Downtown Brooklyn is the third largest central business district in New York City (after Midtown Manhattan and Lower Manhattan), and is located in the northwestern section of the borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is known for its office and residential buildings, such as the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower and the MetroTech Center office complex. Since the rezoning of Downtown Brooklyn in 2004, the area has been undergoing a transformation, with $9 billion of private investment and $300 million in public improvements underway. The area is a growing hub for education. In 2017, New York University announced that it would invest over $500 million to renovate and expand the NYU Tandon School of Engineering and its surrounding Downtown Brooklyn-based campus. Downtown Brooklyn is part of Brooklyn Community District 2 and its primary ZIP Codes are 11201 and 11217. It is patrolled by the 84th Precinct of the New York City Police Department. History Early development This area was originally inhabited by Lenape Native Americans, until the 17th century. The area close to the Wallabout Bay was called Rinnegokonk. At that time the Dutch arrived, gained control of the land, and called it Breuckelen. The waterfront area being sold by Indians to Joris Jansen Rapelje, who used the land for farm purposes. Until 1814, Downtown Brooklyn and Brooklyn Heights remained sparsely populated. Robert Fulton’s new steam ferry then began to offer an easy commuting option to and from downtown Manhattan. It made Brooklyn Heights Manhattan’s first suburb, and put Downtown Brooklyn on its way to becoming a commercial center, and the heart of the City of Brooklyn. The city was home to many prominent abolitionists at a time when most of New York was indifferent to slavery. Many Brooklyn churches agitated against legalized slavery in the 1850s and 1860s and some acted as safehouses as part of the Underground Railroad movement. Walt Whitman was fired from his job as a reporter at the Brooklyn Eagle due to his support for the Wilmot Proviso when he lived at Willoughby and Myrtle Avenues. A group of buildings at 223, 225, 227, 231, 233, and 235 Duffield Street, in addition to the African Wesleyan Methodist Episcopal Church located in MetroTech Center, were believed to be among the safehouses. The middle 19th century growth of the Port of New York caused shipping to spill over into the City of Brooklyn; many buildings now used for other