A litlle snipet of Sunset Park's Demographics.

Over at the blog of the Newspaper of record, The New York Times they had a little piece on the demographics of Sunset Park which I found a bit fascinating. Having lived through all the changes in the last thirty years here I can probably say without reservation that we will probably see more of the same, change that is. Thanks to Mike Rose wherever you are for asking the question.

As a Sunset Park resident, I’m fascinated by the combination of Latino and Asian communities in the neighborhood. Are there other NYC neighborhoods with the same juxtaposition of cultures?

Mike Rose

Even in Sunset Park, there are discrete pockets, with the Eighth Avenue side more Chinese and the Fifth Avenue side more Latino. A report by the city’s Department of Planning, ‘’The Newest New Yorkers 2000,'’ said that Sunset Park along Brooklyn’s western waterfront was among the city’s most polyglot, with 49.2 percent, or 59,209, of its 120,464 residents born abroad. Of those, 19,451 were born in China, 8,408 in Mexico, 7,512 in the Dominican Republic, 3,261 in Ecuador and 1,545 in Poland.

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Bay Ridge is 154?

Over at the Right in Bay ridge Blog they are celebrating the 154th birthday of the neighborhood to our South. Southern Sunset Park was once part of the Ridge. We in Sunset Park are much younger, the neighborhood having been established in 1964 by cobbling together Northern Bay Ridge, Southern Park Slope and everything in between. The oddity is that the Post Office named for Bay Ridge is still located in Sunset Park on the corner of 7th Ave. and 55th street. I frankly think it's about time that the postal Service appropriately find a Post Office in Bay Ridge to name The Bay Ridge Post Office. But, I am not in charge of such things. In any case, I think it appropriate to wish all those folks in Bar Ridge a hearty Happy Birthday!! How about a slice of cake?

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Our Pacificana Ranked number 1 by the Voice

Roving culinary explorer of the Village Voice, Robert Sietsema has Ranked our very own Pacificana Restaurant to be an unparalleled dinner destination. Heck we could have told him that. His review is apparently the result of having crashed a Cantonese wedding. If only to prove that Pacificana serves a lot more than just Dim Sum.

Having lived in this neighborhood since 1970 I remember when the food fare here was rather limited to a few Spanish restaurants along 5th and a a few diners. The explosion of culinary diversity in Sunset Park in the last 15 years is something to behold. The diversity of cuisine is not limited to just Chinese. Back in the 70's most of Brooklyn was devoid of good restaurants with the exception of a few established old houses. If you wanted something good to eat, you would trek over to Bay Ridge or take the train to Manhattan. If anything, the explosion of restaurants in Sunset Park and their variety is a sign, at least to me, that Sunset Park has finally arrived.

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More Tourism for Sunset Park?

The following story just broke at the AP.

NEW YORK (AP) — Chinese citizens flush with cash from their booming economy will find it easier to vacation in the U.S. following a long-awaited agreement that the American travel industry hopes will bring in billions of dollars.

The deal, signed Tuesday by U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez in Beijing, will allow Chinese travel agencies to market packaged leisure tours to American destinations, and it will permit U.S. destinations to advertise directly to the Chinese public.

I would suppose that with the coming of so many Hotels into the Sunset Park area we can expect some of that tourism dollar to be dropping into the nabe. Do we need all this attention? What will it do to the neighborhood. And, while other areas are experiencing a building slump it appears our neighborhood does not appear to be a victim of it. At least not yet. Part of the explanation is that the areas where building is continuing is being driven by either Chinese or perhaps Arab money. Both groups that are culturally loath to borrow money and prefer paying cash so they are not influenced by the mortgage crunch.

It should be interesting to see, all these tourists in shorts with Hawaiian shirts snapping pics of the locals. Will the Chinese tourists be just the first wave? With the cheap dollar and the Euro priced so high maybe the Europeans may follow suit. OK so it's all a fantasy, or is it?

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Filming in Sunset Park!

While walking on 8th Avenue by 44th street. I stumbled on a group of French Film students shooting a scene for a short film entitled "Playground". When it will be out, I have no clue. One of the starring actors in it is a guy named William Otterson. They are in fine company. Sunset Park has been the scene of many a film shoot. Off the top of my head I can think of many episodes of "Hill Street Blues" that were shot here as well as most recently, "The Honeymooners", "Crocodile Dundee", "Sunset Park" that I can remember off the top of my head. I am sure some out there can come up with more films that have been shot in the nabe.

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Verrazano Bridge is still Brooklyn cool!

While visiting John Paul Jones Park in Bay Ridge I stumbled on this scene that begged "shoot me, shoot me!" So I did. It was a typical winter contrast of the bridge, the post fall leaves on the ground and an overcast day. The Verrazano is still an awesome sight to behold. Ok so it's not in Sunset Park, sue me. We gotta give the neighbors to our south a break every now and then. Another good reason to always carry a small pocket camera.


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All Decked out for Christmas!

Some shots of Sunset Park getting ready for "That Holiday". As the days get nearer more people light up their houses. Nothing like what they do in Dyker Heights or Bay Ridge. But some of the lights here ain't shabby either.
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Forgotten New York?

Over at the Gowanus Lounge while I was looking around I came accross this link to a post at Forgotten New York about Sunset Park which I thought would be good to promote here. It is full of some interesting if yet familiar photographs. In addition the author did a little bit of homework on the subjects he photographs and included some facts that even I, a resident here since 1970 did not know. Definitely worth taking a look at, whether you are a resident of the nabe or not.

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Save the Ferry?

Our local paper has a story that the Sunset Park Ferry that leaves from the 59th street terminal is in danger of being discontinued due to low ridership. Do people in Sunset Park actually know that it's there? I happen not to work in Manhattan so I have never had occasion to use it. However, I would be willing to bet that if you ask most residents of Sunset Park about the ferry most would tell you they didn't know it existed.

Oh, occasionally it makes the local paper The Sunset News our local free publication that prints 30,000 copies. But probably maybe 10% get read. The paper is also not widely distributed outside of a small stretch of 5th avenue from the 39th street to roughly 60ths street.

In any case, the ferry would probably get more ridership if people actually knew it was there and if they also knew that there is plenty of parking on the pier where you can leave your car for the duration of your work day. As it is, if the Ferry wants more riders they should make sure that more people know about it and that is a matter of marketing.

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Construction of New Hotel?

Rumor has it among the people living nearby that this building under construction is possibly a new hotel on 39th street. If so it would be the third such hotel in the hood that is being planned. Located between 9th and 8th avenues it is ideally situated since you can take the D train at the 9th avenue station and be in midtown Manhattan in under 40 minutes.

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New Starts

We are beginning this blog as an extension to our website to post about goings on in the neighborhood I have called home since 1970. The purpose is to have people from the area who are both new and old get to know the neighborhood and it's surroundings a bit better. Walking the length and breath of the neighborhood and it's periphery has allowed me to make some observations about the hood which I will post here.