Downtown Brooklyn is the third largest central business district

Central business district

A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...

 in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 (following Midtown Manhattan

Midtown Manhattan

Midtown Manhattan, or simply Midtown, is an area of Manhattan, New York City home to world-famous commercial zones such as Rockefeller Center, Broadway, and Times Square...

 and Lower Manhattan

Lower Manhattan

Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...

), and is located in the northwestern section of the borough

Borough (New York City)

New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...

 of Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

. The neighborhood is known for its office and residential buildings, such as the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower

Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower

The Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower at 1 Hanson Place is the second tallest building in the borough of Brooklyn, New York City and a familiar Brooklyn landmark....

 and the MetroTech Center

MetroTech Center

MetroTech Center is a business and educational center in Downtown Brooklyn, New York City. Original occupants of this area include JPMorgan Chase, New York City Fire Department Headquarters, Bear Stearns, Keyspan Energy, now National Grid, Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Polytechnic University,...

 office complex, that give the area its own unique skyline

Skyline

A skyline is the overall or partial view of a city's tall buildings and structures consisting of many skyscrapers in front of the sky in the background. It can also be described as the artificial horizon that a city's overall structure creates. Skylines serve as a kind of fingerprint of a city, as...

. Since the rezoning of Downtown Brooklyn in 2004, the area is undergoing a transformation, with $9 billion of private investment and $300 million in public improvements underway.
This area was originally inhabited by Lenape

Lenape

The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...

 Native Americans

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

, until the 17th century.