Bensonhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bordered on the northwest by 14th Avenue, on the northeast by 60th Street, on the southeast by Avenue P and 22nd Avenue (Bay Parkway) and on the southwest by 86th Street. It is adjacent to the neighborhoods of Dyker Heights to the northwest, Borough Park and Mapleton to the northeast, Bath Beach to the southwest, and Gravesend to the southeast.
Bensonhurst contains several major ethnic enclaves. Traditionally, it is known as a Little Italy of Brooklyn.[4] Bensonhurst today is now home to Brooklyn's second Chinatown and has the largest population of residents born in China and Hong Kong of any neighborhood in New York City.[5] The neighborhood accounts for 9.5% of the 330,000 Chinese-born residents of the city, based on data from 2007 to 2011.[6]
Bensonhurst derives its name from Egbert Benson (1789–1866), whose children and grandchildren sold his lands to James D. Lynch, a New York real estate developer. Lynch bought the old farmlands from the Benson family in the mid-1880s, and by 1888, began selling private lots in an area dubbed as Bensonhurst-by-the-Sea, now Bath Beach.[9] The first sale of lands in "The New Seaside Resort" area was advertised in the July 24, 1888, issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.[10]
Through the mid-20th century, Bensonhurst developed as an Italian and Jewish enclave. Despite a wave of commercial development in the 1980s, some land had remained undeveloped by then.[11] By the early 2000s, condominiums were being built in Bensonhurst, and it had turned into a diverse community of Chinese, Mexican, Middle Eastern, and Russian residents.[12] The neighborhood, along with adjoining neighborhoods have been called "Brooklyn's Chinatown".[13]
Demographics
Based on data from the 2020 United States census, the population of Bensonhurst was 104,934, Covering an area of 1,890.81 acres (765.18ha), the neighborhood had a population density of 75.7 inhabitants per acre (48,400/sqmi; 18,700/km2).[2]
The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 43.9% (43,064) Asian, 34.8% (36,545) White, 1.0% (1,078) African American, 0.6% (600) from other races, and 2.5% (2,613) from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 17.2% (18,064) of the population.[3]
The entirety of Community Board 11 had 204,829 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 83.8 years.[14]:2,20 This is higher than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods.[15]:53 (PDF p. 84)[16] Most inhabitants are middle-aged adults and youth: 20% are between the ages of 0–17, 31% between 25 and 44, and 26% between 45 and 64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 8% and 15% respectively.[14]:2
As of 2016, the median household income in Community District 12 was $53,493.[17] In 2018, an estimated 23% of Bensonhurst residents lived in poverty, compared to 21% in all of Brooklyn and 20% in all of New York City. Less than one in ten residents (8%) were unemployed, compared to 9% in the rest of both Brooklyn and New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 52% in Bensonhurst, about the same as the citywide and boroughwide rates of 52% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, as of 2018[update], Bensonhurst is considered to be low-income and not gentrifying relative to the rest of the city.[14]:7
As of the 2020 census data from NYC Dept. Of City Planning, there were 46,000 Asian residents surpassing the remaining White residents of 30,000 to 39,999 for the first time in history. The Hispanic population has also grown significantly to between 10,000 and 19,999 residents.[18][19]
Ethnic enclaves
In the early 20th century, many Italians and Jewish migrants moved into the neighborhood, and prior to World War II, the neighborhood was about equally Jewish and Italian.[20] In the 1940s an influx of immigrants from southern Italy moved in, leaving the area predominantly Italian.
In 2000, the New York City Department of City Planning determined that just over half of the residents were born in another country.[20] By 2013, then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that the city's foreign-born population had reached a record high, and that Bensonhurst had the city's second-highest number of foreign-born people with 77,700 foreign-born immigrants in the neighborhood, just after Washington Heights.[22]
Little Italy
With a large Italian-American population, Bensonhurst is usually considered the main "Little Italy" of Brooklyn.[23][24] The Italian-speaking community was over 20,000 strong in the census of 2000. The Italian-speaking community, though, is becoming "increasingly elderly and isolated, with the small, tight-knit enclave in the city slowly disappearing as they give way to demographic changes."[25] Despite changing demographics over the recent years, Bensonhurst is home to one of the largest Italian speaking communities outside of Italy and is home to the largest Sicilian and Neapolitan speaking communities outside of Sicily and Naples, respectively.
Its main thoroughfare, 18th Avenue (also known as Cristoforo Colombo Boulevard) between roughly 60th Street and Shore Parkway, is lined with predominantly small, Italian family-owned businesses—many of which have remained in the same family for several generations. 86th Street is another popular local thoroughfare, located under the elevated BMT West End Line.[11]
After Italy's World Cup victory in 2006, over 50,000 flocked to 18th Avenue for an all-day party.
The annual Festa di Santa Rosalia (commonly known as "the Feast" to locals), is held on 18th Avenue from Bay Ridge Parkway (75th Street) to 66th Street in late August or early September. "The Feast" is presented by Bensonhurst resident and marketer Franco Corrado, as well as by the Santa Rosalia Society, on 18th Avenue. Born in Rome in 1955, Corrado has been an active social member of the Italian-American community for the past 20 years. St. Rosalia is the patron saint of the city of Palermo and is sometimes venerated as the patron for the entire island of Sicily. The annual end-of-summer celebration attracts thousands. Bensonhurst also hosts a Columbus Day parade.
Like Lower Manhattan's Little Italy, Bensonhurst's Little Italy and its Italian-American population is declining, with the rapid expansion of its Chinatown and Chinese population.[26]
Below the West End Line, served by the Dtrain along 86th Street between 18th Avenue and the intersection with Stillwell Avenue,[28] is a rapidly growing Brooklyn Chinatown.[29][30] In the 2000s it was intermixed with Italian, Jewish, and Russian residents,[31] but in the 2010s, most of the new businesses between 18th Avenue and 25th Avenue, have been Chinese. 86th Street is home to a growing number of Chinese restaurants, including the 86 Wong Chinese Restaurant (one of the earliest Chinese businesses established in Bensonhurst), as well as Chinese grocery stores, salons, bakeries, and other types of businesses.[32] The subway directly connects to Manhattan's Chinatown, and indirectly to the Chinatown in Sunset Park, which is served by the NandWtrains at the 8th Avenue station.
With the large migration of the Cantonese and some Fuzhouese people in Brooklyn now to Bensonhurst, as well as new Chinese immigration, other clusters of Chinese businesses and residences have also started to emerge in other parts of Bensonhurst such as 18th Avenue and Bay Parkway, creating other newer small emerging Chinatowns in Bensonhurst in addition to the one on 86th Street under the D train. These are connected to the Sunset Park Chinatown by the NandWtrains.[33][34][35][36][37][38]
The newly emerging Chinese enclaves in sections of Bensonhurst, and another one in Homecrest/Sheepshead Bay, are primarily Cantonese populated and are more of extensions of the Western Cantonese section of Manhattan's Chinatown or Little Hong Kong / Little Guangdong or Cantonese Town. However, there are also small numbers are Fuzhou- and Mandarin-speakers.
The Flushing-based New World Mall, which owns and operates a Chinese supermarket called Jmart Supermarket inside their shopping center, opened a second branch of Jmart Supermarket in Bensonhurst in 2018. It is the neighborhood's largest Chinese Asian style supermarket.[39] The Jmart is located in a former Waldbaum's.[40]
Bensonhurst's Chinese population was 31,658 in 2015, with this population being primarily Cantonese-speaking from Mainland China's Guangdong Province and Hong Kong. The majority of Brooklyn's Cantonese population is concentrated in Bensonhurst, and is slowly replacing Manhattan's Chinatown as the largest primary Cantonese cultural center in New York City resulting in Bensonhurst increasingly becoming the main largest attraction for newly arriving Cantonese immigrants into New York City with Homecrest/Sheepshead Bay as a smaller secondary attraction.[41]
In 2011, the New York Daily News reported that Manhattan's Chinatown Chinese population dropped from 34,554 to 28,681 from 2000 to 2010, and that it is continuing to decline due to the gentrification going on in Lower Manhattan, which has spurred the increasing growth of newer Chinatowns in Brooklyn including in Queens.[42] As of the 2010s, the current Chinese population in Bensonhurst has grown so much that it is enough to create another large Chinatown surpassing Manhattan's Chinatown and nearly being as big as Sunset Park's Chinatown.[43][44] However, unlike in Sunset Park where the Chinese community is highly concentrated, the Chinese community in Bensonhurst is split into several sections, such as 18th Avenue, Bay Parkway, and 86th Street.[41][45][46]
Brooklyn's Asian population, mainly Chinese, has grown substantially in the Sunset Park area, as well as in Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights, and Borough Park. In Bensonhurst alone, from 2000 to 2010, the Asian population increased by 57%. The study showed that Asians very often live in houses that are divided into studio apartments, which means the Asian population could be higher than indicated on censuses.[42][47]
Based on data from the 2020 United States census, the Asian population in Bensonhurst grew to 46,000, surpassing the Asian populations in Sunset Park of 31,000 and in the original Manhattan's Chinatown of 27,000. Bensonhurst has the third-largest Asian population of any New York City neighborhood, behind Elmhurst with a population in excess of 55,000 and Flushing with 54,000. While the original Chinatown in Manhattan saw a decline in the Asian population, all these other neighborhoods have continued to experience Asian population increases.[48][49]
For the first time as of the 2020 census data from NYC Dept. Of City Planning, the Asian population(46,000 residents) in Bensonhurst now constitute a more than 50% majority in the neighborhood now surpassing the remaining White population (30,000 to 39,999 residents). Nearby adjacent neighborhoods of Gravesend has 26,700 Asian residents and Dyker Heights has between 20,000 and 29,999 Asian residents and Bath Beach has between 10,000 and 19,999 Asian residents. The Asian population in the Dyker Heights/Bensonhurst/Gravesend/Bath Beach area all together approximately made up around roughly 102,700 residents more or less and remain primarily Chinese speaking.[18][19][50]
Bensonhurst and the nearby neighborhood of Bath Beach collectively have the largest concentration of Hong Kong immigrants in New York City.[44]
Land use and terrain
Many of Bensonhurst's houses are attached or semidetached, though fully detached houses can be found in the west near Dyker Heights. These are mostly 20th-century houses made of brick, stucco, and stone, with aluminum siding facades. There are also clusters of apartment buildings throughout the neighborhood. After rezoning in the 2000s, many short single-family homes were torn down[55] and replaced by three-story brick apartment buildings and multi-family condominiums.[20]
They are sometimes called "Fedders Houses" for their distinctive, standard air conditioner sleeves.[56] From 2002 to 2005, 1,200 new housing units in Bensonhurst were approved to accommodate the growing population, which includes many foreign-born residents. With an increase in the area's real estate values, long-time homeowners sold their houses.[20]
As no official neighborhood designations are used in New York City, Bensonhurst does not have any official boundaries.[57] Still, parts of Bath Beach, Mapleton, Dyker Heights, Gravesend, and Borough Park are sometimes considered parts of Bensonhurst.[20][58] However, Bensonhurst-proper includes the area bounded by 86th Street, 14th Avenue, 60th Street, McDonald Avenue, Avenue P, Stillwell Ave. and Bay Parkway.[59]
Police and crime
The NYPD's 62nd Precinct is located at 1925 Bath Avenue.[7]
The 62nd Precinct ranked 4th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. Historically, Bensonhurst has had lower crime than other neighborhoods in Brooklyn, though its mostly White and Asian population has made the area susceptible to racially-motivated crimes, such as the murder of Yusef Hawkins in 1989.[60]
As of 2018[update], with a non-fatal assault rate of 23 per 100,000 people, Bensonhurst's rate of violent crimes per capita is less than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 152 per 100,000 people is lower than that of the city as a whole.[14]:8
The Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 87.4% between 1990 and 2018. The precinct reported 2 murders, 20 rapes, 120 robberies, 148 felony assaults, 178 burglaries, 482 grand larcenies, and 67 grand larcenies auto in 2018.[61]
As of 2018[update], preterm births and births to teenage mothers are less common in Bensonhurst than in other places citywide. In Bensonhurst, there were 84 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 12.5 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide).[14]:11 Bensonhurst has a high population of residents who are uninsured, or who receive healthcare through Medicaid.[65] In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 13%, which is higher than the citywide rate of 12%.[14]:14
The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant, in Bensonhurst is 0.007 milligrams per cubic metre (7.0×10−9oz/cuft), lower than the citywide and boroughwide averages.[14]:9 Sixteen percent of Bensonhurst residents are smokers, which is higher the city average of 14% of residents being smokers.[14]:13 In Bensonhurst, 21% of residents are obese, 12% are diabetic, and 16% have high blood pressure—compared to the citywide averages of 24%, 11%, and 28% respectively.[14]:16 14% of local children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%.[14]:12
Ninety percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is slightly higher than the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 65% of residents described their health as "good", "very good", or "excellent", less than the city's average of 78%.[14]:13 For every supermarket in Bensonhurst, there are 27 bodegas.[14]:10
Bensonhurst generally has a lower ratio of college-educated residents than the rest of the city as of 2018[update]. While 36% of residents age 25 and older have a college education or higher, 26% have less than a high school education and 38% are high school graduates or have some college education. By contrast, 40% of Brooklynites and 38% of city residents have a college education or higher.[14]:6 The percentage of Bensonhurst students excelling in math has been increasing, with math achievement rising from 50 percent in 2000 to 71 percent in 2011, though reading achievement within the same time period stayed steady at 52%.[73]
Bensonhurst's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is lower than the rest of New York City. In Bensonhurst, 12% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per school year, compared to the citywide average of 20% of students.[15]:24 (PDF p. 55)[14]:6 85% of high school students in Bensonhurst graduate on time, higher than the citywide average of 75% of students.[14]:6
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn operates Catholic schools in the borough. Our Lady of Guadalupe School in Bensonhurst was nicknamed "OLG" in the neighborhood. In 2012 the school had 217 students, but by 2019 enrollment was 120. That year its fund balance was $559,633 and its deficit was $215,377.[76] It closed in 2019.[77]
Libraries
The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) operates two libraries in Bensonhurst. The Highlawn branch is located at 1664 West 13th Street, near the intersection with Kings Highway. The branch was renovated in 2005–2006. Unlike most other BPL branches, it contains a circular reading room with multicolored walls.[78]
The New Utrecht branch is located at 1743 86th Street, near Bay 17th Street. It was founded in 1894 as the Free Library of the Town of New Utrecht and became a BPL branch in 1901. The current building opened in 1956.[79]
The 1991 Steven Seagal action movie Out For Justice took place in the Italian-American neighborhood, where the opening scenes were filmed along 18th Avenue and 86th Street.
Batman villain Harley Quinn has been established as being from Bensonhurst, going home to visit her family for Christmas in Gotham City Sirens #7.[85] An episode of the animated series named after the character also features her returning to visit her family in Bensonhurst following a falling out with the rest of her crew.
Manhattan's Chinatown is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, bordering the Lower East Side to its east, Little Italy to its north, Civic Center to its south, and Tribeca to its west. With an estimated population of 90,000 to 100,000 people, Chinatown is home to the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere. Manhattan's Chinatown is also one of the oldest Chinese ethnic enclaves. The Manhattan Chinatown is one of nine Chinatown neighborhoods in New York City, as well as one of twelve in the New York metropolitan area, which contains the largest ethnic Chinese population outside of Asia, comprising an estimated 893,697 uniracial individuals as of 2017.
Little Italy is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City, known for its former Italian population. It is bounded on the west by Tribeca and Soho, on the south by Chinatown, on the east by the Bowery and Lower East Side, and on the north by Nolita.
Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and the intersection of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue at its core is the third-busiest in New York City, behind Times Square and Herald Square.
Corona is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City. It borders Flushing and Flushing Meadows–Corona Park to the east, Jackson Heights to the west, Forest Hills and Rego Park to the south, Elmhurst to the southwest, and East Elmhurst to the north. Corona's main thoroughfares include Corona Avenue, Roosevelt Avenue, Northern Boulevard, Junction Boulevard, and 108th Street.
Elmhurst is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City. It is bounded by Roosevelt Avenue on the north; the Long Island Expressway on the south; Junction Boulevard on the east; and the New York Connecting Railroad on the west.
The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded approximately by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park and Fifth Avenue to the west. The area incorporates several smaller neighborhoods, including Lenox Hill, Carnegie Hill, and Yorkville. Once known as the Silk Stocking District, it has long been the most affluent neighborhood in New York City.
Borough Park is a neighborhood in the southwestern part of the borough of Brooklyn, in New York City. The neighborhood is bordered by Bensonhurst to the south, Dyker Heights to the southwest, Sunset Park to the west, Kensington and Green-Wood Cemetery to the northeast, Flatbush to the east, and Mapleton to the southeast.
Dyker Heights is a predominantly residential neighborhood in the southwest corner of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. It is on a hill between Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Borough Park, and Gravesend Bay. The neighborhood is bounded by 7th and 14th Avenues, 65th Street, and the Belt Parkway on the west, east, north, and south, respectively.
Gravesend is a neighborhood in the south-central section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, on the southwestern edge of Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. It is bounded by the Belt Parkway to the south, Bay Parkway to the west, Avenue P to the north, and Ocean Parkway to the east.
East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem, Finnish Harlem or El Barrio, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City, north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East and Harlem Rivers to the east and north. Despite its name, it is generally not considered to be a part of Harlem proper, but it is one of the neighborhoods included in Greater Harlem.
Sunset Park is a neighborhood in the western part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bounded by Park Slope and Green-Wood Cemetery to the north, Borough Park to the east, Bay Ridge to the south, and New York Harbor to the west. The neighborhood is named for a public park of the same name that covers 24.5 acres (9.9 ha) between Fifth and Seventh Avenues from 41st to 44th Street. The area north of 36th Street is alternatively known as Greenwood Heights, while the section north of 20th Street is also called South Slope.
Bath Beach is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, located at the southwestern edge of the borough on Gravesend Bay. The neighborhood borders Bensonhurst and New Utrecht to the northeast across 86th Street; Dyker Beach Park and Golf Course to the northwest across 14th Avenue; and Gravesend to the east across Stillwell Avenue.
Mott Street is a narrow but busy thoroughfare that runs in a north–south direction in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is regarded as Chinatown's unofficial "Main Street". Mott Street runs from Bleecker Street in the north to Chatham Square in the south. It is a one-way street with southbound-running vehicular traffic only.
The demographics of Brooklyn reveal a very diverse borough of New York City and a melting pot for many cultures, like the city itself. Since 2010, the population of Brooklyn was estimated by the Census Bureau to have increased 3.5% to 2,592,149 as of 2013, representing 30.8% of New York City's population, 33.5% of Long Island's population, and 13.2% of New York State's population. If the boroughs of New York City were separate cities, Brooklyn would be the third largest city in the United States after Los Angeles and Chicago.
Little Fuzhou is a neighborhood in the Two Bridges and Lower East Side areas of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States. Little Fuzhou constitutes a portion of the greater Manhattan Chinatown, home to the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere. Manhattan's Chinatown is also one of the oldest Chinese ethnic enclaves.
Since its founding in 1625 by Dutch traders as New Amsterdam, New York City has been a major destination for immigrants of many nationalities who have formed ethnic enclaves, neighborhoods dominated by one ethnicity. Freed African American slaves also moved to New York City in the Great Migration and the later Second Great Migration and formed ethnic enclaves. These neighborhoods are set apart from the main city by differences such as food, goods for sale, or even language. Ethnic enclaves provide inhabitants security in work and social opportunities, but limit economic opportunities, do not encourage the development of English speaking, and keep immigrants in their own culture.
Avenue U is a commercial street located in Brooklyn, New York City. This avenue is a main thoroughfare throughout its length. Avenue U begins at Stillwell Avenue in Gravesend and ends at Bergen Avenue in Bergen Beach, while serving the other Brooklyn neighborhoods of Gravesend, Homecrest, Sheepshead Bay, Marine Park, and Mill Basin along its route.
The first Brooklyn Chinatown, was originally established in the Sunset Park area of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is one of the largest and fastest growing ethnic Chinese enclaves outside of Asia, as well as within New York City itself. Because this Chinatown is rapidly evolving into an enclave predominantly of Fuzhou immigrants from Fujian Province in China, it is now increasingly common to refer to it as the Little Fuzhou or Fuzhou Town of the Western Hemisphere; as well as the largest Fuzhou enclave of New York City.
The New York metropolitan area is home to the largest and most prominent ethnic Chinese population outside of Asia, hosting Chinese populations representing all 34 provincial-level administrative units of China. The Chinese American population of the New York City metropolitan area was an estimated 893,697 as of 2017, constituting the largest and most prominent metropolitan Asian national diaspora outside Asia. New York City itself contains by far the highest ethnic Chinese population of any individual city outside Asia, estimated at 628,763 as of 2017.
There are multiple Chinatowns in the borough of Queens in New York City. The original Queens Chinatown emerged in Flushing, initially as a satellite of the original Manhattan Chinatown, before evolving its own identity, surpassing in scale the original Manhattan Chinatown, and subsequently, in turn, spawning its own satellite Chinatowns in Elmhurst, Corona, and eastern Queens. As of 2023, illegal Chinese immigration to New York has accelerated, and its Flushing neighborhood has become the present-day global epicenter receiving Chinese immigration as well as the international control center directing such migration. As of 2024, a significant new wave of Chinese Muslims is fleeing religious persecution in northwestern China’s Xinjiang Province and seeking religious freedom in New York, and concentrating in Queens.
↑ Holter, Lauren. "City Living: Bensonhurst, Brooklyn's Little Italy, is now teeming with diversity"Archived August 28, 2016, at the Wayback Machine , AM New York, February 11, 2015. Accessed August 21, 2016. "The neighborhood's Italian roots are still visible in the many eateries and specialty shops nestled along the tree-lined streets of Brooklyn's Little Italy, including Lenny's Pizza, made famous by its cameo in the opening scene of Saturday Night Fever. However, an influx of Chinese, Russian, Mexican and Middle Eastern immigrants has diversified the area for a few decades."
↑ Robbins, Liz. "With an Influx of Newcomers, Little Chinatowns Dot a Changing Brooklyn"Archived October 12, 2017, at the Wayback Machine , The New York Times, April 15, 2015. Accessed August 26, 2016. "As the sidewalks on Eighth Avenue overflow with new arrivals in Sunset Park, Brooklyn's first Chinatown, and grocery stores proliferate along 86th Street in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn's second Chinatown, immigrants have been pushing southeast toward the ocean. ... Bensonhurst has the largest number of Chinese-born residents of any neighborhood in the city, with 31,658, narrowly edging the populations in Flushing, Queens, and Sunset Park, according to a 2013 city report that offered the most recent data on immigrant New Yorkers."
↑ Pierre-Pierre, Gary. "Neighborhood Report: Bensonhurst; When Signs Are Only In Russian",The New York Times, April 17, 1994. Accessed January 15, 2023. "For decades the tree-shaded streets of Bensonhurst were Italian-American enclaves, and mom-and-pop stores anchored the business hub along 86th Street. But waves of Asian, Hispanic and Russian immigrants have changed the mix, both residential and commercial, inevitably creating some friction.... About 20,000 Russians have moved into the area in the last few years."
↑ Berman, Eliza. "Why Margot Robbie Thought Her Career Was Over After Making The Wolf of Wall Street", Time, August 4, 2016. Accessed September 6, 2016. "Naomi Lapaglia, the foul-mouthed, platinum-haired lover-turned-wife she played in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street, is from Bay Ridge, just a handful of blocks away from Bensonhurst. That's the birthplace of Harley Quinn, the bonkers baddie Robbie portrays in DC Comics' supervillain convention Suicide Squad, out Friday."
↑ West, Abby. "General Hospital: Maurice Benard on Sonny's journey home to Brooklyn"Archived December 1, 2019, at the Wayback Machine , Entertainment Weekly, November 28, 2011. Accessed September 6, 2016. "'I'm very excited about the stuff I've done in the last month, when Sonny and Kate [Kelly Sullivan] go to Bensonhurst,' says Benard of episodes that kick off today and deal with Sonny's childhood abuse at the hands of his stepfather.... Sonny and Kate leave their upstate New York town for the Brooklyn neighborhood they grew up in as part of an effort to help Sonny – who recently spiraled out of control after Brenda (Vanessa Marcil) left him – deal with his anger/abandonment issues."
↑ Atkinson, Michael. "Reel Brooklyn: The French Connection: Gravesend/Bensonhurst"Archived September 16, 2016, at the Wayback Machine , Brooklyn Magazine, August 15, 2016. Accessed September 6, 2016. "Friedkin shot and cut this chaos so clearly it practically serves as its own map: after a French hood takes a shot at Hackman's hothead from a rooftop in Gravesend, he boards the elevated B train at Bay 50th Street station, and Hackman grabs someone's LeMans and follows the train at illegal speeds under the platforms, up Stillwell Avenue, north onto 86th Street and then New Utrecht Avenue. The train doesn't stop—the assassin makes the driver blow through the stations, after offing a few transit cops—and the LeMans races it across Bensonhurst for some 26 blocks, through a hairy litany of crashes, near-misses, screaming pedestrians, and flat-out outlaw driving, until the runaway train meets another at 62nd Street Station, and crashes."
↑ Boyar, Jay. "Dice Man's Ford Fairlane Is One For The Junkyard", Orlando Sentinel, July 13, 1990. Accessed September 6, 2016. "In The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, Clay plays the title character, a Dice-like Los Angeles detective (by way of Bensonhurst, N.Y.) who specializes in solving crimes involving the rock-music industry."
↑ Frishberg, Hannah. "Red Hot Chili Peppers Release Homage to Saturday Night Fever, Filmed in Bensonhurst (NSFW)", Bklyner.com, September 14, 2016. Accessed December 25, 2023. "The four minute 28-second video is a surreal homage to the 1977 cult classic Saturday Night Fever and is shot at the same spots on the Bath Beach-Bensonhurst border, under the elevated subway tracks."
↑ Barron, James; Stevens, Kimberly; and Brescia, Joe. "Public Lives"Archived September 22, 2019, at the Wayback Machine , The New York Times, May 29, 1998. Accessed September 21, 2019. "Steve Augeri, who sang with bands like Tall Stories and Tyketto in Manhattan in the 1980s, had all but given up on a regular spot with a major group. To pay the bills, he became a house painter in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, then a repairman for the Gap in Manhattan."
↑ Martin, Douglas (July 28, 2002). "Millie Deegan, 82, Pioneer In Women's Baseball League". The New York Times. Retrieved September 22, 2009. Mildred Eleanor Deegan was born on Dec. 11, 1919, in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bensonhurst.... She excelled in track and field at Lincoln High School, and after graduation played amateur softball with a team called the Americanettes.
↑ Rosenblum, Constance. "Brooklyn boy grows up and OUT"Archived November 24, 2021, at the Wayback Machine , New York Daily News, January 30, 1977. Accessed August 24, 2020. "These kids adore Pumping Iron, and what they love best about it is Lou Ferrigno, a two-time Mr. Universe from Bensonhurst, who is featured in the movie."
↑ Mancari, Jim. "Like Father, Like Son In the Franco Family"Archived September 22, 2019, at the Wayback Machine , The Tablet (Brooklyn), June 21, 2012. Accessed September 21, 2019. "One of those ballplayers was J.J. Franco, the son of long-time New York Mets lefty relief pitcher John Franco. John, a Bensonhurst native, spent 21 years in professional baseball – 14 with the Mets."
↑ Grimes, William. "Vincent Gardenia, Character Actor, Is Dead at 71"Archived May 24, 2020, at the Wayback Machine , The New York Times, December 10, 1992. Accessed August 24, 2020. "Vincent Gardenia, a character actor known for his work in theater and television and his supporting roles in the films Bang the Drum Slowly and Moonstruck, was found dead yesterday in his hotel room in Philadelphia. He was 71 years old and lived in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn."
↑ Barnes, Mike. Family Ties Creator Gary David Goldberg Dies at 68"Archived February 24, 2019, at the Wayback Machine , The Hollywood Reporter, June 23, 2013. Accessed August 24, 2020. "Goldberg was born on June 25, 1944, in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn and raised in a noisy apartment building (think the Kramdens' place in The Honeymooners) that was crowded with his caring, extended family."
↑ Firestone, David. "Public Lives; An Amiable Defender of Colleges Under Fire"Archived August 12, 2019, at the Wayback Machine , The New York Times, February 6, 1998. Accessed September 21, 2019. "Mr. Goldstein, 65, is a bearish man with a slow, earnest speaking style and the sure-footed Brooklyn instincts of a politician rather than an educator. Born in Bensonhurst, he worked his way up through CUNY from an instructor's post, and long ago decided that he preferred the backslap to the cannon-fire political style practiced by Mr. Giuliani."
↑ Houberman, J. "The Goulden Age"Archived February 28, 2021, at the Wayback Machine , The Village Voice, April 10, 2007. Accessed August 26, 2020. "Yeah, baby! Gould rocketed out of nowhere (or rather, Bensonhurst by way of Broadway) to the fifth spot on the 1970 exhibitor's poll of box-office stars."
↑ Furse, Jane H. "N.Y.-born funnyman kills self, cops say"Archived May 16, 2022, at the Wayback Machine , New York Daily News, March 12, 2007. Accessed August 26, 2020. "Jeni, who grew up in Bensonhurst and graduated from Hunter College, moved to the West Coast years ago, but would stop into the club when he was in New York and perform sometimes."
↑ Alexander, John. "Beloved Brooklyn-based TV series Welcome Back, Kotter debuted 44 years ago"Archived August 27, 2020, at the Wayback Machine , Brooklyn Reporter, September 9, 2019. Accessed August 26, 2020. "The show debuted on Sept. 9, 1975. Comedian Gabe Kaplan played title character Gabe Kotter, who returns to teach at his alma mater. Kaplan grew up in Bensonhurst and attended New Utrecht High School, which doubled as the fictional James Buchanan High in the TV series."
↑ Harris, Elizabeth A. "Not All Make the Cut in a City Filled With Landmarks"Archived November 12, 2020, at the Wayback Machine , The New York Times, October 1, 2012. Accessed August 26, 2020. "Some have sought, for example, an evaluation of a cheerless little spot underneath a bridge, or a seemingly unremarkable house in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, which happened to be the childhood home of the talk-show host Larry King."
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