Long-time residents and prewar architecture on tree-lined streets If you’re willing to live in a New York City neighborhood without a subway stop, you can pay about a quarter less for housing. Flatlands is a large community in southeast Brooklyn with reasonable prices on condos, co-ops, and townhouses. Former NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s “Million Trees” initiative benefitted Flatlands with new saplings grown into cherry, Ginkgo and oak trees on sidewalk cutouts along these streets. Much of the neighborhood has prewar architecture, but a few postwar high-rises exist. New construction goes up here and there as the neighborhood gains residents. “Flatlands remains a largely residential neighborhood with tree-lined streets and many long-time residents,” says Troy Gaskin, real estate agent at Corcoran with over two decades of experience selling in New York’s five boroughs. “Gentrification hasn’t impacted this area as much as others, like Bed-Stuy, Bushwick or Crown Heights. The lack of subway lines has kept it under the radar and more affordable than other Brooklyn locales.”