Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn

Ocean Avenue Footbridge

Sheepshead Bay is a bay separating the mainland of Brooklyn, New York City, from the eastern portion of Coney Island, the latter originally a barrier island but now effectively an extension of the mainland with peninsulas both east (the neighborhood of Manhattan Beach) and west (the neighborhoods of Coney Island and Sea Gate). The mouth of the bay is about 1.0 mile (1.6 km) southwest of Marine Park, Brooklyn. The area is part of Brooklyn Community Board 15[1] and lies east of Gravesend and south of Midwood.

History

Races, circa 1872-1887
Many bungalows like this were built in the 1920s
Plum Beach on Sheepshead Bay, 1973. Photo by Arthur Tress.

The name "Sheepshead Bay" applies to the neighborhood north of the bay as well as the bay itself. Sheepshead Bay was named for the sheepshead,[2] an edible fish found in the bay's waters. The fish, now rare, can still be caught in the local waters occasionally.

The bay itself was originally the easterly entrance to Coney Island Creek, but the filling-in of the central part of this waterway during the 1930s, in conjunction with construction of the Shore Parkway portion of the Belt Parkway, eliminated access to that waterway. At the same time, the bay was widened, deepened, and bulkheaded at its western end. Recreational fishing fleets are now located there, though the fishing fleets have been shrinking every year and are being replaced by dinner boats. Holocaust Memorial Park, located at the western end of the bay, is used throughout the year for commemorative events.

In the last decade of the 20th century, a real estate boom brought the reopening of the landmark Lundy Brothers seafood restaurant, which closed again in 2007; a grocery store now takes its place. Soviet-style restaurants/nightclubs, such as Paradise and Baku Palace, have opened along the waterfront, due to an influx of immigrants from countries comprising the former Soviet Union. Sheepshead Bay has also experienced a growth of condominium developments, and on Emmons Avenue, the northern shoreline street along the bay, are piers boasting an active seafood market and tour boats.

Demographics

As of 2007, there were 123,181 people living in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood. The demographics were 75.4% White, 14.6% Asian, 6.6% Hispanic or Latino, 4.7% African American and 0.2% Native American. Brooklyn's Avenue U Chinatown, which emerged as the second Chinatown of Brooklyn during the late 1990s, is located partially in Sheepshead Bay and partially in nearby Homecrest.[3][4]

Much like the adjacent Brighton Beach neighborhood, Sheepshead Bay is known for its high concentration of immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Other ethnic groups in the area include Albanians, Chinese, Turks and Hispanics.

Transportation, shopping centers, and thoroughfares

Sheepshead Bay, facing east
Minor damage due to Hurricane Sandy
South shore of Sheepshead Bay

New York City Subway service to Sheepshead Bay is provided by the BMT Brighton Line (B Q trains), with local stops at Avenue U and Neck Road, and express/local stops at the Kings Highway and Sheepshead Bay stations.

The main shopping and business thoroughfares are Emmons Avenue, Sheepshead Bay Road, Ocean Avenue, and Nostrand Avenue. Emmons Avenue is at the west end of the shore Greenway which lies between Shore Parkway and Jamaica Bay, connecting eastward and northward to Canarsie and Cross Bay Boulevard. Emmons Avenue is a waterfront road with piers from which yachts and boats offer day trips for fishing and dancing.

Education

Several public schools serve the community: Sheepshead Bay High School (until it closed in 2016), James Madison High School; JHS 14 Shell Bank Intermediate School; The Bay Academy; P.S. 254, P.S. 206, and P.S. 52 (elementary). Private schools in the area include St. Mark's School, St. Edmund's School, and the Brooklyn Amity School. Kingsborough Community College, part of the City University of New York (CUNY) is nearby. Sheepshead Bay is policed by the NYPD's 61st Precinct.[5]

Madison subsection

Madison is a purely residential subsection of Sheepshead Bay, located just south of Midwood. Named after its own James Madison High School, its borders are Kings Highway to the north, Avenue U to the south, Ocean Avenue to the west, and Nostrand Avenue to the east. Madison uses the ZIP code 11229. The area is served by Brooklyn Community Board 15.[6]

Notable people

Elected officials

References

  1. ↑ Brooklyn Community Boards, New York City. Accessed December 31, 2007.
  2. ↑ "The Naming of Sheepshead Bay". BrooklynBased.net. May 2009.
  3. ↑ Chinatowns Of New York City - Wendy Wan-Yin Tan - Google Books. Books.google.com. 2008-08-27. Retrieved 2012-04-06.
  4. ↑ Han, Sallie (1997-02-07). "Avenue U Evolves Into Mein St., U.s.a. - New York Daily News". Articles.nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2012-04-06.
  5. ↑ "61st Precinct". nyc.gov. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Brooklyn Community Boards". nyc.gov. Retrieved December 31, 2007.
  7. ↑ Quindlen, Anna. "Elayne Boosler Cuts Up at Pace", The New York Times, October 12, 1979. Accessed July 26, 2016. "New York is where Elayne got her start. Born in Sheepshead Bay, she says of the preponderance of comic talent from Brooklyn, 'I think it's the urge to escape.'"
  8. ↑ Segal, David. "A Bully Finds a Pulpit on the Web", The New York Times, November 26, 2010. Accessed July 26, 2016. "Vitaly Borker lives in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood of Brooklyn, in a large brick house. His welcome mat is emblazoned with a Russian phrase that roughly translates to 'go away.'"
  9. ↑ Grimes, William (January 29, 2009). "James Brady, Columnist Chronicling the Power Elite, Dies at 80". The New York Times. "James Winston Brady grew up in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, and worked his way through Manhattan College as a copyboy at The Daily News in New York."
  10. ↑ Brinn, David (October 10, 2009). "'Yeah, I'm available for Woody Allen'". The Jerusalem Post. GROWING UP in a Jewish family in Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, New York, helped to form David's sense of humor
  11. ↑ Kuntzman, Gersh. "Andrew Dice Clay returns to Coney Island with an attitude — and an appetite!", New York Daily News, July 21, 2016. Accessed July 26, 2016. "'I got fired for taking too many breaks,' said the comedian, a native of Sheepshead Bay who went on to achieve stardom unimaginable when he was just doing his John Travolta imitation at the now-defunct Pip’s comedy club."
  12. ↑ Michael A. DiSpezio, Amazon.com. Accessed August 3, 2016. "Born in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, Michael is a former marine biologist and lab assistant to Nobel Laureate, Albert Szent-Györgyi."
  13. ↑ Nichols, Joe (June 16, 1963). "AQUEDUCT PAUSES TO SALUTE MR. FITZ; Bettors Forget the Mutuels to Hail Retiring Trainer --Pollingfold Triumphs AQUEDUCT PAUSES TO CHEER MR. FITZ Some Small Delays A Peerless Trainer A Day Like Others". The New York Times. Retrieved November 16, 2009. "Born July 23, 1874, in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn, where he still lives ..."
  14. ↑ Meglin, Nick. "Frank Frazetta at Bat", American Artist, May 1976, Vol. 40 Issue 406, p. 38., Watson-Guptill Publications. Accessed July 26, 2016. "Frazetta was born and raised in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn, and displayed great natural ability in both drawing and athletics at a very early age."
  15. ↑ Curry, Matt (August 4, 2007). "Years after Keith Green's death, recordings released". Maryville Daily Times. Retrieved November 16, 2009. Time magazine called the Sheepshead Bay, N.Y., native a 'pre-pubescent dreamboat' who 'croons in a voice trembling with conviction.'"
  16. ↑ Phillips, Michael (September 26, 2004). "Voicestruck in Philly by Terry Gross". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 16, 2009. "Since going national in 1987, 'Fresh Air' has brought together the Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York, native—electronically, at least."
  17. ↑ Garland Jeffreys - Biography, Billboard (magazine). Accessed August 3, 2016. "Jeffreys was born in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn, New York in 1944. Of African-American, Puerto Rican, and European heritage, he was raised in a multi-cultural household and a neighborhood that was not always accepting of his family's racial diversity."
  18. ↑ Hamill, Denis. "Legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi is a god in Wisconsin, but a hero in Brooklyn, too", New York Daily News, January 14, 2012. Accessed August 3, 2016. "But there should be a big, brawny, larger-than-life Vince Lombardi statue resting on a block of granite here in Sheepshead Bay, where he was born, raised and waked.... 'Vince played football in the street outside,' says Pauline Dalton, 90, wheelchair-bound and finding it hard to speak in the time-warp kitchen of the very house where Lombardi was raised at 2542 E. 14 St."
  19. ↑ Mead, Rebecca. "Mr. Brooklyn; Marty Markowitz-the man, the plan, the arena.", The New Yorker, April 25, 2005. Accessed August 3, 2016. "Markowitz was one of those Brooklyn children who rarely went to Manhattan: he grew up in Crown Heights, where his father worked as a waiter in a kosher delicatessen; his main entertainment was hanging out on the streets with other kids. His father died when he was nine, and several years later Markowitz's widowed mother moved to public housing in Sheepshead Bay with Marty and his two younger sisters."
  20. ↑ Lewis, Brian. "Mazzilli’s son debuts for Brooklyn with a 2-for-4 night", New York Post, June 18, 2013. Accessed August 3, 2016. "Lee was raised on East 12th Street in Sheepshead Bay, and L.J.’s aunt Linda still lives in the neighborhood."
  21. ↑ Butler, Karen (March 19, 2005). "ON 'ICE': Sheepshead Bay native talks of tough workouts for lead in 'Ice Princess'". The Brooklyn Paper. Retrieved November 16, 2009. "When Michelle Trachtenberg was a young girl growing up in Sheepshead Bay, she dreamed of being a championship ice skater like her childhood idols, Michelle Kwan and Oksana Baiul."
  22. ↑ "Congressman Jeffries's Homepage". http://jeffries.house.gov/. Retrieved 2013-03-31. External link in |publisher= (help)
  23. ↑ "Congresswoman Clarke's Homepage". clarke.house.gov/. Retrieved 2013-03-31.
  24. ↑ "Congressman Grimm's Homepage". http://grimm.house.gov/. Retrieved 2013-10-17. External link in |publisher= (help)
  25. ↑ "Councilman Deutsch's Homepage". Council.nyc.gov. Retrieved 2012-04-06.
  26. ↑ "State Senator Felder's Homepage". Retrieved 2013-03-31.
  27. ↑ "State Senator Sampson's Homepage". Retrieved 2013-03-31.
  28. ↑ "State Senator Golden's Homepage". Retrieved 2013-03-31.
  29. ↑ "State Senator Savino's Homepage". Retrieved 2013-03-31.
  30. ↑ "Assemblywoman Weinstein's Homepage". Assembly.state.ny.us. Retrieved 2012-04-06.
  31. ↑ "Assemblyman Cymbrowitz's Homepage". Assembly.state.ny.us. Retrieved 2012-04-06.


Coordinates: 40°34′55.2″N 73°56′31.2″W / 40.582000°N 73.942000°W / 40.582000; -73.942000

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