P.S. 971 Rising
The city is in the process of building a new public school at the corner of 63rd Street and 4th Avenue in Bay Ridge. The new building, which is already topped out at four stories, will house P.S. 971, a new 379-seat early childhood center. The school, which serves children in pre-K through second grade,…
The city is in the process of building a new public school at the corner of 63rd Street and 4th Avenue in Bay Ridge. The new building, which is already topped out at four stories, will house P.S. 971, a new 379-seat early childhood center. The school, which serves children in pre-K through second grade, is expected to open for the 2010 school year. GMAP P*Shark DOB
When I was growing up in the 1950’s on 43rd Street above 4th Avenue, I always considered that I lived in Bay Ridge. In fact, St. Michael’s RC Church on 4th Avenue & 42nd Street was always referred to as ‘St. Michaels – Bay Ridge’ to distinguish it from another church with the same name in downtown Brooklyn.
Geographically, the actual ‘ridge’ begins along 36th Street where the land rises up to form a ridge (moraine), peaked at 60th Street, and continued south almost to the Narrows.
The change in political nomenclature came about in the 1960s. In the late ’60s and early ’70s, the federal government declared the area around Sunset Park a Poverty Zone because of the influx of poor Hispanics. The older residents of the area resented this label as it had an obvious negative connotation and did affect real estate values. The residents of the OLPH parish neighborhood never forgave then-Congressman Hugh Carey for this little bit of federal largesse.
The ‘Al Smith Democratic’ residents of the 70s and 80s began calling the neighborhood to their north ‘Sunset Park’ and redefined ‘Bay Ridge’ as that area to the south that was not in the federal Poverty Zone. Simple rule at the time: if an Puerto Rican lived on the block, it wasn’t Bay Ridge.
63rd Street at 4th Avenue is nowadays commonly considered “Sunset Park.” However, it is most accurately described as “the border of Sunset Park and Bay Ridge.” BTW, 63rd Street between 4th & 5th Avenues is THE most beautiful, and nicest, block in Sunset Park. (do a google maps street view, zip 11220) 100% uniform, bayfronted, 3-story limestones with tall stoops on a tree-lined block, no apartment buildings. This school will bring more foot traffic to the very peaceful block, but really, little kids and their parents are always fine. The building that formerly occupied the site was an abandoned men’s clothing store, a neighborhood eyesore. Overall, this is a positive addition.
That’s actually Bay Ridge. Much of what is now considered Bay Ridge is actually a neighborhood called Fort Hamiltion and a smaller area called Ovington Village.
this is not Bay Ridge!
Bay Ridge is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, USA. It is bound by 65th Street on the north, Interstate 278 on the east, and the Belt Parkway-Shore Road on the west.