Formal Institutions in Bay Ridge

Bay Ridge is located in the southwest corner of Brooklyn. The borders of Bay Ridge are the Gowanus Expressway to the north, Shore Road to the west and southwest, Dahl Green Place to the southeast, and 7th Avenue to the northeast. There is not a big Asian population in the area, but there are significant numbers of Middle Eastern and Arabic people and some Chinese.

Many of the institutions in Bay Ridge cater to all ethnicities, so there are not many Asian-oriented places aside from a few restaurants, markets, dry cleaners, and nail salons. Within the five categories of formal institutions: schools, libraries, health centers, community-outreach centers, and cultural centers, the research gathered below shows the importance of an Asian presence in these multi-cultural institutions.

Researchers: Melissa Cruz & Helena Mapoy

==School==

===Fort Hamilton High School===

Fort Hamilton High School is the main high school of the district, located within the heart of Bay Ridge at 8301 Shore Road.

The school’s mission statement is: to provide all students, including ELL, instructional support services students, and at-risk students, with “Excellence in Education.” The students and staff work hard to meet the academic challenges of the 21st century. The development of teaching and learning is a prime goal of the school’s plan for enhancing scholastic achievement and student attendance. The school’s philosophy is that all students have the capacity to succeed and realize their potential in an encouraging and nurturing yet challenging learning environment. The entire school community is committed to raising standards, supporting co- and extra-curricular activities, applying learning to real life experiences, and preparing all students to function productively in the post-secondary world.((“Overview” <http://schools.nyc.gov/SchoolPortals/20/K490/AboutUs/Overview/Our+Mission.htm>))

According to the principal, “Striving for excellence is the ongoing mission of the Fort Hamilton High School family.  Daily, our administrative and teaching staff prepares students to meet, and ultimately exceed, the academic challenges of the State Education Department’s performance standards and assessments.  As educators, we teach, while our students learn to become literate and productive citizens of the twenty-first century. Parents, as well, are an integral component in their children’s education.  We welcome their input and hope to enlighten them as to the changes that have taken place across the curriculum in order to prepare our students for graduation.  It is important that they work hand-in-hand with the school as partners. At Fort Hamilton High School, our focus is quality instruction, provided in an environment safe and conducive to learning with mutual respect for all.  It is with great admiration that I acquaint you with the many facets of the “jewel in the crown” of Bay Ridge and the New York City Public High Schools:  Fort Hamilton High School.((“From the Principal’s Desk” <http://schools.nyc.gov/SchoolPortals/20/K490/TopLinks/Message+from+the+Principal.htm>))

Demographic information on the NYC Department of Education website shows that the percentage of Asian or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students has increased over the past three school years, from 27.4% to 29.6%, a significant portion of the overall school population.((“CEP School Demographics and Accountability Snapshot 2010-2011” <http://schools.nyc.gov/documents/oaosi/cepdata/2010-11/cepdata_K490.pdf>)) A possible cause could be that the increased Asian population in Bay Ridge led to the increase in the school, which is the zone school for the Bay Ridge district. Students of Fort Hamilton High School embrace and spread the ideas of different cultures. There are multiple culture clubs, including ones geared towards the Asian community such as the Arabic Club, the Chinese Culture Club, the South Asian Culture Club, and the Anime Club.((“Clubs and Organizations” <http://schools.nyc.gov/SchoolPortals/20/K490/Students/ClubsOrganizations/default.htm>)) The school also provides ESL (English as a Second Language) courses and the St. John’s University High School Extension Program provides students with the opportunity to take college-level Chinese courses. While non-native English speakers are encouraged to continue studying their native language, they are at least required to participate in ESL courses.((“ESL”<http://schools.nyc.gov/SchoolPortals/20/K490/Academics/ESL/default.htm>))

==Library/Community Center==

===Brooklyn Public Library Bay Ridge Branch===

The Brooklyn Public Library Bay Ridge Branch is located at 7223 Ridge Boulevard at 73rd Street. The library was first founded by the Bay Ridge Reading Club in 1880 near Ovington Avenue, but the original library building on the present-day site was not constructed until 1896. It was incorporated into the Brooklyn Public Library system in 1901 and, at the time, served a neighborhood of 12,000 people of forty-four different nationalities, mostly European. The building was demolished and rebuilt by May 1960.

Today the Bay Ridge Branch Library serves a larger but still diverse population of 42,000. In addition to European populations that still remain, Asians are also present in the neighborhood such as Arabs, Chinese, and Koreans.((“Local History History & Photos” <http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/branch_library_history.jsp?branchpageid=276>))

 

After speaking to the librarians, we found that the majority of people that use the library are indeed Asian. The librarian observed that about 40-50% of the surrounding neighborhood was made up of Asian, encompassing all types and not just East Asians. The library has services specific to the needs of its Asian readers.There are sections dedicated to multilingual materials, including two book shelves dedicated to Chinese Literature, another shelf for Arabic literature, as well as the Korean and Urdu languages.

The library provides English classes for new immigrants and an English conversation group for them to practice speaking English with others. Chinese New Year programs are held, featuring theatre troupes, and frequent karaoke events take place. Two of the employees at the library, as well as some volunteers, are Asian and serve as a way of communicating with non-English speaking Asian visitors. Computers can also be used for self-checkout, and visitors have the language option of English, Arabic, Chinese, or Russian.

Interview with Ms. Xiaoyan Zhou

==Health Center==

===Ben Sinai Medical Center===

The Ben Sinai Medical Center is located at 6903 4th Avenue right down the street from the Bay Ridge Av. subway station on the R line. The majority of patients are Arabic or Middle Eastern, and most information from pamphlets is in Arabic. This caters to the huge Arabic and Middle Eastern population along 4th Avenue where many have opened businesses. The Ben Sinai Medical Center was established in February of 2000 with a mission to provide comprehensive medical care to members of the Bay Ridge Community. Led by Dr. Hossam Amin, Ben Sinai is committed to providing patients with top of the line medical care by a group of highly qualified physicians.

Services include:

•Internal Medicine: Hossam Amin, MD, FCCP
•Pulmonary Diseases: Hossam Amin, MD, FCCP
•Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine: Ashraf Elshafei, MD
•Medical Weight Management: H. Amin, MD & A. Elshafei, MD
•Physical Therapy: Gamal Moussa, PT, PhD
•Gastroenterology: Mohamed Mansour
•Cardiology: Abdul Malik, MD & Sudhesh Srivastava, MD
•Podiatry: Scott Gawlik, D.P.M
•Imaging Studies/Ultra-sonography

The Vision of Ben Sinai is:
1.To provide affordable medical care to all members of the community, regardless of their ability to pay.
2.To create a business module which inspires members of the community to grow.
3.To establish a network between the Ben Sinai staff and members of the community.
4.To help provide jobs for members of the community.((“The Ben Sinai Mission Statement” <http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=319633539031>))

The Ben Sinai Medical Center services a large Arabic population because of its convenient location on 4^th Avenue, practically right next to the R train subway entrance. This makes the medical center more accessible. It also appeals to the Middle Eastern population because the majority of the medical staff at the Ben Sinai Medical Center is Middle Eastern. Thus, the growing Arabic and Middle Eastern population and businesses along 4^th Avenue are attracted to this particular medical center, which perhaps they trust because of common cultural ideals and practices.

==Cultural Center==

===Original Taekwon-do/MMA & Fitness Center===

Original Taekwon-do/MMA & Fitness Center is located in northern Bay Ridge on the 2nd floor of 505 Ovington Avenue. This fitness center offers services in various martial arts, including Taekwon-do, cardio kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and personal training. There are three different branches of the school, one in Park Slope, one in Sunset Park, and one in Bay Ridge. The schools teach the Korean culture of taekwondo, like the five ideals preached by the  founder General Choi Hong Hi: courtesy, integrity, respect, self-control, and abominable spirit. According to Instructor Knappenberger, the school is a center that teaches the morals and traditions of Asian martial arts, which enable people to live humble and fullfilling lives. The goal is to spread taekwondo, to spread the art as a combination of the physical and moral culture.

“Christopher Knappenberger is a retired New York City police officer with over 30 years martial arts experience. He is a certified 5th degree black belt with the ITF and has attended numerous training seminars. He also holds a 5th degree black belt in Kardo Jitsu Ryu and has studied the Philippine arts. In addition to teaching for the past 24 years, he works with officers in the NYC Police Department on self-defense and hand to hand combat, as well as use of the baton. He is known for his strong fighting skill, gentle spirit and concern for his students.”((“Instructors” <http://www.originaltaekwon-do.com/index-2.html>))

He believes that Asian martial arts, as well as this fitness center, give people a good sense of morality and community. Below is some information provided by the school:

 

Original Taekwon-do/MMA Fitness Center Pamphlet

The Philosophy of TKD

Etiquette of TKD

ITF

Students of the school are predominantly from Bay Ridge, but others come from other neighborhoods. They are generally from the middle class but there are people of all different ethnicities. There are some Russians kids, Chinese kids, Vietnamese kids, Arab kids, Italian kids, and even African kids. The instructors agree that there are more East Asians in Sunset Park than in Bay Ridge, which predominantly Arabic. They have observed a growing Asian population in Sunset Park, as well as a lot more people in the parks, in Leif Ericson Park and such. However, it is unclear whether the Asians in the Bay Ridge parks are coming from Sunset Park just for the park or if they are actually from the Bay Ridge.

Interview with Instructor Christopher Knappenberger