: 8 : 2 Development in Bay Ridge continued through the 1890s. : 8 : 5 Through this period Greek Revival, Italianate, and Gothic Revival villas were built on Shore Road many of these villas were constructed by the descendants of the area's original settlers.
The advent of the telephone allowed estate owners to communicate with their businesses in Manhattan while enjoying their stays at the elegant estates of Bay Ridge. In the mid-19th century, a large number of country houses were built in Bay Ridge, especially along Shore Road, which faced the New York Harbor to the west. The community was linked by stagecoach to New Utrecht, Gowanus, and downtown Brooklyn, as well as by ferry to Staten Island and Manhattan. The mostly-immigrant laborers in the area started to create a community to the fort's north and west, which included stores, houses, churches, and a school. Fort Hamilton began to develop in the 1830s as a resort destination when the corresponding military fortification was created. The first settlers referred to Fort Hamilton as the "Nyack Tract", after the Native American tribe that lived there. The natural beauty attracted the wealthy, who built country homes along Shore Road, overlooking the water. "Bay Ridge" was suggested by local horticulturist James Weir after the area's most prominent geographic features: the high ridge that offered views of New York Bay. : 1 Around 1853, Yellow Hook changed the community's name to avoid association with yellow fever. Two years later, a group of artists moved to the area and founded a colony called Ovington Village, named after the family who owned the farmland in the area. In 1848, Third Avenue within the area was widened. Yellow Hook was mostly farmland until the late 1840s. : 8 The area consisted of two sister villages: Yellow Hook to the north, named for the color of the soil, with "Hook" from the Dutch hoek, meaning "corner" and Fort Hamilton to the south, named for the military installation at its center. : 9 Present-day Bay Ridge was the westernmost portion of New Utrecht, founded in 1657 by the Dutch. 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 first European settlement at Bay Ridge occurred in 1636 when Willem Adriaenszen Bennett and Jacques Bentyn purchased 936 acres (379 ha) between 28th and 60th Streets, in what is now Sunset Park. : 9 The Canarsee traded with other indigenous peoples, and by the early 17th century, also with Dutch and English settlers. The Canarsee Indians had several routes that crossed Brooklyn, including a path from Fulton Ferry along the East River that extended southward to Gowanus Creek, Sunset Park, and Bay Ridge. South Brooklyn was originally settled by the Canarsee Indians, one of several indigenous Lenape peoples who farmed and hunted on the land. Politically, it is represented by the New York City Council's 43rd District. It is patrolled by the 68th Precinct of the New York City Police Department.
Until the early 1970s, Bay Ridge was dominated by its Norwegian community, but by the early 21st century it had a large Arab, Irish, Italian, and Greek population.īay Ridge is part of Brooklyn Community District 10, and its primary ZIP Codes are 1120. The arrival of the New York City Subway's Fourth Avenue Line (present-day R train) in 1916 led to its development as a residential neighborhood. Bay Ridge became developed as a rural summer resort during the mid-19th century. Yellow Hook was named for the color of the soil and was renamed Bay Ridge in December 1853 to avoid negative connotations with yellow fever at the time the name Bay Ridge was chosen based on the local geography. The section of Bay Ridge south of 86th Street is sometimes considered part of a sub-neighborhood called Fort Hamilton.īay Ridge was formerly the westernmost portion of the town of New Utrecht, comprising two smaller villages: Yellow Hook to the north and Fort Hamilton to the south. It is bounded by Sunset Park to the north, Dyker Heights to the east, the Narrows and the Belt Parkway to the west, and Fort Hamilton Army Base and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to the south. Bay Ridge is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn.