Brooklyn is a suburb of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, under the governance of Wellington City Council. It lies 3 km south of Wellington's central business district on the eastern slopes of the hills above Happy Valley. It is located to the south of Aro Valley and Highbury, west of Mount Cook, north of Vogeltown, Mornington and Ōwhiro Bay and east of Kowhai Park, Panorama Heights, Mitchelltown and Karori.
It was named after the borough of Brooklyn, New York which in turn was named after the village of Breukelen, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
History
Māori history In pre-European times, Māori knew the Brooklyn hills as Turanga-rere, translated as "the waving plumes of the war-party". The historian James Cowan, in investigating the original Māori names for places in and around Wellington City, suggested this referred to how the tall trees moved in the wind, as "when the warriors stood up to dance... all their feather hair-adornments would wave to and fro".
The small Te Atiawa village of Moera, or Moe-i-te-rā ("Sleeping in the sun") was sited in the area now covered by Maarama Crescent. (The name was later transferred to the suburb of Moera in Lower Hutt.) The Omaroro kūmara gardens were situated where Connaught Terrace is today.
Brooklyn and the wider Wellington region then and hosted a number of iwi, or tribes, all represented through a Charter of Understanding with Wellington Regional Council signed in July 2000 (and replacing the original Charter of Understanding of 1993):
Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Te Atiawa/ Taranaki Whānui ki te Upoko o te Ika Ngāti Toa Rangātira Te Ati Awa ki Whakarongotai Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga Rangitāne o Wairarapa In 2013, a Memorandum of Partnership was agreed between the tangata whenua of Te Upoko o te Ika a Maui, or tangata whenua of the region, and the Wellington Regional Council. This built on and replaced the Charter of Understanding.
European settlement European settlement began in the area during the 1840s. In January 1842 the New Zealand Company ship London commanded by Captain Attwood set sail for its second voyage to Wellington from Gravesend in Kent. It carried 700 tons of cargo, 137 adults and 39 children. On 1 May 1842 the ship arrived in Wellington, with John and Louisa Fitchett and their seven children amongst the passengers.
The New Zealand Company divided the new settlement into 100-acre blocks. The district of Ohiro developed in the early 1840s from three of these blocks (Ohiro Sections 11,12 and 13) on the land surrounding Port Nicholson (officially renamed Wellington Harbour in 1980). Settlers could access the new district only via the steep Ohiro Road from present-day Aro Street. In 1847, John Fitchett purchased Section 11 and established a dairy farm called Ohiro Farm, known also as Fitchett's Farm. A township named Fitchett Town formed in the 1860s; it gained its new name "Brooklyn" in 1888 when the then land-owners, Ashton B. Fitchett (son of John Fitchett d.1875) and R.B. Todman, offered the main subdivision for sale. The offer included 208 lots of Fitchett's Farm next to Brooklyn.
In 1899, after the sale, a further subdivision took place, and the main roads of Mitchell and Todman Streets took form. These were then intersected with Reuben, Bruce, Laura and Charlotte Avenues, Tanera Crescent, Apuka Street and Sugar Loaf Road (the site of the War Memorial). In 1902 Brooklyn was extended further up the Brooklyn Hills when Ashton B. Fitchett sold additional lots of land. Both Karepa and Apuka Streets were extended onto this newly available land. Brooklyn was connected with the city water supply on 24 October 1907, with the pumping station situated on Epuni Street.
A new tramway route opened in May 1906. Unlike the existing route to Brooklyn via Aro Street and Ohiro Road which had excessively steep gradients, the new route was cut through the town belt by Central Park. This route later became today's Brooklyn Road. On 3 May 1907, a tram crashed on the Brooklyn hill due to brake failure and one passenger was killed. The tramway closed in 1957, and the City - Brooklyn route is now served by numbers 7 and 17 buses. The number 7 (City - Brooklyn - Kingston) route was electrified as part of the Wellington City trolley bus service which then was terminated in 2017.
Brooklyn takes its name from the borough in New York City, which in turn recalls the Dutch city Breukelen.
Demographics Brooklyn, comprising the statistical areas of Brooklyn North, Brooklyn East and Brooklyn South, covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2.
Brooklyn had a population of 6,669 in the 2023 New Zealand census, a decrease of 42 people (−0.6%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 165 people (2.5%) since the 2013 census. There were 3,222 males, 3,360 females, and 87 people of other genders in 2,568 dwellings. 11.2% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 34.7 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 939 people (14.1%) aged under 15 years, 1,830 (27.4%) aged 15 to 29, 3,252 (48.8%) aged 30 to 64, and 651 (9.8%) aged 65 or older.
People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 80.9% European (Pākehā); 8.6% Māori; 3.6% Pasifika; 14.3% Asian; 3.5% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 1.5% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 97.0%, Māori by 2.3%, Samoan by 0.9%, and other languages by 20.6%. No language could be spoken by 1.8% (e.g. too young to talk). New Zealand Sign Language was known by 0.6%. The percentage of people born overseas was 29.6, compared with 28.8% nationally.
Religious affiliations were 20.6% Christian, 3.3% Hindu, 1.1% Islam, 0.3% Māori religious beliefs, 0.9% Buddhist, 0.5% New Age, 0.7% Jewish, and 1.5% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 66.8%, and 4.6% of people did not answer the census question.
Of those at least 15 years old, 3,165 (55.2%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 2,001 (34.9%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 570 (9.9%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $63,400, compared with $41,500 nationally. 1,629 people (28.4%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was 3,648 (63.7%) full-time, 825 (14.4%) part-time, and 138 (2.4%) unemployed.
+Individual statistical areasName Area(km2) Population Density(per km2) Dwellings Median age Medianincome Brooklyn North 1.25 2,103 1,682 792 35.4 years $63,800 Brooklyn East 0.90 2,655 2,950 1,077 35.7 years $63,500 Brooklyn South 1.83 1,908 1,043 699 33.0 years $63,000 New Zealand 38.1 years $41,500
Politics Brooklyn is within the Wellington City Council's Paekawakawa/Southern General Ward and is currently represented on the council by two councillors: Laurie Foon and Nureddin Abdurahman.
Brooklyn was a parliamentary electorate from 1946 to 1954. For general elections today, most of Brooklyn is located within the Wellington Central general and Te Tai Tonga Māori parliamentary electorates. Since the 2023 New Zealand general election, the Wellington Central electorate has been represented by Tamatha Paul, while Tākuta Ferris has been the Member of Parliament for Te Tai Tonga since 2023.
Landmarks and features
Parks and Town Belt
Central Park. Named after the area of the same name in New York, it separates Brooklyn from the city. Established in 1913 on Town Belt land, and opened on Labour Day, 27 October 1913, the park features a set of wrought-iron gates at its main entrance: the then Mayor, John Pearce Luke donated them in 1920. During World War II, American forces established a military camp in the park between 1942 and 1944. In October 1942 building work started with an initial requirement to accommodate 416 men of the US Marine Corps. The partly built camp could accept some occupants by 22 November 1942, and by July 1943 it could accommodate 540 personnel. The US Marines requested a further expansion of the camp, but the improving military situation precluded the expansion. Tanera Park. Lies to the north and north-west of Central Park on the opposite side of Ohiro Road. The park has sports facilities, including soccer, cricket, and artificial surfaces as well as changing-rooms. In 1991 the Wellington City Council set aside some of the park as trial to help low-income families and community-organisations to grow their own vegetables. The gardens, including 33 plots, have become known as the Tanera Community Gardens; the Mokai Kainga Trust manages them. Elliott Park. Lies on the western side of Brooklyn, adjacent to Mitchell Street and Karepa Street. The park used to have a children's play-ground, however the play-ground has been removed by the Wellington City Council and not replaced. The park was donated by Mr Elliott who used to have his farm in this place. There are still also wild pigs and goats that live on the bottom of the hills.
Brooklyn Hill Brooklyn Hill is high.
Hawkins Hill Hawkins Hill is 495 metres (1,624 ft) high. It is the highest point on Wellington's southern hills and the site of a white radar dome that can be seen from many parts of the city.
Wind turbine
The Electricity Corporation of New Zealand installed the Brooklyn wind turbine on Polhill above north-western Brooklyn in March 1993 as part of a research project into wind-power generation. The Corporation chose the Brooklyn site due to Wellington's "higher than normal" wind patterns and to gain maximum exposure in the viewshed of Wellingtonians. The turbine, visible from many parts of the city, stands 299 metres above sea level. It became the oldest operating wind turbine in New Zealand Brooklyn | New Zealand Wind Energy Association
The original turbine was decommissioned in 2015 due to age, and replaced in 2016 with a larger version. The original turbine, a Vestas Wind Systems A/S turbine, was a relatively small machine compared with other turbines installed in New Zealand, such as those at Te Āpiti Wind Farm, with an installed capacity of 225 kW. The present turbine, a German Enercon E-44, has a capacity of 900 kW, enough to power around 490 homes, with the power generated going into the local network for general distribution. The tower hub is 44m high and the blades are 20.8m long.
Meridian Energy has managed the turbine since its formation as a company in 1999 with the deregulation of the New Zealand electricity market.
War memorial
Brooklyn's World War I war memorial overlooks northern Brooklyn from the top of Sugarloaf Hill. It lists the names of the 48 Brooklyn soldiers who died in that war.
Soon after the war ended in 1918 a movement to build a memorial began, with the funds raised in two years. The Brooklyn Returned Services Association (RSA) chose as a monument a carved marble statue depicting a soldier with hat in hand, looking towards the harbour heads through which sailed the troopships bearing those who would not return. The foundation stone was laid on 25 April 1922 by Colonel George Mitchell D.S.O. MP, and the memorial was unveiled by Governor-General Viscount Jellicoe on 23 September 1923.
For around 16 years, a board of trustees maintained the memorial, before passing it over to Wellington City Council. In 2003 a nine-month restoration took place, which involved re-securing the structure to the concrete pads that it stands on as well as cleaning, restoring plasterwork, removal of rust and replacing parts that had gone missing.
The inscription on the pedestal reads:
The motherland called and they went and these men died for their country.
Polhill gun emplacements