Bensonhurst, Brooklyn

Coordinates: 40°36′12″N 74°0′7″W / 40.60333°N 74.00194°W / 40.60333; -74.00194

86th Street

Bensonhurst is a large, multiethnic neighborhood in the southwestern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, in the United States. It is surrounded by Dyker Heights, Borough Park, Flatbush, Midwood, Gravesend, and Bath Beach to the northwest, north, northeast, east, southeast, and southwest, respectively. It was well known as a Little Italy of Brooklyn due to its once large Italian-American population. Bensonhurst is also home to Brooklyn's second Chinatown.

Etymology

Bensonhurst derives its name from Arthur W. Benson, the former president of Brooklyn Gas, who in 1835 began buying farmland that formerly belonged to the Polhemus family. Between 1835 and 1850 Benson divided the farmland into generous lots that were sold in the following decades as part of the newly created suburb of Bensonhurst by the Sea (current day Bath Beach section),^[1] which was annexed into the 30th Ward of Brooklyn in the 1890s.

Demographics

Bensonhurst has a population of over 151,000 inhabitants as of the 2010 United States Census.^[2]

Early 1900s

In the early 20th century, many Italians and Jews moved into the neighborhood, and prior to World War II the neighborhood was about equally Jewish and Italian.^[3] In the 1950s, under pressure of an influx of immigrants from southern Italy and with new housing being built in the suburbs, the Jewish population began to decline and eventually, after several decades, most of the Jewish population left the neighborhood, leaving the area predominantly Italian.

With a large Italian-American population, Bensonhurst is usually considered the main "Little Italy" of Brooklyn. The Italian-speaking community remains over 20,000 strong, according to the census of 2000. But, the Italian-speaking community is becoming "increasingly elderly and isolated, with the small, tight-knit enclave in the city slowly disappearing as they give way to demographic changes." ^[4] Its main thoroughfare, 18th Avenue (also known as Cristoforo Colombo Boulevard) between roughly 60th Street and Shore Parkway, is lined with predominantly small, Italian family-owned businesses—many of which have remained in the same family for several generations. 86th Street is another popular local thoroughfare, lined by the arches of the BMT West End Line.

1990s–present

Around 1989, an influx of immigrants from China and the former USSR began to arrive, mainly from Southern China, Russia, Ukraine and Armenia. In the 1990s Bensonhurst rapidly grew in cultural diversity. Bensonhurst is home to many ethnic Albanian, Turkish, Uzbek, Arab, Palestinian, Egyptian, Lebanese, Pakistani, Mexican, Guatemalan, Ecuadorian, and Puerto Rican Americans. In 2000, the New York City Planning Department determined that just over half of the residents was born in another country.^[3] By 2013, then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that the city's foreign-born population had reached a record high, and that Bensonhurst had the city's second-highest number of foreign-born people with 77,700 foreign born immigrants in the neighborhood, just after Washington Heights.^[5]

Current enclaves

<span id="Brooklyn's "Little Italy"">Little Italy

18th Avenue and Bay Ridge Parkway

The annual Festa di Santa Rosalia (commonly known as "the Feast" to locals), is held on 18th Avenue from Bay Ridge Parkway (75th Street) to 66th Street in late August or early September. "The Feast" is presented by Bensonhurst resident and marketer Franco Corrado, as well as by the Santa Rosalia Society, on 18th Avenue. Born in Rome in 1955, Corrado has been an active social member of the Italian-American community for the past 20 years. St. Rosalia is the patron saint of the city of Palermo and is sometimes venerated as the patron for the entire island of Sicily. The annual end-of-summer celebration attracts thousands. Bensonhurt also hosts a Columbus Day parade.

Like Lower Manhattan's Little Italy, Bensonhurst's Little Italy is declining with its Italian American population, superseded by Bensonhurst's rapidly expanding Chinatown and Chinese population.^[6]

Chinatown

The D trains of the New York City Subway system connects Brooklyn's Bensonhurst Chinatown (唐人街, 本森社区) to Manhattan's Chinatown (紐約華埠).

Below the West End Line, served by the D trains along on 86th Street between 18th Avenue and Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue,^[7] now emerging another Brooklyn Chinatown (布鲁克林華埠).^[8] However, as of the 2010s it is still currently mixed in with different ethnic businesses and people, especially with many Italians and Russians still in the Bensonhurst neighborhood resembling more of Manhattan's Chinatown of the 1970s-80s when it was in expansion mode, but still mixed in with other ethnic enclaves.^[9]

Within recent years, most new businesses opening within this portion of Bensonhurst's 86th Street, especially between 20th Avenue and 25th Avenue, have been Chinese. The D trains is directly connected from the Grand Street station in Manhattan's Chinatown (紐約華埠) to this rapidly growing Chinese enclave between 18th Avenue and 25th Avenue, and it is becoming a third extension of Manhattan's Chinatown. It is also in some way becoming a second extension of Brooklyn's 8th Avenue Chinatown since the D trains are transferrable to the N trains to travel to Brooklyn's 8th Avenue Chinatown.^[10][11]

On 86th Street, Bensonhurst is home to growing Chinese restaurants including the 86 Wong Chinese Restaurant, which is one of the earliest Chinese restaurants and businesses to be established on this street.^[12] Chinese grocery stores, salons, bakeries, and other types of Chinese businesses are also expanding swiftly on this street.

With the large migration of the Cantonese as well as some Fuzhou people in Brooklyn now to Bensonhurst, and along with new Chinese immigration, other small Chinatowns have also started to emerge in other parts of Bensonhurst like 18th Avenue and Bay Parkway, but integrated with other ethnic groups and businesses. The N trains stations are also located in these sections as well.^{[13][14][15][16][17][18]}

As a result, Bensonhurst now has several small emerging Chinatowns, but they are more scattered and mixed in with other ethnic enclaves in contrast to the Homecrest/Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn where there is only one small emerging Chinese enclave on Avenue U. This means Bensonhurst has much higher proportion of Chinese than the Homecrest/Sheepshead Bay area.

The newly emerging Chinese enclaves in sections of Bensonhurst and another one in Homecrest/Sheepshead Bay are primarily Cantonese populated and are more of extensions of the Western Cantonese section of Manhattan's Chinatown or Little Hong Kong(小香港)/Little Guangdong(小廣東) or Cantonese Town (廣東埠). However, there are small numbers of Fuzhou and Mandarin speakers.^[19][20][21]

According to the Daily News, Brooklyn's Asian population, mainly Chinese, has grown tremendously not only in the Sunset Park area, but also in Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights, and Borough Park. In Bensonhurst alone, from 2000 to 2010, the Asian population increased by 57%. The study also shows that Asians very often live in houses that are divided into studio apartments, which means there is a possibility that the increased Asian population could be more than what the census represents and causing stressors on the growing Asian population in Brooklyn.^[22]

Chinese translation terms Bensonhurst as 本森社区.

Geography

Sons of Israel Synagogue

As there are no official neighborhood designations in New York City, Bensonhurst does not have any official boundaries.^[23] Still, parts of Bath Beach, Mapleton, Dyker Heights, Gravesend, and Borough Park are sometimes considered parts of Bensonhurst.^[3][24] However, Bensonhurst-proper includes the area bounded by 86th Street, 14th Avenue, 60th Street, McDonald Avenue, Avenue P, and Bay Parkway.^[25]

Bensonhurst is patrolled by the NYPD's 62nd Precinct.^[26] McDonald Avenue from Avenue I to Kings Highway is sometimes considered the eastern boundary.

The area's local post office is the U.S. Post Office-Parkville Station located at 6618 20th Ave., was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.^[27]

Housing stock

Many of Bensonhurst's houses are attached or semidetached, though fully detached houses can be found in the west near Dyker Heights. These are mostly 20th century houses made of brick, stucco, and stone, with aluminum siding facades. After rezoning in the 2000s, many houses dating back over 90 years are being torn down and replaced by three-story brick apartment buildings and multi-family condominiums.^[3] They are sometimes called "Fedders Houses" for their distinctive, standard air conditioner sleeves.^[28] From 2002 to 2005, 1,200 new housing units in Bensonhurst were approved to accommodate the growing population including many foreign-born residents. With an increase in the area's real estate values, long-time homeowners sold their houses.^[3]

Notable landmarks

• Milestone Park is a significant park in the Bensonhurst area. It contains a replica of the oldest sandstone mile marker in New York City (the original is housed at the Brooklyn Historical Society).^[29]
• Magen David Synagogue
• The Historical New Utrecht Church (serving the community since 1677) is the fourth oldest Reformed Church in America.
• Lenny's Pizza, made famous by John Travolta in the opening sequence of Saturday Night Fever, is still operating.^[30]

Education

The New York City Department of Education serves Bensonhurst.^[31]

Zoned schools include: The Mapleton School P.S. 186 Dr. Irving A Gladstone School P.S. 101 The Verrazano School P.S 204 The Vince Lombardi School. P.S. 128 Bensonhurst School P.S. 247 The College Partnership Elementary School I.S. 96 Seth Low I.S. 281 Joseph B. Cavallaro Edward B. Shallow Junior High

High schools include: John Dewey High School New Utrecht High School Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School Lafayette High School

Colleges and Universities Bramson ORT College

Brooklyn Studio Secondary School

Public transportation

The D trains, which runs on the BMT West End Line above 86th Street, provides a direct connection to Grand Street in Manhattan^[3][10] while the N trains, which runs on the BMT Sea Beach Line near 63rd Street, provides a direct connection to Canal Street.^[3] This provides convenient commutes into Manhattan's Chinatown for the growing Bensonhurst Chinese population.^[11] The Sea Beach Line has a station at Eighth Avenue in Brooklyn's Sunset Park Chinatown and a transfer to the West End Line is available at New Utrecht Avenue / 62nd Street. The IND Culver Line along McDonald Avenue, carrying the F trains, also runs through the most northeastern end of Bensonhurst between the Bay Parkway and Kings Highway stations.^[32]

Subway stations in the neighborhood include New Utrecht Avenue / 62nd Street, 71st Street, 79th Street, 18th Avenue, 18th Avenue, 20th Avenue, 20th Avenue, Bay Parkway, Bay Parkway, 25th Avenue, Avenue N and Avenue P.^[32]

The B1, B3, B4, B6, B8, B9, B64, B82 bus lines operate through Bensonhurst.^[33]

In popular culture

Bensonhurst has long been portrayed in film, art, and literature:

• Thomas Wolfe mentions it in the 1930s in his short story, "Only The Dead Know Brooklyn," noted for being written entirely in "Brooklynese."
• Later in the 1950s, Bensonhurst was brought to fame by the television series The Honeymooners
• In the 1970s, Welcome Back Kotter was set in Bensonhurst.
• Jungle Fever
• The Warriors
• The Bensonhurst Spelling Bee by Funny or Die with Kelly Ripa, featured a spelling-bee parody, making fun of stereotypical Italians.
• The Honeymooners is set in Bensonhurst.
• The 1972 song Bensonhurst Blues, made famous after Oscar Benton released his version of the song.
• In a 1992 episode of Saturday Night Live, Joe Pesci, Julia Sweeney, Adam Sandler, Dana Carvey, and Chris Rock appeared in a sketch called "Bensonhurst Dating Game," which depicted Italian-American men eager to commit racial violence based on their views of interracial romance.
• Batman villain Harley Quinn has been established as being from Bensonhurst, going home to visit her family for Christmas in Gotham City Sirens #7.
• Several characters from the soap opera General Hospital, most notably Sonny Corinthos, grew up in Bensonhurst.
• The French Connection took place along 86th Street.
• Brooklyn 11223, an American reality-TV series about a divided group of friends, has also been filmed in parts of Bensonhurst.
• Mob Wives filmed in Bensonhurst at the local boxing joint, Evolution Boxing, where Drita D'Avano is trained by Anthony Pezzolanti.
• Spike of Bensonhurst was filmed around Bensonhurst and won a Spirit Award.
• The opening scene of Saturday Night Fever features John Travolta walking down 86th Street and grabbing slices to eat at Lenny's Pizza.
• The 79th Street Station was popularized in opening credits of Welcome Back, Kotter.

Notable people

Notable current and former residents of Bensonhurst include:

Organized crime

A number of high-profile organized crime figures hail from Bensonhurst including Anthony Casso, Paul Castellano, Mikey DiLeonardo, Anthony Gaggi, Carlo Gambino, John Gambino, Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, Gregory Scarpa and Carmine Sessa.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.

Chinese enclaves:

• Chinatowns in the United States
• Chinatown, Manhattan (紐約華埠)
• Little Fuzhou (小福州)
• Chinatown, Brooklyn (布鲁克林華埠)
• Chinatown, Flushing (法拉盛華埠)
• Chinatown, Elmhurst (唐人街, 艾姆赫斯特)
• Corona, Queens
• Chinatown, Avenue U (唐人街, U大道)

Italian enclaves:

• List of Italian American neighborhoods
• Little Italy, Manhattan
• Little Italy, Bronx

References

Neighborhoods in the New York City Borough of Brooklyn Admiral's Row Bath Beach Bay Ridge Bedford-Stuyvesant Bensonhurst Bergen Beach Beverley Square Bridge Plaza BoCoCa Boerum Hill Borough Park Brighton Beach Brooklyn Heights Brownsville Bushwick Canarsie Carroll Gardens Chinatown Clinton Hill Cobble Hill Columbia Street Waterfront District Coney Island Crown Heights Ditmas Park Downtown Dumbo Dyker Heights East Flatbush East New York East Williamsburg Farragut Fiske Terrace Flatbush Flatlands Fort Greene Fulton Ferry Gerritsen Beach Gowanus Gravesend Greenpoint Greenwood Heights Highland Park Homecrest Kensington Manhattan Beach Mapleton Marine Park Midwood Mill Basin Navy Yard New Utrecht Ocean Hill Ocean Parkway Pacific Park/Atlantic Yards Park Slope Pigtown Plumb Beach Prospect Heights Prospect Lefferts Gardens Prospect Park South Red Hook Sea Gate Sheepshead Bay Spring Creek South Brooklyn South Slope Starrett City Sunset Park The Hole Vinegar Hill Wallabout Weeksville West Midwood White Sands Williamsburg Windsor Terrace Wingate Wyckoff Heights Community Boards 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 See also History of Brooklyn Timeline of Brooklyn