who was the only Roman Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence, and whose name was already attached to Carroll Street and Carroll Park. The name also reflects the large front gardens of brownstones in the Carroll Gardens Historic District and elsewhere in the neighborhood.
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21st century
Carroll Gardens has seen some French immigration since the late 1990s, and Bastille Day celebrations are held on July 14 of each year. International School of Brooklyn, a Nursery-8th grade independent school, offers a French and Spanish language immersion. One of the public schools in Carroll Gardens, the Carroll School, has one of the area’s French dual-language programs.
     
Daily News (New York, NY)
Brooklyn’s old Italian stronghold is becoming more and more French
BY ELIZABETH HAYS Monday, March 9, 2009, 1:06 AM
Vive Le Carroll Gardens!
 
The Brownstone Brooklyn neighborhood that was once an Italian stronghold is quickly becoming the city’s Little Paris - fueled by a new French program at a local public school.
 
“They used to speak Italian here. Now they speak French,” joked Nicole Galluccio, a broker with Douglas Elliman real estate who lives in Carroll Gardens and has several French clients who won’t look at houses anywhere else in the city.
   
Global Post
New York’s Little France blossoms
Mildrade Cherfils on May 30, 2010 @ 1:20 PM
NEW YORK — Three years ago, after hearing about Brooklyn’s burgeoning Little France through word of mouth, Jean-Jacques Bernat relocated his bistro there.
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In this section of Brooklyn’s Carroll Gardens, expatriates mingle easily with celebrities and non-French clients who live near Smith Street, the area’s central artery known locally as “Restaurant Row.” Before he died, Heath Ledger lived nearby and was a regular, said Bernat, whose bistro is part of an expanding list of businesses with names like Bar Tabac, Robin des Bois and Cafe Luluc.
 
“It’s rare in the U.S. to have a French neighborhood,” said the 52-year-old pastry chef. His display case, filled with fruit tarts, colorful macaroons and buches de Noel, a traditional Christmas cake, rivals that of any Parisian bakery.
 
Twitter
ssn haver
‏@blakeahenderson
Things I Learned Today: There is a Little Senegal in Harlem and a Little Paris in Carroll Gardens.
2:28 PM - 11 Jul 2010
 
Vimeo
Brooklyn’s Little Paris
from NYCity News Service PRO May 22, 2011
BONJOUR, AU REVOIR: French immigrants have recently started moving in Brooklyn’s Carroll Gardens neighborhood. But will they make the area their long-term home?
     
The Wall Street Journal
NY SCHOOLS
Learning to Be French in Brooklyn
By KAVITA MOKHA
June 6, 2011
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“Some of us first met other French parents in Carroll Park, and we started meeting more French people in bars and restaurants across the city, and fairly rapidly we were able to get a critical mass of parents who were interested in pursuing French bilingual programs for their children,” said Catherine Poisson, president of Education Française à New York. “We started going to principals of various schools trying to establish after-school programs first and then dual-language education.”
 
Meanwhile, the Carroll School and the French Embassy, pushed by a shortage of teachers qualified to teach French dual-language programs, approached Hunter College last year about adding a French track to its existing Master’s in early-childhood bilingual-education program. Hunter will begin offering the French track starting this fall.
 
Twitter
Alison Fargis
‏@AlisonFargis
Carroll Gardens feels deserted in this August heat. This just confirms my hood’s rep as “Little France”
3:41 PM - 8 Aug 2011
 
Brooklyn Mamas
Discover Little France in Brooklyn
Posted on May 14, 2012 by admin
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French Neighborhood
If you are looking to get away from New York and into the French spirit then Carroll Gardens is the neighborhood to visit. Not only is there the highest French population in the city but there are French businesses, shops, patisseries, and more.
 
Twitter
Joi Behrend
‏@Flowers4Leda
@mdabaie Did you know that Carroll Gardens is considered the “Little France” of Brooklyn? Good blog for events & such: http://carrollgardens.patch.com/
1:47 PM - 14 Jan 2013
 
Untapped Cities—New York
NYC Micro Neighborhoods: Little France in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
11/25/2015 at 10:00 am
by jordan simon
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Carroll Gardens is best reached by the F and G subway lines, both of which stop at Smith-9th Streets and Carroll Street. If you’re eager to indulge in some French traditions, look no further than Smith Street, the neighborhood’s main commercial district. Once you reach there, prepare to find a swarm of French bars, bakeries, bistros, boutiques and restaurants. Some of its most notable shops include Bien Cuit and Provence En Boute, both of which offer a wide selection of French pastries and appetizers. Some popular food choices include baguettes, napoleons, croissants, apple tarts and sourdough miche.