Today's FFF - FrankieFunFact 3/2/2015

Words and photo by F LoBuono

The Village of Breuckelen, was authorized by the Dutch West Company in 1646, becoming the first municipality in what would eventually become the State of New York. It predated the authorization of the City of Niew Amsterdam (today's Manhattan) by seven years (1653).

In the early days, Breuckelen was much smaller in area and population than it is today. The British took the entire area from the Dutch in 1664 and Anglicized the name to its current Brooklyn. About twenty years after that, some surrounding villages were incorporated into Brooklyn making it closer in area to what it is today and accounting for the often confusing maze of streets. It reached its full size when it was incorporated within Kings County in 1896. It was still a completely independent entity until it joined with New York City in 1898.

Today, with a population of 2.5 million, it is the most populous City borough and the 2nd most densely populated county (Kings) in the Country, second only to Manhattan.