Prospect Lefferts Gardens: What to do in the rapidly changing parkside neighborhood

• PLG Coffee House and Tavern (499 Rogers Ave.) stays true to its name — it caters to the coffee house crowd, families, young adults and four-legged best friends alike. Paired with the imaginative and colorful art that decorates its walls, the cafe is a great place to enjoy a cup of joe with one of its delicious breakfast sandwiches. Don’t leave without trying an egg and cheese biscuit with bacon and avocado — it’s a taste to behold. Wash it down with a good cold brew and take in the chill atmosphere. ” data-id=”120215576″ data-link=”https://amnewyork.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/image-22.jpg” class=”wp-image-1.20215576″/>

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• Greenlight is the newest of three locations in Brooklyn. The community-minded shop offers your typical fiction and non-fiction bestsellers and new arrivals but also has a section for those who want to read up on New York City and Brooklyn.” data-id=”120215580″ data-link=”https://amnewyork.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/22872_image.jpg” class=”wp-image-1.20215580″/>

• Tafari Tribe, a shop that specializes in fashion, household products and accessories from East Indian, West African, South American and Caribbean cultures with an overall pan-African perspective. If you haven’t already stopped into one of the neighborhood’s cultural shops, don’t miss this one.” data-id=”120215581″ data-link=”https://amnewyork.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/11818_image.jpg” class=”wp-image-1.20215581″/>

• Awesome Brooklyn (617 Flatbush Ave.). The tiny shop is chock full of quirky items, including “woke af” mugs, delicately scented candles, Beyonce, Michael Jackson, David Bowie and Biggie saints candles, flower garden kits and jewelry Raptopoulos designs herself.

  The PLG local felt like it’d be the perfect spot to open her store because it’s got a very neighborhood-y feel, and she was right. Neighbors stop by to chat so much that Raptopoulos’s daughter is on a first-name basis with the neighborhood’s dogs and kids, she said.

  “I really try for our store to cater to our community by selling stuff that people around here make and of course selling (cooler) stuff that people around here would like,” she told amNewYork. “My store feels very much like a really happy neighborhood spot.” ” data-id=”120215016″ data-link=”https://amnewyork.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/11819_image.jpg” class=”wp-image-1.20215016″/>

• The Brooklyn Botanic Garden (1000 Washington Ave.), opened in 1910, is 52 acres of escape from the borough’s urban sprawl. Within it are a number of separate gardens such as the Discovery Garden (pictured), Cranford Rose Garden, the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden (which features a red torii gate), and the cherry tree plot, which blooms for a short moment each spring. Be sure to find your way to the small (but intriguing) bonsai museum, as well.

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• Pels Pie Co. (446 Rogers Ave., open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.), there will be freshly baked pies ready and waiting for you. Using locally-sourced ingredients, Alison Pels and her staff bake the fresh butter crust pies every day to create a rotating, seasonal menu, which means you can go several times and never have the same pie twice (unless you want to). Don’t miss out on the fig buttermilk slice. Employees told us “it tastes like fall,” so we had to taste for ourselves, and yes, it’s legit. Otherwise, flavors like chocolate, apple crumble with elderberry, pecan and others are ready for the taking. Slices are $4 and full pies are $30.

  The cozy shop, which has a long bar, hanging plants and a cute backyard area, is a nice place to stop for a snack, dessert, brunch (9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekends) and even happy hour. From 7 to 9 p.m. daily, you can get $1 off any beer or wine. If you’re not feeling like pie, check out its cheddar biscuits, which are easily the most popular non-pie item there.

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So much is written about the beauty and trendiness of Park Slope, but you never hear much about its neighbor across the park — the equally beautiful, if not more authentic, Prospect Lefferts Gardens.

The Flatbush neighborhood, which is defined by Prospect Park to the west, Crown Heights to the north and Brownsville to the east, has a large West Indian population whose influence can be found at many of its restaurants and small shops, especially down always-bustling Flatbush Avenue.

Despite the rich cultural diversity and strong desire for community among its residents, it was only a matter of time that the neighborhood that borders one of the city’s greatest parks would face the effects of gentrification. “PLG” (as some call it) is rapidly changing. In just two years, a slew of new shops, restaurants and cafes have opened along Flatbush Avenue — many of them catering directly to the residents of new apartment buildings springing up around the stretch.

We visited some of the neighborhood’s mainstays as well as the newer shops. While it’s impossible to list every worthy establishment, we’ve curated a list of places you should definitely visit should you be in the neighborhood.