| Midwood is a neighborhood in the south central part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, New York, USA,
roughly halfway between Prospect Park and Coney Island.In the 1960s and the early 1970s, Nostrand Avenue between Avenues M and N was
considered one of New York's best streets for shopping by New York magazine.
The street was known for fashionable boutiques such as "Edna Nelkin's Jewelry," America's finest childrenswear boutique, "Greenstone's" (now located on both Columbus and Madison Avenues in
Manhattan), "Burton's," "Shirtland," and "The Shoe Box." As retailers retired, the street changed and became known for its automobile showrooms,
including Plaza Honda.
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Boundaries: Avenue M was home to "Cookie's," one of Brooklyn's best
known restaurants and "hang-outs." And one of Brooklyn's most legendary Italian restaurants, "Restaurant Bonaparte," was located
on Avenue M, and catered to the actors and actresses working on Avenue M in the NBC studio at that time. Restaurant Bonaparte was known for its "Three Musketeers." It has an elevated subway station, and here the stores are more cosmopolitan, a Godiva Chocolatier,
Chock Full o' Nuts cafe and Nesle Caffe. Many shops close by 3 p.m. on Friday, and the street is a ghost town on Saturdays.
History Many Midwood residents moved to the suburbs in the 1970s, and the neighborhood and its commercial districts declined. Drawn by its quiet middle class ambiance, the area underwent a resurgence in the 1980s. New immigrants to the
neighborhood came from the Soviet Union (the largest group), as well as from China, Haiti, Israel, Pakistan, Guyana, Jamaica, Iran, and India.
Famous Residents:Famous people who grew up in the neighborhood include novelistErich Segal and Woody Allen ,
both of whom graduated from Midwood High School, and Dan Rootenberg , one of the first players drafted in 2007 in the first Israel Baseball
League draft, is also from Midwood. Arthur Miller and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg also grew up in the neighborhood, attending
James Madison High School. Madison also boasts three alumni who have become United States Senators: Bernard Sanders (Independent of Vermont),
Chuck Schumer (Democrat of New York) and Norm Coleman (Republican of Minnesota). Actress Marisa Tomei, and director Darren Aronofsky attended
Edward R. Murrow High School, also in the area.
Parks
It consist of Kolbert Park and the Rachel Haber Cohen Playground and
adjacent basketball courts[3], near Edward R. Murrow High School, and the track and playing fields of
Brooklyn College and Midwood High School. Another interesting park is Friends Field near McDonald Ave.
The park is popular with baseball-playing Yeshiva boys on Friday afternoons. These parks are generally
open to the public when the schools are not using them.
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