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129-620: Sunset Park is a 24.5-acre (9.9 ha) public park in the neighborhood of Sunset Park , Brooklyn , New York City , between 41st and 44th Streets and 5th and 7th Avenues. The modern-day park contains a playground , recreation center, and pool. The recreation center and pool comprise the Sunset Play Center , which was designated as both an exterior and interior landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission . The park

258-476: A carousel . Concerts started being held by 1906, and a grand staircase to Fifth Avenue was completed by 1910. The surrounding neighborhood , south of Green-Wood Cemetery and east of Fourth Avenue , was mostly undeveloped at the time. After the Fifth Avenue elevated line was extended south from 36th Street to 65th Street on October 1, 1893, development came rapidly. Residential construction boomed in

387-521: A $ 1 billion renovation plan in March 2015, while a "Made in NY" industrial campus was announced for Bush Terminal in 2017. Sunset Park is divided into two neighborhood tabulation areas, Sunset Park West and Sunset Park East, which collectively comprise the population of Sunset Park. Based on data from the 2010 United States Census , the population of Sunset Park was 126,381, a change of 7,919 (6.3%) from

516-602: A citizens' committee was created to aid the creation of the subway line. The announcement of the subway line resulted in the immediate development of row houses in Sunset Park and Bay Ridge. In 1905 and 1906 realty values increased by about 100 percent, and land values increased due to the promise of improved transportation access. Such was the rate of development, houses were being sold before they were even completed, and land prices could rise significantly just within several hours. The subway itself faced delays. In 1905,

645-558: A contractor who, according to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle , "sold the park department the site for the proposed Sunset Park in the Eighth Ward without consulting the owners. Then he went around and bought up the property at a low figure and is said to have made a good thing out of it." The Eagle itself praised the site as having "one of the finest views in the city". A New York Times reporter, writing in 1894, praised

774-743: A haven for prostitution and drug use, a milieu evoked by Hubert Selby Jr. in Last Exit to Brooklyn (1964). According to longtime resident and community activist Tony Giordano, the Scandinavian population was replaced by upwardly mobile Irish and Italians who had moved from less desirable parts of South Brooklyn, such as Gowanus and western Park Slope. While this influx would influence the community's businesses and religious institutions for decades, many of these residents proved to be transient amid redlining-driven white flight to adjoining areas (including Bay Ridge, Staten Island, and inner suburbs in

903-408: A lintel is a load-bearing member and is placed over an entranceway. The lintel may be called an architrave , but that term has alternative meanings that include more structure besides the lintel. The lintel is a structural element that is usually rested on stone pillars or stacked stone columns, over a portal or entranceway. A lintel may support the chimney above a fireplace, or span the distance of

1032-469: A minimum 55-yard (50 m) length, underwater lighting, heating, filtration, and low-cost construction materials. To fit the requirement for cheap materials, each building would be built using elements of the Streamline Moderne and Classical architectural styles. The buildings would also be near "comfort stations", additional playgrounds, and spruced-up landscapes. Construction for some of

1161-685: A path or road, forming a stone lintel bridge. The use of the lintel form as a decorative building element over portals, with no structural function, has been employed in the architectural traditions and styles of most cultures over the centuries. Examples of the ornamental use of lintels are in the hypostyle halls and slab stelas in ancient Egypt and the Indian rock-cut architecture of Buddhist temples in caves. Preceding prehistoric and subsequent Indian Buddhist temples were wooden buildings with structural load-bearing wood lintels across openings. The rock-cut excavated cave temples were more durable, and

1290-465: A queen celebrating the king's anointing by a god. Lintels may also be used to reduce scattered radiation in medical applications. For example, Medical linacs operating at high energies will produce activated neutrons which will be scattered outside the treatment bunker maze with a dose rate that depends on the maze cross section. Lintels may be visible or recessed in the roof of the facility, and reduce dose rate in publicly accessible areas by reducing

1419-472: A significantly faster rate than in Manhattan's Chinatown; this trend had slowed down by the end of the decade, with fewer Fuzhouese coming to Sunset Park each year. By 2009 many Mandarin speakers had moved to Sunset Park. People from India (primarily hailing from the state of Gujarat 's minority Christian communities) also started settling in and around Sunset Park in 1974. The ethnic diversity of

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1548-431: A similar motif along the top of the wall. The rotunda is a cylindrical brick structure. Seen from its eastern facade, the rotunda is between and set behind two piers made of Flemish bond brick, each of which contain a flagpole and tile panel. The words sunset play center are inscribed in a granite tablet above the main (eastern) entrance; the entrance itself consists of a set of metal doors. The western entrance, facing

1677-475: A six-hole golf course in Sunset Park, and started some other improvements such as installing retaining walls. Even so, the Eagle observed that the park was still lacking basic amenities such as benches or drinking fountains . The park was expanded southward to 44th Street in 1904. Other features added in the first decade of the 20th century included a new landscaping, a pond, a Neoclassical rustic shelter, and

1806-509: A small area west of Third Avenue between 54th and 57th Streets, are zoned for low-rise residential buildings, including row houses and short apartment structures. Generally, commercial areas are restricted to the ground floors of buildings on Third, Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, and Eighth Avenues. Light industrial zoning is also present south of 61st and 62nd Streets. The neighborhood's "brownstone belt" includes homes with brownstone, sandstone, limestone, iron, and ornamental stone-brick facades, though

1935-504: A strain on the purse". For the majority of two-family row houses in Sunset Park, which were speculatively developed for no specific tenants, the owner's family lived in one unit and rented the other out. Many row houses were extremely crowded, often housing ten or more people across both units. Other residences in Sunset Park were single units or apartment buildings. While many of the first residents in southern Sunset Park were initially Irish, German, Italians or Eastern European Jews, by

2064-501: A ward of the city of Brooklyn and Bay Ridge's evolution from the Yellow Hook district of the town of New Utrecht, which remained independent from the city until 1894. According to Tony Giordano, more affluent residents of southern Bay Ridge considered the "tough" neighborhood to be somewhat distinct from their community, often characterizing the district as "Lower Bay Ridge", while many residents of Sunset Park "wished they lived in

2193-401: Is approached by a short granite stairway, though there is also a handicap-accessible ramp to the south of the steps. It leads directly to the rotunda. A back entrance, from the west, leads directly to the swimming pool. The top of the building facade is wrapped with a motif composed of cast stone and brick chevrons, set in a pattern of diamonds and triangles. The interior of the rotunda contains

2322-609: Is between Fifth Avenue to the west, Seventh Avenue to the east, 41st Street to the north, and 44th Street to the south, atop a 164-foot-tall (50 m) hill that is part of the Harbor Hill Moraine , a terminal moraine formed during the Last Glacial Period . The park's elevated location offers views of New York Harbor , Manhattan , the Statue of Liberty , and more distantly the hills of Staten Island and

2451-477: Is coextensive with Kings County, this was not always the case. South Brooklyn , an area in central Kings County extending to the former Brooklyn city line near Green-Wood Cemetery 's southern border, was originally settled by the Canarsee , one of several indigenous Lenape peoples who farmed and hunted on the land. The Canarsee had several routes that crossed Brooklyn, including a path from Fulton Ferry along

2580-525: Is divided into three neighborhood tabulation areas: West Sunset Park, Central Sunset Park, and East Sunset Park–West Borough Park. West Sunset Park had 54,473 residents; Central Sunset Park, 55,606 residents; and East Sunset Park–West Borough Park, 35,632 residents. The racial makeup of West Sunset Park was 22.2% (12,073) White , 5.0% (2,740) African American , 13.1% (7,139) Asian , 1.1% (597) from other races , and 2.4% (1,286) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 56.2% (30,638) of

2709-611: Is higher than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are middle-aged adults and youth: 22% are between the ages of 0 and 17, 39% between 25 and 44, and 21% between 45 and 64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, both at 9%. As of 2016, the median household income in Community Board 7 was $ 56,787. In 2018, an estimated 29% of Sunset Park residents lived in poverty, compared to 21% in all of Brooklyn and 20% in all of New York City. One in twelve residents (8%)

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2838-603: Is lined with Chinese businesses, including grocery stores, restaurants , Buddhist temples , video stores, bakeries , community organizations , and a Hong Kong Supermarket . Like the Manhattan Chinatown (of which the Brooklyn Chinatown is an extension ), Brooklyn's Chinatown was originally settled by Cantonese immigrants. In the 2000s, an influx of Fuzhou immigrants supplanted the Cantonese at

2967-465: Is made of cement. The western part of the deck contains concrete bleachers with seven rows, underneath which is the filter house. A brick wall is behind the bleachers, and is adjacent to the handball courts to the west. A pump house is to the north of the bleachers. A former "comfort station" or restroom (now used as storage space) is to the south, with separate entrances for boys and girls on the north facade, but these have been bricked up. The diving pool

3096-554: Is now Sunset Park. However, after the land was purchased in the 1640s by Dutch settlers who laid out their farms along the waterfront, the Canarsee were soon displaced, and had left Brooklyn by the 18th century. The area comprising modern Sunset Park was divided between two Dutch towns: Brooklyn to the northwest and New Utrecht to the southeast, divided by a boundary that ran diagonally from Seventh Avenue/60th Street to Ninth Avenue/37th Street. The Dutch created long, narrow farms in

3225-565: Is operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation , also known as NYC Parks. The land for the park was acquired from 1891 to 1905. The park initially contained a pond, golf course, rustic shelter, and carousel. These features were removed in 1935–1936 when the current neoclassical / Art Deco style pool was built by Aymar Embury II during a Works Progress Administration project. The swimming pool and play center were renovated from 1983 to 1984. Sunset Park

3354-449: Is to the north. West of the bathhouse, Sunset Park contains an enclosed elliptical pool area that is aligned north-south. The main swimming pool is rectangular and measures 256 by 165 feet (78 by 50 m), with a depth of 3.5 feet (1.1 m). There were also two semicircular 165-foot-diameter (50 m) pools for wading and diving, one on either end of the main pool, though these are no longer in use. The deck surrounding all three pools

3483-539: The 1933 election , Moses began to write "a plan for putting 80,000 men to work on 1,700 relief projects". By the time he was in office, several hundred such projects were underway across the city. Moses was especially interested in creating new pools and other bathing facilities, such as those in Jacob Riis Park , Jones Beach , and Orchard Beach . He devised a list of 23 pools around the city, including one at Sunset Park. The pools would be built using funds from

3612-453: The 1980 United States Census , half of the residents were Hispanic, compared with less than 40% in the 1970 United States Census ; meanwhile, the number of white residents had decreased greatly. The newer residents tended to be poorer, leading to claims of "de-gentrification". In the 1980s, Sunset Park became the location of the borough's first Chinatown , which is located along Eighth Avenue roughly between 44th and 68th Streets. The avenue

3741-527: The Battery Maritime Building in Manhattan in 1887, followed two years later by the opening of the Fifth Avenue elevated train line in the neighborhood. Following the establishment of the ferry, the Eighth Ward finally became a desirable place to live. After the establishment of transport to the Eighth Ward, the region began to quickly develop as a residential neighborhood, with the first speculatively-developed houses being built in

3870-471: The East River that extended southward to Gowanus Creek , South Brooklyn (present-day Sunset Park), and Bay Ridge. The Canarsee traded with other indigenous peoples, and by the early 17th century, also with Dutch and English settlers. The first European settlement occurred in 1636 when Willem Adriaenszen Bennett and Jacques Bentyn purchased 936 acres (379 ha) between 28th and 60th Streets, in what

3999-567: The Lower East Side . The neighborhood was particularly desirable because it still retained a large number of industrial jobs on the waterfront, to the west of Third Avenue. However, the closure of the Brooklyn Army Terminal in 1966 and general downsizing at Bush Terminal would negatively affect the nascent community. Collectively, over 30,000 jobs were eliminated as a result of industrial closures in Sunset Park between

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4128-406: The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission : Lintel An arch functions as a curved lintel. In worldwide architecture of different eras and many cultures, a lintel has been an element of post and lintel construction. Many different building materials have been used for lintels. In classical Western architecture and construction methods, by Merriam-Webster definition,

4257-542: The New York City Market Analysis ) assigned the Sunset Park moniker to an area largely corresponding to the neighborhood's contemporary boundaries, possibly marking its first use in a more generalized context beyond the residential area surrounding the park. While denoting the redlining-induced socioeconomic decline of the waterfront, it revealed that the uphill section was more affluent than other residential, white ethnic -dominated areas adjacent to

4386-521: The New York metropolitan area ), leading to the increasing prominence of the neighborhood's Puerto Rican community. Though Sunset Park had a small Puerto Rican community centered around the maritime trades as early as the 1920s, it grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s when urban renewal projects in Manhattan pushed them away from longstanding enclaves in the Upper West Side , East Harlem and

4515-762: The Prospect Expressway and the Park Slope neighborhood, to the east by Ninth Avenue and the Borough Park neighborhood, to the south by 65th Street and the Bay Ridge neighborhood, and to the west by New York Harbor . The region north of 36th Street is also known as Greenwood Heights or South Slope . The areas west of Third Avenue are zoned mostly for light industrial usage and as such, mainly contain factories, cargo storage and other industrial buildings. The areas east of Third Avenue, as well as

4644-514: The September 11 attacks . Sunset Park contains numerous sporting fields. Within the namesake recreation center, there is an indoor basketball court , seven table tennis tables, a gymnasium and a billiard table . Outdoors, there are four basketball courts, two handball courts, two soccer fields , and a baseball field overlapping with one of the soccer fields. There is also a playground at Sixth Avenue. The outdoor fields are free for use by

4773-433: The U.S. state of New Jersey . Initially, Sunset Park contained a pond within its borders. According to Sergey Kadinsky, author of the book Hidden Waters of New York City , the pond was likely artificial since it did not appear on any maps prior to the park's creation. The pond was destroyed in 1935 with the construction of the current swimming pool. The Sunset Park Memorial Grove was planted in 2002 to commemorate victims of

4902-569: The Usumacinta River in present-day southern Mexico, specialized in the stone carving of ornamental lintel elements within structural stone lintels. The earliest carved lintels were created in 723 CE. At the Yaxchilan archaeological site there are fifty-eight lintels with decorative pieces spanning the doorways of major structures. Among the finest Mayan carving to be excavated are three temple door lintels that feature narrative scenes of

5031-780: The Works Progress Administration (WPA), a federal agency created as part of the New Deal to combat the Depression's negative effects. Eleven of these pools were to be designed concurrently and open in 1936. Moses, along with architects Aymar Embury II and Gilmore David Clarke , created a common design for each of the 11 proposed aquatic centers. Each location was to have distinct pools for diving, swimming, and wading; bleachers and viewing areas; and bathhouses with locker rooms that could be used as gymnasiums. The pools were to have several common features, such as

5160-487: The northeastern United States , Sunset Park's shipping sector entered a period of decline after World War II. In 1945, Third Avenue was widened to ten lanes at the surface level to accommodate truck traffic to and from the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel . This widening necessitated the removal of all industrial buildings and housing on the east side of the avenue, destroying the rest of the business district built around

5289-430: The "magnificent views of earth and sky and water" that could be experienced from the high point of Sunset Park, some 200 feet (61 m) above sea level. Sunset Park became a popular gathering place for residents of the area (then considered part of Bay Ridge and South Brooklyn ), and its initial users were mostly Polish and Scandinavian immigrants who had arrived within the last two decades. However, development of

Sunset Park (Brooklyn park) - Misplaced Pages Continue

5418-546: The 11 pools began in October 1934. The pond, golf course, rustic shelter, and carousel were removed to make way for the new pool at Sunset Park, which would be on the park's eastern side. The blueprints for the Sunset Park pool were submitted to the New York City Department of Buildings in August 1935, by which point WPA workers were already working at the site. During construction, several Native American artifacts were found at

5547-473: The 118,462 counted in 2000 . Covering an area of 1,854.8 acres (750.6 ha), the neighborhood had a population density of 68.1 inhabitants per acre (43,600/sq mi; 16,800/km ). The racial makeup of the neighborhood in 2019 was estimated to be 34.8% Asian, 3.9% Black, 35.6% Hispanic, 23.7% White. The entirety of Community Board 7 had 132,721 inhabitants as of NYC Health 's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 82.6 years. This

5676-499: The 1890s through the 1920s. After the decline of the industrial hubs in the 1940s and 1950s, the name "Sunset Park" was given to the region north of 65th Street as part of an urban renewal initiative. Immigrant groups started moving to the neighborhood in the late 20th century due to its relative affordability. By the 21st century, the neighborhood's population is primarily composed of Hispanics and Chinese immigrants along with swaths of predominantly white young urban professionals and

5805-660: The 1910s there was a growing Scandinavian district. Portions of the neighborhood became known as "Finntown" and "Little Norway". Finntown was located in the northern part of modern Sunset Park, surrounding the park of the same name. The Finns brought with them the concept of cooperative housing , and the Alku and Alku Toinen apartment house at 816 43rd Street is said to be the first cooperative apartment building in New York City. The Norwegian community in Bay Ridge,

5934-443: The 1950s and the 1970s. As families who had lived in the area for decades began moving out, the housing stock lost value. Most of the housing inventory in the waterfront district failed to comply with a 1961 zoning resolution that subjected 2,000 residences to "rigid prohibitions against reconstruction [...], improvements [or] certain kinds of repairs"; this rapidly hastened predatory blockbusting practices. In The Power Broker ,

6063-399: The 1974 biography of urban planner Robert Moses , author Robert Caro noted that elements of blight extended to the comparatively affluent, brownstone-dominated tracts between Fourth and Sixth Avenues by the 1960s. Prior to the 1960s, much of the modern-day Sunset Park neighborhood was considered part of Bay Ridge, except for the area around the park itself, belying Sunset Park's origins as

6192-541: The 2000s, this area was rebranded as Greenwood Heights , or as South Slope . The 2000s and 2010s brought new development to Sunset Park. In February 2016, Sunset Park West was one of four neighborhoods featured in an article in The New York Times about "New York's Next Hot Neighborhoods". Factors cited in the article included redevelopment along the waterfront in Industry City and Bush Terminal,

6321-408: The 2014 opening of Bush Terminal Park, and the use of warehouses as party and event spaces. According to real-estate sources, all of these business- and office-related activities will "drive residential momentum" in the western part of Sunset Park. Some in the neighborhood have expressed fears of the gentrification that could follow in the wake of these developments. Industry City's owners announced

6450-493: The Brooklyn Army Terminal in 1981, and renovated it for manufacturing use; the first industrial tenants signed leases for space in the terminal in 1987. Industry City was also successful, and was 98 percent occupied by 1980. Following the 1966 poverty area designation, the area from 36th Street to the Prospect Expressway was incorporated into Sunset Park. As the gentrification of South Brooklyn accelerated in

6579-618: The Brooklyn commissioners were opening several streets in South Brooklyn. This was followed by the provision of funding for water mains in October 1890, and a similar act for gas mains in 1892. South Brooklyn's development was also helped by the conversion of the Third Avenue stagecoach line to a steam-powered route. The conversion occurred in spite of several opponents, who argued that steam engines would spook horses. Most of

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6708-517: The Bush & Denslow company of Rufus T. Bush . Standard Oil bought this refinery in the 1880s and dismantled it, but after Rufus T. Bush's death in 1890, his son Irving T. Bush bought the land back. Irving Bush built six warehouses on the site between 1895 and 1897, but soon observed their inefficiency, and instead devised plans for Bush Terminal , a combined shipping/warehousing complex between 32nd and 51st Streets. Construction began in 1902, and

6837-519: The City of Greater New York. The area also remained considerably poorer than adjacent districts with detached housing stock and the semi-suburban belt of south-central and southeastern Brooklyn neighborhoods primarily developed after consolidation. Nevertheless, because of the historical prominence of owner-occupied housing in the area prior to the widespread emergence of cooperative housing in apartment-oriented neighborhoods, Sunset Park's homeownership rate

6966-427: The Eighth Ward of the city of Brooklyn, which at the time was the city's least populous ward . Sunset Park did not have its own name until the 20th century; rather, the neighborhoods in southern Brooklyn, including Bay Ridge , Dyker Heights , Bensonhurst , and Bath Beach , were collectively referred to as a single area. The first major development in the region was Green-Wood Cemetery, which opened in 1840 near

7095-500: The FHA; this resulted in several FHA officials and speculators being indicted for fraud, though by that time, "the resulting abandonment could not be reversed." According to Louis Winnick, over "200 small properties and 40 apartment buildings" remained abandoned as late as 1977, while "the blocks below (and often above) Fourth Avenue were defaced by the stigmata of dereliction." The Sunset Park Redevelopment Committee, founded in 1969 to help

7224-491: The Fifth Avenue elevated line. By 1909, there was significant development in the area surrounding the park, and the immediate surrounding area became known as "Sunset Park" as well. Growth of the neighborhood also came with the development of the South Brooklyn waterfront. At the time, it was sparsely developed; there had only been one warehouse on the waterfront in 1890. The land contained an oil refinery belonging to

7353-480: The Fifth Avenue elevated opened to a 65th Street terminal on Third Avenue (with connections to Bay Ridge streetcar lines) on October 1, 1893. Development in South Brooklyn continued even though the Panic of 1893 had resulted in the stoppage of nearly all developments in the rest of Brooklyn. Due to the large number of residential developments being built in South Brooklyn, in 1893 the Brooklyn city government banned

7482-702: The Finnish community that inhabited Sunset Park, a block of 40th Street, in front of the Imatra Society building at 740 40th Street, was co-named "Finlandia Street" in 1991. The European immigrants and their descendants began leaving the neighborhood during the 1950s and 1960s, and they were replaced by new immigrants. At first migrants came from Puerto Rico , and by the 1980s other Latin American immigrants including Cuban , Dominican , Ecuadorian , and Mexican Americans had started populating Sunset Park. By

7611-819: The Fourth Avenue subway. Groundbreaking for the first section of the subway, between DeKalb Avenue and 43rd Street, took place in 1909. Not long after the contracts were awarded, the PSC started negotiating with the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company and the Interborough Rapid Transit Company in the execution of the Dual Contracts , which were signed in 1913. During the Dual System negotiations,

7740-776: The Rapid Transit Commission adopted the Fourth Avenue route to Fort Hamilton; following approval by the Board of Estimate and mayor of New York City , the route was approved by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court . Bids for construction and operation were let, but in 1907, the Rapid Transit Commission was succeeded by the Public Service Commission (PSC). For much of 1908, there were legal disagreements about whether

7869-761: The Southern Deccan Plateau region of southern India. The Hoysala Empire era was an important period in the development of art and architecture in the South Indian Kannadiga culture. It is remembered today primarily for its Hindu temples ' mandapa , lintels, and other architectural elements, such as at the Chennakesava Temple . The Maya civilization in the Americas was known for its sophisticated art and monumental architecture. The Mayan city of Yaxchilan , on

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7998-568: The Sunset Play Center were filed in September 1940. By the early 1940s, WPA workers had finished the landscaping of the site, including new plantings, lawn restoration, and other rehabilitation. By the 1970s, Sunset Park and other city parks were in poor condition following the 1975 New York City fiscal crisis . NYC Parks commenced a project to restore the pools in several parks in 1977, including at Sunset Park, for whose restoration

8127-483: The Sunset Play Center's interior and exterior were both designated as official city landmarks by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission . The commission had previously considered the pool for landmark status in 1990, along with the other ten WPA pools in the city. A reconstruction of the playground was completed in 2017. The same year, a $ 4 million renovation of the Sunset Park Play Center

8256-556: The Third Avenue Line. The four-lane Gowanus Parkway was replaced in the 1960s with a six-lane expressway of the same name to carry truck and car traffic to and from the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge , which opened in 1964. During this period, Fourth Avenue's sidewalks were narrowed by roughly eight feet to further accommodate vehicular traffic. Third Avenue and the waterfront district soon evolved into

8385-432: The agency set aside an estimated $ 5.8 million (equivalent to $ 22,766,000 in 2023). These projects were not carried out due to a lack of money. By March 1981, NYC Parks had only 2,900 employees in its total staff, less than 10 percent of the 30,000 present when Moses was parks commissioner. Despite the revitalization of the surrounding neighborhood, partially due to efforts by Asian and Latin American immigrants who moved to

8514-460: The area in large numbers. Most of these people worked in service jobs such as garment factories or restaurants, but they were also able to buy homes and start their own companies. Author Tarry Hum stated that these residents' interest in Sunset Park row houses was "an important neighborhood amenity that … helped stem the area's decline". By the 1980s, there was also interest in redeveloping Sunset Park as an industrial hub. The city government bought

8643-758: The area was mostly owned by the descendants of Hans Hansen Bergen , an early immigrant from Norway. They owned two homesteads, the DeHart-Bergen House close to 37th Street and the Johannes Bergen House around 55th Street; the former was used by the British during the Revolution. In addition, the Bergens owned several slaves, as indicated in the 1800 United States Census , where 19 slaves and 8 free non-whites were recorded living at

8772-517: The area, the park was still perceived as rundown, and graffiti and vandalism were common. In 1982, the NYC Parks budget increased greatly, enabling the agency to carry out $ 76 million worth of restoration projects by year's end; among these projects was the restoration of the Sunset Park pool. Work had begun by early 1983, and the complex was closed for two summer seasons while work was ongoing. The play center reopened on August 8, 1984. In addition to

8901-678: The area. When New Netherland was conveyed to the English in 1664, the latter improved the waterfront pathway in the town of Brooklyn as part of a Gowanus (Coast) Road, which ran southwest to an east–west trail called Martense's Lane, then southward to the boundary with New Utrecht. These roads would be used during the American Revolutionary War in the Battle of Long Island . During the American Revolution ,

9030-418: The avenues, row houses were built with commercial space on the ground floor, and the residential units were located above. The Eagle said in 1901 that two-family houses were "particularly attractive to people who desire comparatively small apartments, but who object to living in flats, and they appeal to this class on account of their being more quiet, and possibly, more exclusive." A notable exception to this

9159-548: The boundary of South Brooklyn and Bay Ridge, and quickly became popular as a tourist attraction. By 1870, the first frame row houses were constructed in the Eighth Ward, ultimately replacing the detached wooden houses in the area. Transit to South Brooklyn started with the 1846 establishment of a ferry service to the cemetery. The Brooklyn City Railroad , founded in 1853, started offering stagecoach service from Fulton Ferry to destinations such as Bay Ridge. Afterward, several excursion railroads were built from South Brooklyn to

9288-417: The center cylinder is one and a half stories. The curved outer wall is topped by a lintel made of concrete. Light fixtures hang from the white-plaster ceiling. At the clerestory level, near the top of the lobby, there are 16 small windows. The floor is made of dark blue and terracotta tiling and contains several drains. The north and south wings of the bathhouse are nearly identical in design, except that

9417-436: The city announced that it would rebuild the western section of Sunset Park as well. By the next year, a WPA project was underway for the western part of the park. A steep 65-foot (20 m) slope was reduced to 40 feet (12 m) to lessen erosion, and a soldiers' monument was relocated. In addition, new concrete-block paths and drainage had been laid and an old comfort station had been destroyed. Plans for minor modifications to

9546-494: The city's industrial and maritime economies. However, the rapid development of Sunset Park had forestalled the emergence of upper middle class apartment houses that took root in comparable neighborhoods throughout the early 20th century; coupled with the impact of the waterfront, Sunset Park's aggregate average and median household expenditures were more analogous to the redlined working class neighborhoods that had arisen in once-affluent areas following Brooklyn's consolidation into

9675-495: The city, a decision that was only reversed after a $ 2 million donation from a trust created upon the death of real estate developer Sol Goldman and $ 1.8 million from other sources. Additionally, in the 1990s, a practice called "whirlpooling" became common in New York City pools such as Sunset Park, wherein women would be inappropriately fondled by teenage boys. By the turn of the century, crimes such as sexual assaults had decreased in parks citywide due to increased security. In 2007,

9804-458: The construction of an extension of the Fourth Avenue subway was recommended as part of the Dual System, which was approved in 1912. Construction began on the sections between 61st–89th Streets and between 43rd–61st Streets in 1913, and was completed two years later. The line opened to 59th Street on June 21, 1915, except the 45th Street and 53rd Street stations, which opened on September 22, 1915. A Real Estate Record and Guide article from

9933-419: The curved side of the wading pool, and there is a concrete ramp leading to the wading pool area. Sunset Park originally consisted of four blocks of land, from Fifth to Seventh Avenues between 41st and 43rd Streets. The city of Brooklyn acquired the land on May 15, 1891, as part of its plan to build several parks citywide, including Winthrop, Bedford and Bushwick parks. The previous landowner was Patrick H. Flynn,

10062-461: The earliest development in the area remain prevalent. While these houses retained their polychrome facades and other Victorian-era design flourishes (akin to the " painted ladies " of San Francisco ) as late as 1940, most have been clad in vinyl siding and Formstone for decades. In addition, there are numerous multi-family residences in Sunset Park. Some of these residences are three-family homes, spread across three stories, similar in design to

10191-435: The erection of wood-framed structures between Fourth and Fifth Avenues south of 39th Street. By 1895, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted, "Probably no ward in the city has been built up as rapidly as the Eighth Ward." Two-story on basement row houses were the most common building class to be erected in modern-day Sunset Park in the 1900s and 1910s due to their wide appeal, with the majority of these being two-family homes. On

10320-537: The expansion of Lutheran Medical Center, started reclaiming some of the blighted homes, though to little success at first. An initial federal grant of $ 500,000 failed to effect a redevelopment. By the early 1980s, people were willing to move to Sunset Park due to its high number of affordable units. At that point, the Sunset Park Redevelopment Committee had renovated about 200 units and had federal funds for 333 more. Another factor in

10449-703: The first (or stoop -level) and second floors. More expensive row houses had a subterranean cellar , raised, ground-level basement and first (or parlor) floor as a single triplex unit, and the second floor as another unit. Although many row houses have shed internal architectural elements of the era, they continue to encompass a substantial swath of the residential stock between Fourth and Sixth Avenues south of 40th Street. However, brownstone rows exist as far north as 420-424 36th Street and as far east as 662 56th Street, while several bayed brick rows (notably exemplified by 240-260 45th Street) are situated south of Fourth Avenue, where wood frame and frame-brick houses dating from

10578-463: The general public, but some indoor activities require a membership. The Sunset Play Center's bathhouse is on the eastern side of Sunset Park. The building contains a facade of brick in Flemish bond , and consists of a 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 -story rotunda with one-story wings to the north and south, giving it a rough I-shape. The main entrance to the bath house, the eastern facade at Seventh Avenue,

10707-581: The gradual loosening of the 1961 zoning regulations; and the expansion of Lutheran Medical Center to the waterfront American Machine and Foundry factory in the 1970s. However, due to collusion between the banking and real estate industries and actors in the Federal Housing Administration against the Puerto Rican community, hundreds of housing units were soon lost to abandonment. According to writer David Ment, beginning in

10836-433: The grandeur of earlier neighborhoods, the row houses in Sunset Park were a viable option for middle-class families who could not afford to move to the suburbs or into single-family houses. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle wrote that "the general tendency seems to be to develop Greater South Brooklyn in such a way that families possessed of moderate incomes may there establish themselves...under conditions which will not put too heavy

10965-586: The growth of the surrounding neighborhood as a low-rise middle-class area, and in particular the Finnish enclave directly south of the park. In 1934, mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia nominated Robert Moses to become commissioner of a unified New York City Department of Parks and Recreation . At the time, the United States was experiencing the Great Depression ; immediately after La Guardia won

11094-402: The initial housing stock was centered around Fourth and Fifth Avenues. Further development was hindered by the area's steep and irregular topography, which resulted in some lots being higher than the streets they were located on. This could be seen in the proposed southward expansion of the Fifth Avenue elevated, which faced elevation changes of up to 90 feet if it was to continue southward along

11223-629: The largest in the city, stretched between Fourth and Eighth Avenues south of 45th Street at its peak in World War II . During the peak periods of construction in Sunset Park, hundreds of developers were involved with constructing row houses in the neighborhood; many were neighborhood residents or had offices in the area, and most were not formally trained as architects. Reflecting a longstanding builder-oriented business culture in Brooklyn, these developers often reused building designs that were easy to erect and advertise. The most prolific developer

11352-421: The late 1960s, "real estate speculators often used [blockbusting] tactics to purchase homes, then obtained inflated appraisals and mortgage insurance from the [...] FHA." Even though these homes were renovated shoddily, they were sold to lower-income families who then went into foreclosure because of unaffordable maintenance costs. The speculators then collected the balance of the mortgage, which had been insured by

11481-473: The late 19th and early 20th century amid real estate speculation initiated by the construction of the park and the Fifth Avenue elevated line and, by 1909, there was significant development surrounding the park. With the news that the New York City Subway 's Fourth Avenue Line would constructed in the area, two-story houses were constructed on the south side of Sunset Park. Two-story houses were

11610-492: The less expensive tier of one-family row houses elsewhere in Brooklyn, most of these structures were in fact built as two-family residences. In addition, several low-rise apartment buildings were erected in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The row houses and apartment buildings were both intended for the neighborhood's middle-class residents. The two-family row houses came in two types. The cheaper row houses contained an undesignated English basement and one unit on each of

11739-414: The majority of homes in Sunset Park are faced with brick. Developed mostly between 1892 and 1910 following earlier frame house development, it is dominated by two-story-above-basement, bayed row houses that were envisaged as "inexpensive imitations of the stately four- and five-story townhouses [...] of Brooklyn Heights , Carroll Gardens, Fort Greene and Park Slope." Though their facades were analogous to

11868-446: The mid-1880s. In 1888, landowners delivered "a petition for local improvements" to be effected upon some 7,500 lots located from Third to Ninth Avenues between 39th and 65th Streets, which were estimated to be worth about $ 1 million (equivalent to $ 33,911,000 in 2023). The landowners requested that sewers be installed, and that the streets be paved and opened. The bill was passed the next year with minor changes. By August 1890,

11997-405: The most common housing stock in this part of South Brooklyn at the time; the Eagle said that two-family houses were "particularly attractive to people who desire comparatively small apartments, but who object to living in flats, and they appeal to this class on account of their being more quiet, and possibly, more exclusive." The Fourth Avenue subway opened to 59th Street in 1915, further spurring

12126-563: The neighborhood is celebrated annually with the Parade of Flags down Fifth Avenue, which started in 1994. The core of the Hispanic population is west of Fifth Avenue, while the Chinese population straddles the area from Seventh Avenue eastward to Borough Park, one of Brooklyn's fastest-growing Chinatowns . According to The Neighborhoods of Brooklyn , Sunset Park is bounded to the north by

12255-544: The neighborhood was given a "D" rating, the lowest possible rating. These ratings were, on the most part, unscientific and motivated by racial and ethnic discrimination. The HOLC contended that the brownstones and the newly built Sunset Park Play Center were positive attributes of the neighborhood, but that the overall rating of the area was revised downward due to its industrial uses and the high numbers of Italian immigrants east of Seventh Avenue. A 1943 demographic study of New York City (co-published by four local newspapers as

12384-485: The neighborhood's row houses. Others are small four- or five-story apartments with multiple dwellings, similar to tenements . Many of the Finnish-built cooperative apartment buildings contained open courts within them. Along Fourth and Fifth Avenue, there are several buildings with commercial space on their ground floors and residential units above. The neighborhood has several individual landmarks designated by

12513-517: The non-load-bearing carved stone lintels allowed creative ornamental uses of classical Buddhist elements. Highly skilled artisans were able to simulate the look of wood, imitating the nuances of a wooden structure and the wood grain in excavating cave temples from monolithic rock. In freestanding Indian building examples, the Hoysala architecture tradition between the 11th and 14th centuries produced many elaborately carved non-structural stone lintels in

12642-420: The north, Borough Park to the east, Bay Ridge to the south, and New York Harbor to the west. The neighborhood is named for a public park of the same name that covers 24.5 acres (9.9 ha) between Fifth and Seventh Avenues from 41st to 44th Street. The area north of 36th Street is alternatively known as Greenwood Heights , while the section north of 20th Street is also called South Slope . The area

12771-421: The northern wing is on a downward slope and contains a basement garage. The eastern facades each contain seven steel windows with metal screens and stone sills. There are five windows of similar style at the end of each wing. Both the north and south wings are connected to brick retaining walls that enclose the pool area to the west. The men's locker room is to the south of the rotunda while the women's locker room

12900-422: The park was precluded by its irregular topography. By 1893, the city of Brooklyn decided to expand Sunset Park southward. A New York Times article that year observed that the park lacked amenities and was situated on high bluffs that could only be reached by 60-foot (18 m) ladders. Furthermore, the article stated that it would cost at least $ 500,000 to improve the park. In 1899, the city of New York constructed

13029-421: The pool, is nearly identical but does not contain flagpoles, and a large NYC Parks logo is hung above that entrance's metal doors. Inside the building, the wall is mostly made of Flemish bond brick with a granite base. The lobby is inside the rotunda and is composed of three parts: the foyer leading east to the entrance, the central cylinder, and the foyer leading west to the pool. The foyers are one story high while

13158-401: The population. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 14.5% (18,321) White , 2.3% (2,908) African American , 0.2% (195) Native American , 35.2% (44,538) Asian , 0% (32) Pacific Islander , 0.3% (335) from other races , and 1.1% (1,398) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 46.4% (58,654) of the population. Until the early 1960s, Sunset Park's main population

13287-524: The population. The racial makeup of Central Sunset Park was 8.1% (4,509) White, 1.1% (610) African American, 56.5% (31,444) Asian, 0.5% (280) from other races, and 1.0% (537) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 32.8% (18,226) of the population. The racial makeup of East Sunset Park–West Borough Park was 19.5% (6,959) White, 1.8% (641) African American, 54.7% (19,480) Asian, 1.3% (471) from other races, and 1.5% (548) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 21.1% (7,533) of

13416-482: The project could be funded while remaining within the city's debt limit . The PSC voted unanimously for the Fourth Avenue subway line in March 1908, but the Board of Estimate did not approve contracts for the line until October 1909. By then, a non-partisan political body, with the backing of 25,000 South Brooklyn residents, was created that would only support candidates in the municipal election that pledged support for

13545-708: The redevelopment of Sunset Park was the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 , which removed racially-based restrictions on immigration to the United States, causing the area to be developed by new immigrants from Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. By the 1980s, other Latin American immigrants (including Dominican , Ecuadorian and Mexican Americans ) had started populating Sunset Park. These new residents started improving formerly decrepit properties in Sunset Park. In addition, Chinese immigrants settled in

13674-711: The remaining vestiges of Scandinavian , Irish and Italian communities. Sunset Park is part of Brooklyn Community District 7 . It is patrolled by the 72nd Precinct of the New York City Police Department . Fire services are provided by the New York City Fire Department 's Engine Company 201 and Engine Company 228/Ladder Company 114. Politically, Sunset Park is represented by the New York City Council 's 38th and 39th Districts. Though modern-day Brooklyn

13803-432: The renovated play center, the diving pool was infilled for the construction of a volleyball court; spray fountains at the wading pool's former site were installed in 1988; and murals were installed in the locker rooms. NYC Parks continued to face financial shortfalls in the coming years, and the pools retained a reputation for high crime. For the summer of 1991, mayor David Dinkins had planned to close all 32 outdoor pools in

13932-459: The resort areas of Coney Island , Brighton Beach , and Manhattan Beach . These included the Brooklyn, Bath and Coney Island Rail Road ; the New York, Bay Ridge and Jamaica Railroad ; and the New York and Sea Beach Railroad . A ferry pier and railroad terminal, popular as a transfer point for those traveling to Coney Island, was built in the 1870s. The 39th Street Ferry started traveling to

14061-547: The richer Bay Ridge and enjoyed using the name on their own". Following a 1966 petition drive, Sunset Park was formally designated as a poverty area under the aegis of the Office of Economic Opportunity . As part of this process, it received its current moniker and boundaries. With aid from federal, state, and local agencies, Sunset Park slowly began redeveloping. Major factors included the purchase of Bush Terminal by new investors in 1963 and its conversion into an industrial park;

14190-444: The same elevation. This would be remedied by rerouting the elevated to Third Avenue south of 38th Street. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle wrote in 1893 that one could "find lands that are now vacant covered with dwellings and factories, broken and uneven and uninviting paths transformed into broad avenues lined with stores and people in them. Buildings are going up with great rapidity—not singly or rarely so, but by blocks." The extension of

14319-623: The site of the first non-profit housing cooperative in the United States when the Finnish Home Building Association built two cooperative houses, named Alku and Alku Toinen (translated respectively to "Beginning" and "Beginning Second" ), at 816 and 826 43rd Street. By 1922, the Finns had constructed twenty co-ops in Sunset Park. These initially catered primarily to the area's Finnish population, but others of European descent also lived in these co-ops. In honor of

14448-524: The site of the old pond. By mid-1936, ten of the eleven WPA-funded pools were completed and were being opened at a pace of one per week. The Sunset Pool was the sixth of these pools to open. The pool was dedicated on July 20, 1936, with a crowd of 3,500 spectators. The center, the first of four planned WPA pools in Brooklyn, was composed of a one-story bathhouse with a capacity of 4,850; a 256-by-165-foot (78 by 50 m) pool; and two semicircular 165-foot-diameter (50 m) pools for wading and diving. In 1938,

14577-500: The time said: "All along the line of the railroads there are plainly visible the result of the advertising of the contracts for the construction of the 4th av [ sic ] subway." Though many row house districts in New York City housed wealthy professionals and businesspeople, Sunset Park was developed as a middle-class area, with most residents being either mid-level professionals (such as clerks and bookkeepers) or skilled tradespeople, including carpenters and plumbers. At

14706-474: The time, row houses were falling out of favor with the upper class, which had started gravitating toward detached single-family homes in more suburban areas, notably exemplified by the garden city movement and the Prospect Park South and Ditmas Park developments in nearby Flatbush . With many examples clad in brownstone (a style that had largely become old-fashioned by the late 1890s) to evoke

14835-471: The two Bergen houses. After New York abolished slavery in 1827, there were 55 African Americans living in the area. Similar to Dutch farms, the farms in modern Sunset Park occupied long, narrow plots. Brooklyn became urbanized in the 19th century, with many people choosing to live in Brooklyn and commute to Manhattan, and residential development started spreading outward from Brooklyn Heights . Present-day Sunset Park, several miles away from Brooklyn Heights,

14964-422: The waterfront, while Finns were mostly tenant farmers or non-landowning laborers. An early ethnic enclave in Sunset Park was Finntown , an enclave of Finnish immigrants in northern Sunset Park, which was composed of immigrants arriving during the first decades of the 20th century. At its peak, the enclave had 10,000 Finnish residents and contained its own Finnish language newspaper. In 1916, Finntown became

15093-584: Was Thomas Bennett, who lived in Sunset Park and designed at least 600 structures in the neighborhood. Alongside tenements and apartment houses stemming from the nationally prosperous 1914–1929 era, the area was characterized by "limestones and brownstones, as well and brick and wood rowhouses". Bush Terminal continued to grow through World War II. During the conflict, the adjacent Brooklyn Army Terminal (situated between 58th and 65th Streets) employed more than 10,000 civilians, handled 43,000,000 short tons (38,392,857.14 long tons; 39,008,943.82 t) of cargo, and

15222-477: Was approved. Following an influx of asylum seekers to New York City, in August 2023, city officials converted portions of the recreation centers at McCarren Park and Sunset Park into temporary shelters, prompting protests from local residents. The shelter had closed by the next month. Sunset Park, Brooklyn Sunset Park is a neighborhood in the western part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn , bounded by Park Slope and Green-Wood Cemetery to

15351-497: Was at least as high as some of the city's wealthiest communities. The elevated Gowanus Parkway was constructed on the structure of the elevated BMT Third Avenue Line in 1941, despite protests by 500 residents. This resulted in the downfall of one of the neighborhood's main commercial arteries. With the rise of truck-based freight shipping and ports in New Jersey , as well as the decreasing importance of heavy industry in

15480-538: Was completed in stages between 1911 and 1926. It was dubbed "Bush's Folly" at the time of its construction, as people had a hard time believing it could compete with the port of Manhattan. A building boom in South Brooklyn started in about 1902 and 1903, and thousands of people started coming to the area from Manhattan and from other places. The first definite plans for a Fourth Avenue subway (today's R train) were proposed by Rapid Transit Commission engineer William Barclay Parsons in 1903, and two years later,

15609-461: Was due to " redlining " implemented after the Home Owners' Loan Corporation , a federal agency, released color-coded maps in the late 1930s, indicating which neighborhoods were "desirable" for investments and which neighborhoods should be avoided. Most of present-day Sunset Park was given a "C" rating, indicating a locale that was "definitely declining", while the waterfront on the western part of

15738-410: Was initially occupied by the Canarsee band of Munsee -speaking Lenape until the first European settlement occurred in 1636. Through the late 19th century, Sunset Park was sparsely developed and was considered part of Bay Ridge or South Brooklyn . The arrival of elevated railways and the subway led to Sunset Park's development, with middle-class row houses and industrial buildings being erected in

15867-465: Was made up of Europeans. The first major ethnic group to immigrate to the area in the 1840s was the Irish . This was followed by Polish and Nordic Americans in the late 19th century and by, Italians in the 20th century. In particular, Nordic immigrants were one of the largest ethnic groups in Sunset Park and Bay Ridge. The first Norwegians , Swedes , and Danes were maritime workers who settled near

15996-401: Was so named because its elevated location provided views of the sunset to the west. Though development of the park was precluded by its irregular topography, nevertheless it became a popular gathering place for Bay Ridge and South Brooklyn residents. Residential construction boomed in the late 19th and early 20th century amid real estate speculation initiated by the construction of the park and

16125-541: Was still primarily agricultural in the 1830s and remained that way until the middle of the 19th century. Among the few houses in the region was the Kent Castle, a Gothic Revival villa on present-day 59th Street. After Brooklyn was incorporated as a city in 1834, the Commissioners' Plan of 1839 was devised, a street plan that extended to South Brooklyn. What would become Sunset Park was incorporated into

16254-445: Was the group of single-family homes in central Sunset Park, though these were also easy to build. The growth of the Eighth Ward was helped by the development of Sunset Park , a public park initially bounded by Fifth and Seventh Avenues between 41st and 43rd Streets. The city of Brooklyn acquired the land in 1891 as part of its plan to build several parks citywide. The park would be expanded southward to 44th Street in 1904. The park

16383-421: Was the point of departure for 3.5 million soldiers. Slumlike conditions proliferated in the vicinity of First and Second Avenues as early as World War I , and the Great Depression forced some residents to take in boarders; at the time, 60 percent of Sunset Park's male residents belonged to trade unions . After the Depression, the western section of the neighborhood began to decline in earnest. This

16512-465: Was to the south of the main rectangular pool, but has been filled in for use as a volleyball court. The wading pool, to the north of the main pool, still exists but has been drained, and spray fountains have been installed. Both pools are surrounded by a metal fence on their curved side, which contain Flemish-bond brick piers. A brick wall separates the wading pool from the main pool. Steps run along

16641-424: Was unemployed, compared to 9% in the rest of both Brooklyn and New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 57% in Sunset Park, higher than the citywide and boroughwide rates of 52% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, as of 2018 , Sunset Park is considered to be gentrifying . The 2020 census data from the New York City Department of City Planning

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