History

Brooklyn was first settled by the Dutch in the mid-1600’s and has come a long way from its identity as a family-run farm community.  In the early 1900’s, there was a huge influx of Jewish and Italian settlers.  Mostly coming from the Lower East Side of Manhattan, they formed ethnic enclaves that then attracted more immigrants of similar backgrounds to the area.  The train station is along 86th Street, a major vein of Brooklyn, past and present. Many of the commercial buildings lining the street have been the same since the 1920’s.

In the past decades, movement of people out of the city to surrounding boroughs has been growing due to increasing property rates in the city.  Most middle and low income families have been pushed to outer areas and boroughs.  Traditionally, Bay Parkway and Bensonhurst have been dominated by an Italian and Jewish immigrant community, but in recent years, their majority has been eclipsed by a growing Chinese population.  And more notably, there has been an increasing number of Arab and Russian immigrant settling in the area.  The area has a strong tradition of being a well developed residential area since the 1930’s and continues this today with its strong reputation as a family neighborhood.

 

 

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