Heart of Brooklyn records

The Brooklyn Children's Museum, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn Public Library, Prospect Park Alliance, and Prospect Park Zoo spent years managing an informal relationship through cross-institutional programs and events. In 1997, these institutions began to explore the creation of an independent non-profit, initially called the Brooklyn Cultural Consortium, to promote the member institutions as local and regional cultural heritage destinations, coordinate multi-institutional programs, complete a comprehensive visitor survey, and establish road markers and signage.

In early 2001 the consortium hired a part-time consultant and was awarded a planning grant from the Wallace Foundation. The consortium was named Heart of Brooklyn (HOB) and began conducting focus groups, committee meetings, and community outreach. HOB was formally incorporated in June 2001 and launched on February 13, 2002, with a celebration at Grand Army Plaza. In the Spring, HOB launched its member calendar, which served as a reference guide to highlight activities at HOB institutions and began overseeing the Brooklyn Cultural Adventures Program (BCAP). BCAP quickly became a HOB signature program, offering summer camp sessions with a focus on programs at member institutions. The HOB website was launched in December.

In 2003, HOB began hosting Neighborhood Weekends, a celebration featuring programming from HOB member institutions. The first was held at the Ebbets Field Houses, attracting 150 participants, and the second at the Red Hook Houses, which saw an attendance of 600. Later that year HOB hired an economic development consultant to analyze potential commercial revitalization in Central Brooklyn. That research led to the creation of Crown Heights Renaissance, a program to promote and strengthen the commercial corridors surrounding member communities. HOB also launched their e-newsletter Heartbeats, and BKLYN Magazine, a quarterly publication highlighting Brooklyn people and businesses that was transferred to Townhouse Communications the following year.

HOB staff moved into their first dedicated office space in February 2005, a storefront at 789 Washington Avenue. Staff members began attending trade shows, partnering with other tourism initiatives, and launched Experience the Heart of Brooklyn, a program that targeted visitors through themed packages and itineraries to increase tourism to member institutions and Central Brooklyn. The HOB Trolley, launched in 2001 to shuttle visitors between member institutions expanded to assist residents underserved by the MTA and tourists from Manhattan to cultural and shopping destinations in Central Brooklyn.

By 2011, HOB had enrolled 4,000 children in BCAP, created 50,000 cross marketing brochures, provided 100,000 free trolley rides, and conducted 50 focus groups with 8,000 individuals surveyed. However, in 2013 funding challenges forced HOB to close their storefront office, terminate staff positions, and discontinue several programs. HOB never financially recovered and in 2015 the website was taken down as the process to dissolve the 501 (c)3 began. After a delay due to the Covid-19, HOB was officially closed in early 2023.