Grand Theft Auto IV/Broker

The Liberty City setting of the game Grand Theft Auto IV is made as a fictional interpretation of the real life Greater New York City Area. Liberty City is made up of five boroughs; Algonquin (Manhhatan), Broker (Brooklyn), Dukes (Queens), Bohan (the Bronx), and Alderney (New Jersey); Staten Island was left out of the game because creator Rockstar Games felt that it would offer nothing to the game's setting that the New Jersey based Alderney would not. Each of these boroughs are in turn made up of a number of neighborhoods, also based on real life neighborhoods of New York City.

Hove Beach
This is the first area heavily featured in the game and is based on Brighton Beach. Like Brighton Beach, Hove Beach features a population made up of predominantly Eastern European immigrants.

Hove Beach is the citywide headquarters for the Russian Mafiya controlled by mob bosses Mikhail Faustin and Kenny Petrovic and home to the Mafiya owned Comrades bar and Perestroika cabaret club. Like all neighborhoods in the game with a gang presence, behaving recklessly in Hove Beach will draw the attention of the local gangsters who will not hesitate to protect their turf. The Russian gangsters of Hove Beach tend to patrol the area on foot and in black luxury cars.

The neighborhood was named Hove Beach because Hove and Brighton are the names of neighboring beach front towns in the UK.

Firefly Island
Based on Coney Island, Firefly Island features the closed Funland amusement park in addition to a beach and boardwalk where you can find the Memory Lanes bowling alley. Like Coney Island, Firefly Island is not presently an actual island. Russian Mafiya can occasionally be found here, but nowhere near as abundantly as they are in Hove Beach.

Firefly Projects
While there is a real life housing project called the Coney Island Houses which no doubt served as an inspiration for the name of this neighborhood; the area also has a strong resemblance to the housing projects of other Brooklyn neighborhoods such as Brownsville. The Firefly Projects are controlled by the Sex Money Murder based African-American gang known as MOB (Money Over Bitches).

Beachgate
Beachgate is an affluent gated community based on the Seagate neighborhood in Brooklyn. Populated with mansions and fast cars, it is also the location of the home of Russian Mafiya boss Mikhail Faustin.

East Hook
Also called the Broker Navy Yard, this is where Niko Bellic takes his first steps on American soil after disembarking from the container ship, Platypus. It would appear to be based on both Redhook and the Brooklyn Navy Yard. In addition to the docks the area is home to steroid and status nut Brucie Kibbutz' Executive Autos garage and chop shop.

Outlook
Outlook Park is located in central Broker and is based off of Prospect Park. The Soldiers Plaza monument and the traffic circle surrounding it are found to the northeast of Outlook. Like nearby South Slopes, Orthodox Jews can often be found here.

South Slopes
Located to the west of Outlook Park, South Slopes takes its inspiration from Park Slope and has a large population of Orthodox Jews.

Downtown
Clearly based off of Downtown Brooklyn, Downtown is generally a business district where suits can be found walking about discussing business while drinking overpriced coffee. Of interest is an underground gun shop run by the Angels of Death OMG located down an alleyway through an unmarked door.

Rotterdam Hill
An historical neighborhood with a cobblestone overlook offering a view of BOABO, Algonquin, and the Broker and Algonquin bridges; Rotterdam Hill is based on Vinegar Hill.

BOABO
Based on the DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) area, BOABO stands for Beneath Of the Algonquin Bridge Overpass. Directly north of the Broker Navy Yard, BOABO appears have been working class neighborhood like East Hook, but like DUMBO is becoming a more hip neighborhood due to it's proximity to Algonquin. Niko and Roman Bellic's friend Brucie Kibbutz, a materialistic steroid junky obsessed with being a "winner," calls BOABO home.

The Angels of Death OMG also have a notable presence in the area.

Cerveza Heights
Clearly named for Corona, Queens (Cerveza meaning beer in Spanish and Corona being a well known Mexican beer), Cerveza Heights also bares resemblance to other central Queens neighborhoods such as Flushing, Jackson Heights, and Elmhurst. Like these neighborhoods Cerveza Heights is home to a number of ethnic groups, most notably Latinos, but there are a number of Chinese and South Asian establishments as well.

Cerveza Heights is one of many neighborhoods in Liberty City occupied by the Spanish Lords gang.

Schottler
Schottler is a large and fairly ethnically diverse neighborhood most likely based on Sunnyside, as it features a replica of the arch located on 46th Street and Queens Boulevard. Jamaican gangsters Little Jacob and Real Badman share an apartment here.

Beechwood City
With it's large West Indian population, the western part of Beechwood City may be based on Richmond Hill and Jamaica. Home to Real Badman's Posse and their Homebrew Cafe; Jamaican gangsters can be found here cruising the streets in pimped out low-riders and SUVs with a two-toned green and black paint scheme.

In contrast, the east edge of Beechwood City near FIA tends to be packed with members of the Angels of Death OMG. There is a Burger Shot in the area that serves as a hangout for the biker gang.

Meadow Hills
Mostly a residential area, Meadow Hills would appear to be based on Forest Hills.

Willis
Willis is an east Dukes neighborhood which like Beechwood City, is a turf for Jamaican gangsters. It is a middle class neighborhood based on Hollis, and is home to a community center where Kate McReary works.

East Island City
Based on Long Island City, NUCA (National Union of Contemporary Arts), based on the P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, and the LC24 Tower, based on the Citicorp Building can be found here.

Steinway
Located in northwest Dukes, Steinway is based on Astoria, where there is both a Steinway Village and Steinway Street. In Grand Theft Auto IV Steinway is the base of operations for the McReary Crime Family (Irish Mob). Although modern Astoria is known more for its Greek and Middle Eastern populations, historically the neighborhood was heavily Irish and German. Steinway is also home to the McReary hangout and local landmark Steinway Beer Garden which is based on Bohemian Hall, the oldest beer garden in New York City which was founded in Astoria in 1910 by Irish and German Americans.

Meadows Park
The largest park in Liberty City, Meadows Park is based on Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. The park features two Liberty City landmarks; the Monoglobe (based on the Unisphere) and the Liberty State Pavillion Towers (based on New York State Pavilion Observatory Towers).

The McReary home is located on the westside of Meadows Park.

Francis International Airport (FIA)
Liberty City's only airport which takes up nearly half of Dukes is based on JFK Airport.

South Bohan
Based on the South Bronx, South Bohan is a tough, mostly Puerto Rican neighborhood home to Mallorie Bardas, Manny Escuela, Elizabeta Torres, and the Spanish Lords gang. During Grand Theft Auto IV Mallorie arranges for Roman (her boyfriend) and Niko Bellic to stay at an apartment in South Bohan owned by some relatives when they are on the run from the Russian Mafiya.

Chase Point
Based on the seedier part of Hunts Point (as opposed to the industrial Hunts Point based neighborhood, which happens to be named Industrial); Chase Point has a seemingly endless supply of prostitutes as well as old warehouses and chop shops.

Fortside
Fordham

Boulevard
Named for the Grand Boulevard which serves as its southern border and a major throughway for all of Bohan; Boulevard is the equivalent of Concourse which in turn is named for the Grand Concourse.

Little Bay
The area of Bohan that is lead into by the Dukes Bay Bridge has aspects of both Throggs Neck and Pelham Bay. The name and location seems most similar to Pelham Bay; however with the Dukes Bay Bridge connecting Dukes to Bohan, just like the real life Throggs Neck Bridge connecting Queens to the Bronx, there is a definite similarity to Throggs Neck. The atmosphere and appearance of Little Bay is also closer to that of Throggs Neck than Pelham Bay.