Street Life

The area surrounding the D Train subway stop of Bay Parkway, commonly referred to as Bensonhurst, is an area with the resources and hustle of a city along the main concourse (86th and 18th Ave) but the family oriented style of a suburb along the outskirts of that main concourse.

The above picture is directly below the D train Bay Parkway subway stop. Plenty of people out and about on this Saturday afternoon. This picture captures a snippet of the diversity of the community with the Chinese translation at the top of the building and the Istanbul restaurant directly ahead of the two women.

 

 

The above picture is only two blocks away, running directly perpendicular to the subway line. Nice size houses line the streets and there are not so many people which gives the aura of a suburban neighborhood. Currently the side streets are a mix of single and two family houses, usually cast in brick, stucco and stone. They also often have aluminum siding on the upper floors. Often times you will see iron fences, a small front yard and many residents tend gardens in the backyard.

Resources: 

One of the most vital attractions of this neighborhood to many families is the amount of resources it possesses. Within just a few block radius is an assortment of restaurants, fast food institutions, fresh fruit stands, doctors offices and banks. If you travel slightly further you will find Seth Low Park the neighborhood playground where residents of all nationalities and ages congregate to play basketball or used the paddle ball courts among other facilities.

Howard Feuer the district manager of Brooklyn Community Board 11 in 2006, was quoted in the New York Times Real Estate section talking about the changes in the community stating, “Take this block the office is on. We have a Russian Pharmacists and Russian shoemaker. He just closed down, but we had a Mexican bodega. We also have a Pakistani who owns a small market. An Italian owns the dry cleaners and the laundromat. And a block from here, we have a mosque.”

School District: 

The Bensonhurst area has a total of thirteen elementary schools and their reputation has greatly increased over the last ten years.

For example, in 2006 72 percent of students attending the Bensonhurst School tested met the state’s English language arts standard, compared to 61 percent of students city wide. This percentage is much higher than that of the 2002-2003 academic year where just 47 percent of student tested met the standard compared to 49 percent city wide.

In addition, there are a variety of other schooling options available in Bensonhurst including a network of private Catholic and Jewish schools.

Other Attractions:

Bensonhurst is known for their two annual Italian festivals, the Feast of Padre Pio in June and the Feast of Santa Rosalia in late August both having religious significance. Historically, Bensonhurst has been known for its Italian nature and even though many Asian immigrants have moved in and there are fewer Italians, people of all nationalities enjoy these Feasts filled with traditional Italian food. 

Travel Time: 

The D, M and N subway lines all run through Bensonhurst. The D and N line are the quickest routes into Manhattan, with the MTA estimating the trip from the Bay Parkway D train stop to Grand Street Manhattan at 34 minutes.

Furthermore, there are several bus lines connecting Bensonhurst to Dyker Heights, Borough Hall, Gravesend and more.

The southern end of the neighborhood is lined by the Belt Parkway and connects to the Gowanus Expressway. Although, there is usually plenty of traffic this gives Bensonhurst access to Manhattan, Westchester and New Jersey.

 

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