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Park Slope is a neighborhood in the western section of Brooklyn, New York City's most populous borough. Park Slope is roughly bounded by Prospect Park West to the east, Fourth Avenue to the west, Park Place to the north and 15th Street to the south, though other definitions are sometimes offered. It takes its name from its location on the western slope of neighboring Prospect Park. Seventh Avenue and Fifth Avenue are its primary commercial streets, while its east-west side streets are populated by many historic brownstones.

Park Slope is characterized by its historic buildings, top-rated restaurants, bars, and shops, as well as close access to Prospect Park, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, and the Central Library (as well as the Park Slope branch) of the Brooklyn Public Library system.

The neighborhood had a population of about 62,200 as of the 2000 census, resulting in a population density of approximately 68,000/square mile, or approximately 26,000/square kilometer.

In December 2006, Natural Home magazine named Park Slope one of America's ten best neighborhoods based on criteria including parks, green spaces and neighborhood gathering spaces; farmer’s markets and community gardens; public transportation and locally-owned businesses; and environmental and social policy.Park Slope is part of Brooklyn Community Board 6.

The area that today comprises the neighborhood of Park Slope was first inhabited by the Canarsee Native Americans. The Dutch colonized the area by the 1600s and farmed the region for more than 200 years. During the American Revolutionary War on August 27, 1776, the Park Slope area served as the backdrop for the beginning of the Battle of Long Island, also called the Battle of Brooklyn, the first pitched battle between the British and the Continental Army under the command of George Washington. In this battle, over 10,000 British Redcoats and Hessians routed outnumbered American forces at Battle Pass. What appeared as a major defeat for the colonials was actually the first of many of Washington's tactical retreats. The historic site of Battle Pass is now preserved in Prospect Park, and on Fifth Avenue there is a reconstruction of the stone farmhouse where a countercharge covered the American retreat.

In 1814, ferry service from the nearby Brooklyn Terminal linked the Park Slope and South Brooklyn region to Manhattan, a thriving business center at the time. By the 1850s, a local lawyer and railroad developer named Edwin Clarke Litchfield (1815-1885) purchased large tracts of what was then farmland. Through the American Civil War era, he sold off much of his land to residential developers. During the 1860s, the City of Brooklyn purchased his estate and adjoining property to complete the West Drive and the southern portion of the Long Meadow in Prospect Park.

Park Slope’s bucolic period ended soon after. By the late 1870s, with horse-drawn rail cars running to the park and the ferry, bringing many rich New Yorkers in the process, urban sprawl dramatically changed the neighborhood into a streetcar suburb. Many of the large Victorian mansions on Prospect Park West, known as the Gold Coast, were built in the 1880s and 1890s to take advantage of the beautiful park views. Today, many of these buildings are preserved within the 24-block Park Slope Historic District, one of New York's largest landmarked neighborhoods. By 1883, with the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge, Park Slope continued to boom and subsequent brick and brownstone structures pushed the neighborhood's borders farther. The 1890 census showed Park Slope to be the richest community in the United States.

In 1892, President Grover Cleveland presided over the unveiling of The Soldiers and Sailors Arch at Grand Army Plaza, a notable Park Slope landmark.

The Old Stone House is a 1930 reconstruction of the Vechte-Cortelyou House which was destroyed in 1897. It is located on Third Street between Fourth and Fifth Avenues, beside the former Gowanus Creek.

Baseball has played a prominent role in the history of the Park Slope area. From 1879-1889, the Brooklyn Atlantics (later to become the Dodgers) played at Washington Park on 5th Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets. When the park was destroyed by a fire, the team moved to their part-time home in Ridgewood, Queens and then to a park in East New York. In 1898, the "New" Washington Park was built between Third and Fourth Avenues and between First and Third Streets near the Gowanus Canal. The team, by this point known as the Dodgers, played to an ever-growing fan base at this location. By the end of the 1912 season, it was clear that the team had outgrown the field, and the neighborhood. Team owner Charles Ebbets moved the team to his Ebbets Field stadium in Flatbush for the beginning of the 1913 season. The team went on to have historic crosstown rivalries with both the New York Giants and New York Yankees.

On December 16, 1960, two airliners collided above Staten Island, killing 135 people in what was the worst U.S. aviation disaster to that time. One of the airplanes, a Douglas DC-8 operating as United Airlines Flight 826, was able to stay airborne for a few miles before crashing near the corner of Sterling Place and Seventh Avenue, destroying several buildings. Almost everyone on board was instantly killed, save for one 11-year-old boy who survived the night before succumbing to his injuries.

Through the 1950s, Park Slope saw its decline as a result of suburban sprawl and bearish local industries. Many of the wealthy and middle-class families fled for the suburban life and Park Slope became a rougher, working class neighborhood.

The precursor to renovated brownstones and boutique bohemianism was an urban renewal process started by working families and a community of feminists, many of them lesbians. By the 1960s, an official revitalization movement was in full swing to preserve the neighborhood's historic row houses, stately brownstones, and Queen Anne, Renaissance Revival, and Romanesque mansions. With the historic Park Slope district (around Seventh Avenue) seeing a rebirth, the rest of the area saw a similar increase in popularity.

In the late 1970s, the area around Fifth Avenue in Park Slope was suffering from widespread abandonment and blight, with more than 200 vacant buildings and 150 vacant lots within one mile. As a result of the neighborhood's close proximity to Prospect Park, and the many well-built apartment houses and brownstones, this region also became ripe for renewal.

By the 1990s, partly as a result of inflated Manhattan rents along with the inflated dot-com economy, people who might otherwise have lived in Manhattan began moving to Park Slope in large numbers. The influx was mainly families and young professionals.

During the second major boom for the neighborhood, Park Slope evolved into a racially and economically mixed neighborhood, a place where stock brokers live alongside poor and middle-class working families. This is partially the result of much planning and activism by local community organizations, like the Fifth Avenue Committee, that fought to maintain much of the neighborhood's diversity. A 2001 report by the New York City Rent Guidelines Board found that from 1990 to 1999, rents in New York City increased by 3.5-4.4% per year, depending on what kind of building the apartment was in. The explosion of property values inspired real estate agents to be increasingly generous about the borders of Park Slope, not unlike the expansion of Fort Greene into Bedford-Stuyvesant; South Slope, Prospect Heights, Windsor Terrace, Gowanus, Greenwood Heights, and Boerum Hill all became to some extent part of greater Park Slope.

The negative impact, however, of this renewal is the displacement of the immigrant population that settled here in the 1980s. As the more affluent began to move into Park Slope, the rising rents made it difficult for low-income residents to stay. Thanks to rent stabilization and the "cachet" of specific addresses, it is not uncommon to find those same early immigrants who moved into the neighborhood living adjacent to renters paying two to three times higher rent.

The commercial impacts of the renewal can also be seen along the popular Fifth Avenue stretch, where numerous banks and bars have replaced old neighborhood staples such as the Salvation Army and once popular dollar stores. Similarly, on Seventh Avenue, many small family-owned bookstores and coffee shops saw a reduction in clientèle when Barnes & Noble and Starbucks appeared in the neighborhood. While renewal and the ensuing rush of brand name stores normally signal a driving down of prices, in some industries such as food services, prices have gone up.

The neighborhood is well served by the New York City Subway. Several lines have stops in Park Slope. The F train runs along 9th Street, a main shipping street, stopping at Fourth Avenue, Seventh Avenue and 15th Street–Prospect Park/Prospect Park West. The 2 and 3 trains top at Atlantic Avenue, Bergen Street and Grand Army Plaza. The 4 and 5 (during rush hours only) trains stop at Atlantic Avenue. The N, M, and R trains run along Fourth Avenue, stopping at Prospect Avenue, Ninth Street, Union Street and Atlantic Avenue–Pacific Street. The D train also stops at Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street; and the B Q trains stop there and at Seventh Avenue at Flatbush.

Many notable people have lived in Park Slope, and many more still continue to call it home. John Linnell of They Might Be Giants has lived in Park Slope since the late 1990s. Former resident KRS-One was born Lawrence Krisna Parker in Park Slope before running away from home to the Bronx. Author Pete Hamill was born and raised in Park Slope. Novelist Jhumpa Lahiri was a resident until 2005. Charles Schumer, New York's senior US Senator, lives near Grand Army Plaza overlooking Prospect Park. Deceased MC Ol' Dirty Bastard's mother lives in a four-story brownstone in Park Slope.

Many famous writers live in Park Slope including Jim Knipfel, Jonathan Safran Foer, Paul Auster, Franco Ambriz, Peter Blauner, Siri Hustvedt, John Wray, Jacqueline Woodson, and Kathryn Harrison.

Jazz musicians Michael Weiss, Danny Kalb, and Joshua Redman live in Park Slope.

The Chihuahua is the smallest breed of dog in the world and is named after the state of Chihuahua in Mexico.

Breed standards for this dog do not generally specify a height, only a weight and a description of their overall proportions. As a result, height varies more than within many other breeds. Generally, the height ranges between 6 and 10 inches (15 to 25 cm) at the withers. However, some dogs grow as tall as 12 to 15 inches (30 to 35 cm). Both British and American breed standards state that a Chihuahua must not weigh more than 6.0 lb (2.7 kg)., however the British standard also states that a weight of 2-4 lb (1-1.8 kg) is preferred and that if two dogs are equally good in type, the more diminutive or smaller is preferred. The Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) standard calls for dogs ideally between 1.5 and 3.0 kg (3.3 to 6.6 lb), although smaller ones are acceptable in the show ring. However, pet-quality Chihuahuas (that is, those bred or purchased as companions rather than show dogs) can, and do, range above these weights, to 10 pounds (4.5 kg), or even more if they have large bone structures or are allowed to become overweight. This does not mean, however, that they are not purebred Chihuahuas, it only means that they do not meet the requirements to enter a conformation show. Oversize Chihuahuas are seen in some of the best, and worst, bloodlines. Typically the breed standard for both the long and short coat chihuahua will be identical except for the description of the coat.

The Kennel Club (UK) and American Kennel Club (USA) only recognize two varieties of Chihuahua: the long-coat and the smooth-coat, also referred to as short-haired. They are genetically the same breed, although you will never find both in the same litter (unless the parents were different types to each other) and in many kennel clubs, including the KC and AKC, they are judged in separate categories. The term smooth-coat does not mean that the hair is necessarily smooth, as the hair can range from having a velvet touch to a whiskery feeling. Long-haired Chihuahuas are actually smooth her to the touch, having soft, fine guard hairs and a downy undercoat, which gives them their fluffy appearance. Unlike many long-haired breeds, short-haired Chihuahuas require no trimming and minimal grooming. Contrary to popular belief, the long-haired breed also typically sheds less than their short-haired counterparts. It may take up to two or more years before a full long-haired coat develops.

The AKC Chihuahua standard lists under color: "Any color-Solid, marked or splashed". This allows for all colors from solid blacks to solid whites, spotted, or a variety of other colors and patterns. A few examples are Fawn, Red, Cream, Chocolate, Blue, and Black. However the UK Kennel Club decided in May 2007 not to register puppies with Merle coloration due to the health risks associated with the gene responsible, and in December of that year formally amended the Breed Standard to say "Any colour or mixture of colours but never merle (dapple)."Other countries' Kennel Clubs such as Canada and Australia have also disqualified Merle. However, in April of 2008 the Chihuahua Club of America voted that merles will not be disqualified in the United States and they are fully registrable and able to compete in all AKC events.

Patterns, all with or without white markings, include:

• Sable
• Irish spotting
• Piebald spotting
• Extreme white spotting
• Brindle
• Masks
• Merle
• Tan points

Classifying Chihuahua colors can be complicated due to the large number of possibilities. Examples would be a blue brindle or a chocolate and tan. Colors and patterns can combine and affect each other, resulting in a very high degree of variation. That said, the classic Chihuahua color remains fawn. No color or pattern is considered more valuable than the others. Although blue is considered rare, it is so-called "deer chihuahuas" and the American Kennel Club Chihuahuas are not well-suited as small children's pets because of their size, temperament, and tendency to bite when frightened. It is recommended that children be school aged or older before adding a Chihuahua to one's home. Also, many Chihuahuas focus their devotion on one person, becoming overly jealous of that person's human relationships. This can be mitigated through socialization. Chihuahuas also tend to have a "clannish" nature, often preferring the companionship of other Chihuahuas over other dogs.

This breed requires expert veterinary attention in areas such as birthing and dental care. Chihuahuas are also prone to some genetic anomalies, often neurological ones, such as epilepsy and seizure disorders.

Chihuahuas, and other toy breeds, are also prone to the sometimes painful disease, hydrocephalus. It is often diagnosed by the puppy having an abnormally large head during the first several months of life, but other symptoms are more noticeable (since "a large head" is such a broad description). Chihuahua puppies exhibiting hydrocephalus usually have patchy skull platelets rather than a solid bone, and typically are lethargic and do not grow at the same pace as their siblings. A true case of hydrocephalus can be diagnosed by a veterinarian, though the prognosis is grim.

Chihuahuas have moleras, or a soft spot in their skulls, and they are the only breed of dog to be born with an incomplete skull. The molera does fill in with age, but great care needs to be taken during the first six months until the skull is fully formed. Many veterinarians are not familiar with Chihuahuas as a breed, and mistakenly confuse a molera with hydrocephalus. The Chihuahua Club of America has issued a statement regarding this often deadly misdiagnosis.

Chihuahuas can also be at risk for hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar. This is especially dangerous for puppies. Left unattended, hypoglycemia can lead to coma. Chihuahuas are also prone to eye infections due to their large, round, protruding eyes and their relatively low ground clearance. Chihuahuas also have a tendency to tremble but this is not a health issue, rather it takes place when the dog is stressed or excited. One reason for this may be because small dogs have a higher metabolism than larger dogs and therefore dissipate heat faster. Although figures often vary, as with any breed, the average lifespan for a Chihuahua is approximately 8 to 22 years of age.

Chihuahuas are sometimes picky eaters, and care must be taken to provide them with adequate nutrition. At the same time, care must be exercised not to overfeed this tiny breed. Overweight Chihuahuas are prone to joint injuries, tracheal collapse, chronic bronchitis, and shortened life span.

The developmental history of the Chihuahua is very difficult to trace and is based largely on speculation and theory, however through folklore, legend and archeological finds, there is sufficient evidence to prove that it is without doubt an ancient breed originating from Pre-Columbian Mexico, and it is believed to predate any other breed of dog in the Americas. The most common theory and most likely is that Chihuahuas are descended from the Techichi, a companion dog favoured by the Toltecs and that the modern dog developed through breeding with miniaturised Chinese dogs brought to the Americas by the Spanish Conquistadors.

Historical records of the Techichi, which were thought to hunt in packs, can only be traced as far back as the ninth century but it is highly likely that this is the Chihuahua's native Mexican ancestor. Evidence of this is that the remains of dogs closely resembling, but slightly larger than the average Chihuahua have been found in such places as the Great Pyramid of Cholula, which dates back to the 2nd century BC and predates the 16th century. There is also evidence to suggest that the Techichi may also predate the Mayans. After the Toltecs were conquered by the Aztecs, it is believed that this early ancestor of the Chihuahua was adopted as a symbol of the upper classes and it has been suggested that they were used in religious ceremonies for the absolution of sins and to guide the sprits of the dead. In terms of size, the present day Chihuahua is much smaller than its ancestors, a change thought to be due to the introduction of miniaturized Chinese dogs, such as the Chinese Crested Dog, into South America by the Spanish.

A progenitor of the breed was reputedly found in 1850 in old ruins near Casas Grandes in the Mexican state of Chihuahua from which the breed gets its name. The state borders with Texas, Arizona and New Mexico where Chihuahuas first rose to prominence and were further developed in the United States. Since that time, the Chihuahua has remained consistently popular as a breed, particularly in America when the breed was first recognised by the American Kennel Club in 1904. As well, the Chihuahua has become part of a popular hybrid breed in the United States, the Chihuachshund, which is a pairing of a Chihuahua and a Dachshund.

Genetic tests place the Chihuahua with other modern breeds originating in the 1800s.