Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bensonhurst is a working class neighborhood located in the south-central part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Bensonhurst runs from about 14th Avenue to 25th Avenue and from Gravesend Bay to 53rd Street, encompassing Bath Beach, New Utrecht, and part of Dyker Heights and bordered by the Bath Beach, Bay Ridge, Gravesend, and Borough Park sections. For many generations of Jewish and Italian residents, Bensonhurst's geographic boundaries have been defined by the streets where the ethnic mix of Bensonhurst begins to fray. Interestingly, since about 1993, the rapid expansion of the population of Orthodox Jews in neighboring Borough Park, has encroached deeply into Bensonhurst, such that the ethnic geographic boundaries now begin from about 18th Avenue to 25th Avenue and from Gravesend Bay to 60th Street. This 1.4 square mile change represents an expansion of Borough Park and a shrinkage of Bensonhurst, as defined by traditional ethnic boundaries. It represents an historical parallel to the shrinkage of Manhattan's Little Italy as a result of the expansion and encroachment of neighboring Chinatown.
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[edit] History
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 Polhemuses family. Between 1835 and 1850 Benson divided the farmland into lots that were sold in the following decades as part of the newly created suburb of Bensonhurst[1].
In the early 1900s, many Jews and Italians moved into the neighborhood, and prior to World War II the neighborhood was about equally Jewish and Italian. In the 1950s, there was an influx of immigrants from southern Italy and most of the Jewish population left the neighborhood, leaving the area predominately Italian. In the 1990s, many Chinese and Russian immigrants began to arrive. Today, the Italian American community numbers over 50,000, or more than one-third of the population. Despite increasing diversity, Bensonhurst still maintains heavily Italian, as its Italian-speaking community remains over 20,000 strong, according to the census of 2000. Its main thoroughfare, 18th Avenue (also known as Christopher Columbus Boulevard) between roughly 60th Street and Bay Ridge 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 thoroughfare stretching from 16th Avenue to Stillwell Avenue and lined by the arches of the elevated subway line BMT West End Line of the New York City Subway. The 86th Street elevated train was popularized in opening credits of Welcome Back Kotter, however the thoroughfare is not the icon of Italian American heritage and culture that 18th Avenue represents.
[edit] Brooklyn's "Little Italy"
Bensonhurst was stereotyped as a haven for Mafia members (Gus Farace, a reputed mob associate suspected of murdering a federal drug-enforcement agent, was found shot to death in a parked car there on November 17, 1989, and two years later the neighborhood provided the setting for the mob-themed film Out for Justice starring Steven Seagal), many of whom are believed to maintain residences in Dyker Heights, a neighborhood adjacent to Bensonhurst. Despite this old stereotype, the reality is that the overwhelming majority of Bensonhurst residents (like the overwhelming majority of all Italian-Americans) have nothing to do with crime, organized or otherwise.
Currently the neighborhood is undergoing a transformation; many of the original houses dating back over 90 years ago are being torn down and replaced by three-story brick apartment buildings and multi-family condominiums.
Visitors from throughout the New York City metropolitan area flock to the neighborhood each year in late August or early September to take part in the colorful Santa Rosalia Festival (commonly known simply asThe Feast to locals), held on 18th Avenue from Bay Ridge Parkway (75th Street) to 69th Street. St. Rosalia is the patron saint of the city of Palermo and is sometimes venerated as the patron for the entire island of Sicily (a sizable portion of Bensonhurst's Italian American residents are of Sicilian heritage).
Immediately after Italy's victory at the 2006 FIFA World Cup a large portion of Bensonhurst's Italian American community, as well as several thousand participants from all over the tri-state area, participated in a large victory celebration. Several local cafés and businesses paid for a city permit to close 18th Avenue from commercial traffic. It was held on the same route as the St. Rosalia Feast, but stretched from 65th street to nearly 80th Street. The celebration began as soon as the Italian team won, to about 7:00 p.m., when the permit ran out.
[edit] Trivia
[edit] Locations
- Bensonhurst was the setting for "The Honeymooners" series, featuring actor/comedian Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden, a bus driver in Brooklyn during the 1950s.
- The television series Welcome Back Kotter was set in Bensonhurst.
- Saturday Night Fever was filmed in Bensonhurst's Philips Dance Studio.
- The famous chase scene in The French Connection rolls through Bensonhurst, on 86th Street and then, New Utrecht Avenue.
- Bensonhurst is one of the settings for the 1991 movie, Jungle Fever.
[edit] Famous people
- Harvey Fierstein, Elliott Gould, Richard Jeni, Rhea Perlman, Leah Remini, Carl Sagan, Ray Suarez grew up in Bensonhurst.
- Playwright Abe Burrows, writer of Guys and Dolls and Can-Can was a graduate of New Utrecht High School
- Vincent D'Onofrio was born in Bensonhurst.
- Larry King, the famous talk show host, lived in Bensonhurst and graduated from Lafayette High School in 1951.
- Adam Lazzara lead singer of Taking Back Sunday currently lives in Bensonhurst.
- ECW Superstar Tony Mamaluke was born in Bensonhurst.
- Robert Merrill, operatic tenor, grew up in Bensonhurst.
- Actor Tony Sirico of The Sopranos lives in Bensonhurst.
- The Three Stooges (Moe, Shemp, and Curly) were all from Bensonhurst.
- Sandy Koufax, Major League Baseball pitcher and member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, attended Lafayette High School in Bensonhurst
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- NYCfoto.com - Photos of Bensonhurst
- Air visit of 'Bensonhurst' in Photographs
- A History of Bensonhurst - A History of the Neighborhood
- Brooklyn's Ethnic Neighborhoods - An ethnic picture of New York
- Bensonhurst Blues - lyrics of a song performed by Oscar Benton
- Bayridgetalk.com - Bay Ridge Community Message Board
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
