Sunset Park

Sunset Park

Dutch settlers acquired portions of Sunset Park from the Canarsee Indians in the 1640s and began farming along the waterfront.

Irish immigrants became the first wave of new settlers to the area in the 1840s when they were fleeing the potato famine. They were joined by Polish, Norwegian and Finnish immigrants in the late 1800s when nearly all of the neighborhood’s residential construction occurred.

Sunset Park was changed forever when Irving T. Bush purchased oceanfront property and opened Bush Terminal, nicknamed “Bush’s Folly” because few thought it could compete with Manhattan’s ports. Bush’s initial warehouse, single pier, tugboat and old railroad engine paved the way for what became the largely successful 200-acre complex of piers, warehouses, display rooms and factory lofts.

Italian dock workers settled in the area for the ample work from the terminal that expanded in 1902.

The neighborhood eventually declined by the 1930s and into the 1940s though, when the Third Avenue elevated line halted during the Depression and the Gowanus Expressway split the area’s industrial section from its residential.

After World War II, many older residents moved to the suburbs and their homes were filled with Puerto Rican immigrants eager to work but corruption in the Federal Housing Administration and real-estate and banking industries led to abandonment of homes. In addition, much of the maritime industry began moving to New Jersey at the time.

Bush Terminal was renamed Industry City in the 1960s in a revitalization attempt. Then in 1969, the Lutheran Medical Center purchased an abandoned factory from the city for one dollar and spent more than $70 million renovating the property for a center that helped local nonprofit organizations renovate 500 housing units.

Sunset Park’s rebound was evident in the 1980s and 1990s when more immigrants from Latin America and Asia moved into the neighborhood. Commercial revival increased when the Brooklyn Army Terminal, which was deactivated in the 1970s, was reopened in 1987 for light industry and bodegas, restaurants and retail stores opened up along the neighborhood blocks.

A view of Manhattan framed through the trees of the 25-acre Sunset Park, the neighborhood’s namesake.
A view of Manhattan framed through the trees of the 25-acre Sunset Park, the neighborhood’s namesake.
St. Michael’s Church seen from the park. The landmarked building on Fourth Avenue is a Sunset Park staple with its dome seen reaching into the sky from blocks away.
St. Michael’s Church seen from the park. The landmarked building on Fourth Avenue is a Sunset Park staple with its dome seen reaching into the sky from blocks away.
A skater in the middle of a trick in front of the landmarked Sunset Play Center in the park off Seventh Avenue. The center holds several amenities including one of Brooklyn’s few outdoor pools.
A skater in the middle of a trick in front of the landmarked Sunset Play Center in the park off Seventh Avenue. The center holds several amenities including one of Brooklyn’s few outdoor pools.
A sign on the side of Our Lady of Perpetual Help gives directions in multiple languages. As well as regular church service, the building is a meeting place for activity from the neighborhood’s immigrant community, including an organization that provides immigration legal services.
A sign on the side of Our Lady of Perpetual Help gives directions in multiple languages. As well as regular church service, the building is a meeting place for activity from the neighborhood’s immigrant community, including an organization that provides immigration legal services.
In the neighborhood’s Chinatown on Eighth Avenue, a man repairs a shoe from his sidewalk business. Chinese residents were made welcome to the area during the 1980s and 1990s when local real-estate agents put ads for homes in Chinese newspapers, drawing residents from Manhattan’s Chinatown to Brooklyn.
In the neighborhood’s Chinatown on Eighth Avenue, a man repairs a shoe from his sidewalk business. Chinese residents were made welcome to the area during the 1980s and 1990s when local real-estate agents put ads for homes in Chinese newspapers, drawing residents from Manhattan’s Chinatown to Brooklyn.
A little girl enjoys a snack while her mother shops at a local market.
A little girl enjoys a snack while her mother shops at a local market.
A Puerto Rican flag waves on a clothesline near Fifth Avenue. Puerto Rican immigrants filled the homes and jobs of many of Sunset Park’s older residents when they moved to the suburbs after World War II. Now around Fourth and Fifth avenues the streets are reminiscent to scenes of out of Latin America.
A Puerto Rican flag waves on a clothesline near Fifth Avenue. Puerto Rican immigrants filled the homes and jobs of many of Sunset Park’s older residents when they moved to the suburbs after World War II. Now around Fourth and Fifth avenues the streets are reminiscent to scenes of out of Latin America.
A boy sips a drink with a bag of Duros in his hand as a dog pants in the spring heat. Duros, a puffed wheat Mexican snack, can be found sold on the street throughout the neighborhood.
A boy sips a drink with a bag of Duros in his hand as a dog pants in the spring heat. Duros, a puffed wheat Mexican snack, can be found sold on the street throughout the neighborhood.
The Metropolitan Detention Center, often referred to as the MDC, is a federal prison on the Sunset Park waterfront. The prison that often holds terrorists, mobsters and international drug traffickers, neighbors Industry City, a large development along the waterfront.
The Metropolitan Detention Center, often referred to as the MDC, is a federal prison on the Sunset Park waterfront. The prison that often holds terrorists, mobsters and international drug traffickers, neighbors Industry City, a large development along the waterfront.
The 35-acre, 16-building Industry City development has cemented its place in the news for its rapid development with hundreds of companies in its industrial warehouse spaces. The site was originally called the Bush Terminal but in an attempt to bring strength back to the economically declining area, it was renamed Industry City in 1960.
The 35-acre, 16-building Industry City development has cemented its place in the news for its rapid development with hundreds of companies in its industrial warehouse spaces. The site was originally called the Bush Terminal but in an attempt to bring strength back to the economically declining area, it was renamed Industry City in 1960.
Between the complex’s warehouse buildings, businesses including multiple new restaurants pop up along the cobblestone roads.
Between the complex’s warehouse buildings, businesses including multiple new restaurants pop up along the cobblestone roads.
Riders exit a ferry onto the Brooklyn Army Terminal pier. Opened in June 2017, the ferry brings travelers out to Rockaway or north to Manhattan.
Riders exit a ferry onto the Brooklyn Army Terminal pier. Opened in June 2017, the ferry brings travelers out to Rockaway or north to Manhattan.
Deactivated in the 1970s, the Brooklyn Army Terminal reopened in 1987 as a center for light industry.
Deactivated in the 1970s, the Brooklyn Army Terminal reopened in 1987 as a center for light industry.

How Sunset Park Got Its Name

By Norm Goldstein
 

Ah, the view.

From atop a hill in Sunset Park, there are marvelous vista of the harbor, the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and the Manhattan skyline — and the setting sun.

This is the park, built in the 1890s, that gave its name to its surrounding neighborhood on Gowanus Bay in the west of Brooklyn, originally home to indigenous Indians who farmed the area before the Europeans came in the 1600s. Then the Dutch found the fertile soil and the waterways to their liking, acquired the land from the Canarsies and began farming along the waterfront.

It became more of an urban community after Brooklyn was made a city in 1834 and developed further with the building of horse car lines and factories in the area.

The neighborhood grew dramatically after Irving T. Bush bought oceanfront property and built Bush Terminal in 1895, a complex of piers, warehouses and factory lofts that created Brooklyn as a major port for shipping and made Sunset Park into a busy waterfront area. Later, the Brooklyn Army Terminal was constructed (1919) as a military ocean supply depot that operated through World War II.

But the building of the Gowanus Expressway, completed in 1941, virtually cut the neighborhood off from the waterfront and workers began leaving, changing the nature of Sunset Park once again.

Indeed, Sunset Park is a prime example of how Brooklyn neighborhoods change ethnically as well as geographically. It was settled by the Irish escaping the potato famine at home around 1845. Then Scandinavians settled in sections that became known as Finntown and Little Norway. Hispanics came to the neighborhood too. And now it is primarily known as the home of Brooklyn’s Chinatown.

The neighborhood has Greenwood Heights to its north, Borough Park on the east, Bay Ridge to the south, and the Upper New York Bay to the west.

Brooklyn-born Norm Goldstein is retired, after working 44 years for the Associated Press, the global news agency, where he served as a reporter, feature writer, editor, author and administrator. He also worked for AP as director of Educational Services and editor of the AP Stylebook.

He graduated from Brooklyn College and the Penn State Graduate School of Journalism.           

He currently lives in Brooklyn Heights.