Most poskim maintain that Brooklyn is not classified as a reshus harabbim because of the following three reasons:
- The streets of our community do not run straight from one end of the city to the other ― they are not mefulash u’mechuvanim m’shaar l’shaar.
- None of the streets in our community, including Ocean Parkway, are traversed daily by 600,000 people ― there is no shishim ribo ovrim bo b’chol yom.
- As Brooklyn is circumscribed by more than three mechitzos at its waterfront, it is fundamentally a reshus hayachid.
Even one of the above conditions would be sufficient ground to permit an eruv of tzuras hapesachim. Additionally, as there are many reasons to allow an eruv in Brooklyn, even a Baal Nefesh can utilize the eruv with certainty. Furthermore, since Brooklyn is bounded on three sides by mechitzos, any eruv in Brooklyn would be considered a Rambam eruv.