Cobble Hill, W. central sect. of borough of Brooklyn, N.Y. city, SE N.Y., S of Atlantic Ave., N of Carroll Gardens, and just below Brooklyn Heights. Brownstone dist. whose roots date to 17th-cent. Du. farm country; filled with comfortable row houses built in mid–19th cent. and occupied largely by Germans and Italians, followed by an influx of Syrians and Lebanese after World War I. Atlantic Ave., known as “Swedish Broadway” at turn of cent., is now famous for its many Middle Eastern businesses; it is known as N.Y. city’s Middle East. Fort Cobbleskill figured prominently in the American Revolution’s Battle of Long Isl. The dist. was in the forefront of N.Y. city’s preservationist “Brownstone Revolution”; here, 22 blocks of preserved bldgs. constitute the Cobble Hill Historic Dist. There are also many Victorian houses, esp. along Clinton St.
