What ethnicity is commonly associated with Bay Ridge?

[anders]

Originally Posted by 7 Wishes

Historically, compared to other parts of Brooklyn, Bay Ridge is not very "Jewish", but most (though not all) of the "Russians" in Brooklyn are actually Jewish emigres from the Communist Soviet Union ... But in Russia, they were often considered "ethnically" Jewish because of Soviet anti-Semitism so they are Jewish in the sense of awareness and in that most synagogues would still accept them without formal conversion if they chose to become religious.

Well, yes. In fact, part of Bay Ridge (District 46) is represented by Assemblymember Alex Brook-Krasny, who's Jewish and Soviet-born.

But -- relatively speaking -- Bay Ridge's Russian (or Soviet/Russian-emigre "ethnic Jewish") presence and visibility is still pretty small compared to that of other ethnic/religious groups.

If you wander through the whole neighborhood, you mostly notice a mixed bag of non-Russian "Euro-Americans" (Italian, Irish, etc.), Asians, and Muslims, plus
-- _many_ Catholic churches and parochial schools, a fair number of Protestant ones ... but just one synagogue (and it's having to downsize);
-- lots of Italian, Chinese, and Mideast food places, plus a few Polish ones;
-- in the more-Muslim 60s-70s Sts: a few low-key mosques and Muslim groups, and even some small "hookah bars"
... but no noticeable Russianness.

In fact, though there's been an influx of _all_ kinds of people, Bay Ridge still "feels" like an oldtime-Catholic-neighborhood, by default:
It's full of Italians-Irish (including younger folks) who've lived there since childhood; there are more Catholic churches and institutions than any other; its state senator is a far-right Republican German-Irish Catholic; its city councilguy is an Italian-Catholic ex-altarboy Democrat; and its local newsrags are chock-full of Catholic church-school-etc. events.

This doesn't mean -- at _all_ -- that these folks are ethnically/religiously biased or "non-inclusive." It's more like goodhearted naivete', being a coupla steps out of the contemp-culture loop, and being used to oldtime norms. Sometimes it's almost funny:
-- Two years ago, a friend wanted to buy some Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) cards. She found that several stores were displaying _Passover_ cards and gear, as if Rosh Hashanah and Passover were the same thing.
-- For a small community raffle: One guy thought that a free-bagels giveaway would celebrate both Easter and Passover. (FYI, leavened bread is taboo at Passover.)
-- Some folks still refer to any non-Catholic churches (and there are lots of them) as "the Protestant church." Neighborhood newsrags have referred to Protestant "Masses," which don't _exist_. And it was almost exotic when non-Catholic clergy began to give invocations at civic events ... though, personally, I oppose _anyone's_ "invocations."
-- At one point, there was an influx of Muslims, but few halal (Koranically "kosher") restaurants. In a pinch, Muslims will opt for Jewish-kosher places, since they also shun pork.
A few times, Muslim guys stopped me on the street and asked, "Is there a kosher restaurant near here?" They'd be totally shocked when I said "No." One guy even said, "This is NEW YORK! How can there be no kosher restaurant?"
-- A few months back, an Asian group wanted to open a good-clean-fun-type karaoke bar, which highlighted a _big_ culture gap: The community board's clueless Euro-American oldtimers claimed it would really be a cover for prostitution, and one boardguy said (no joke): "We don't need no hookers here!"

Etcetera.
It's not "bad," or malevolent -- it's just your usual mixed-up NY neighborhood ... which changed in the past, and gradually is adjusting to yet more changes.

[Spincycle]

For some reason I thought the majority of Russians (at least 50%) in Brooklyn were non-Jew (i.e. Russian Orthodox, Catholic, etc). And I thought this was esp. true for Bensonhurst, SHB, and the other section by SHB down there.

[sickofnyc]

Originally Posted by Spincycle

For some reason I thought the majority of Russians (at least 50%) in Brooklyn were non-Jew (i.e. Russian Orthodox, Catholic, etc). And I thought this was esp. true for Bensonhurst, SHB, and the other section by SHB down there.

Many Russian immigrants lied about being Jewish. They wanted to take advantage of s called religious asylum and cash in on the freebies they would get from many Jewish organizations.

[MotormanMike]

I am 34 years old and have lived in Bay Ridge since 1977. In fact , I moved here with my mother from the lower east side of Manhattan the very same week the famous blackout of 1977 hit. I went to grammar school and HS here and being here for 32 years , I can tell you what you need to know. Here comes the history lesson.
Back when I moved here , it was predmoninantly Irish and Italian. It was all but completely white. It was considered one of the best neighborhoods in New York City , and at least in the top 2 in Brooklyn. There were clubs across the street from me that were run by 'gangsters' , straight out of the setup in the movie Bronx tale , and yes , you could leave your bike alone without it getting stolen. There is and was a small section in the 90's street block owned by Scandinavians. There used to be a lot of Greeks that lived here , although they mostly moved away. However , they continue to own a tremendous amount of buildings and real estate here. The Greeks are definitely the power here behind the real estate , not Irish or Italians. In the mid 80's middle easterners started to move in and establish themselves. In the mid 90's the large Hispanic community of Sunset Park began to expand across the border at around 65th and have been moving down slowly and steadily to around 95th street. In the late 90's (98-99) , Russains and Eastern Europeans began to come over and quickly establish themselves. Practically overnight. In 1980/81 over by the Ft. Hamilton Army base , near the public park , several apartment buildings were constructed by the federal government with the purpose of providing housing for those on the military base. I remember playing as a kid on the construction sites as the buildings were going up. The government (typically) didn't know what to do with the buildings once they were up and they went back and forth from being base housing , housing for the small naval base on Staten Island , then being vacant , and back and forth. About a decade ago they were turned into some kind of 'federal housing' , and they are mostly occupied by black families now. They are not city owned 'low income housing' , such as being called The Bay Ridge Houses or something similiar , but that is essentially what they are. Since the late 80's the Italian community has been flying out of here , and the Irish community is smaller , though still present. The two small 'mob clubs' around my block have been replaced by a Domino's Pizza (about 1986) and after changing hands (starting in 1987/88) as a real estate agency , part of a car service , and an insurance agency , the other is now an Egyptian 'hookah' bar where yuppies and lost youth go and smoke flavored coals and apologize to the middle easterners in and about the place over how much they think America sucks and is ruining the world. The neighborhood is mixed between low and high rise apartment buildings and privately owned homes. There are no slums here , but in the 60's block there are some very crappy buildings. From 95th down to the water , and from 3rd ave also down to the water , there are very nice and expensive homes , and expensive and well maintained apartment buildings with fantastic views of the narrows and the bridge. There are plenty of parks , houses of worhsip (predominantly Catholic , Christian and Protestant - but also Muslim and there is a big Jewish Center in the mid 80's on 4th avenue). There are a lot of public and private grammar schools , and two major public (Telecommunications and Fort Hamilton) high schools as well as two major Catholic ones (Fontbonne (girls) and Xaverian (boys) ). The R subway line serves the area and also a lot of buses. The commute on the subway to midtown is about an hour or so. The Belt Parkway and Gowanus Expressways go through the area , The Gowanus is a parking lot at almost all times of day except late at night. Construction has been ongoing on it since the mid 80's and there will probably still be construction going on on it by the time cars are flying. Parking can be a real pain in the azz since not enough spots are available and the neighborhood has the dreaded alternate side parking. Even to pay to park in a privately owned lot is very difficult since most have waiting lists. There is nightlife , which is the same as anywhere else. It gets loud and is evenly mixed up between those looking to go out for fun , and those looking to cause trouble. It's confined mainly to 3rd/4th/5th avenues from the 70's - 90's. Violent crime is rare but slowly and steadily on the rise. There IS a big problem with vandalism , particularly of parked cars. The local police precinct , the 68th is fast to respond to actual crime but very slow to assist with 'community' type problems such as noise , etc. The fire houses that serve the area are fast and on top of things. Sanitation is good. The subway at night has an R shuttle train from 36th to 95th streets which sucks and is a real annoyance to deal with , but the rest of the day is as reliable (or unreliable , depending on your view) as anywhere else in the city. It has a real homeless problem at night but you won't notice it during the day. The people that live here are not rude and unfriendly but they won't go out of their way to befriend you (basically same as most places in the city). The population is a lot more transient now (coming and going) than it used to be , but there are still some residents around that have been here for a long time. So there you have it. Overall it's a decent place to live , but unless you are going to buy a house in the 80's/90's on Colonial Road , Shore Road , or get an expensive apartment on Shore Road , it's not really that much better than anywhere else. If you're considering moving here , you'll probably like it at first but it will get old quickly and you'll probably want to move on after about 2-3 years. Hope I helped break it down for you.

[homeowner35]

Italian.

[Bronxguyanese]

from visiing bay ridge from time to time, I remember that bay ridge was heavly Italian and Irish and Greek.

[otters21]

Originally Posted by Bronxguyanese

from visiing bay ridge from time to time, I remember that bay ridge was heavly Italian and Irish and Greek.

I agree with above poster. However as Park Slope keeps getting pricey , I understand there may an influx of professionals moving in BR. I hear that hipsters are starting to be interested in Sunset Park with it's interesting housing stock and walkability.

[holden125]

My mother's family (Irish on the one side, Russian on the other) has been in Bay Ridge since the 20's and I spent a decent number of years living there.

It's never really been monolithic and I would never just call it an "Italian" neighborhood and leave it at that. Decades ago there were Irish, Italians and Scandinavians all represented in good numbers. They're still there but are not as dominant as before. The major Greek influx began in the 70's. Today there are large numbers of immigrants from Arabic and former Soviet countries, but also from Mexico and Central America and from China and Korea. On my grandmother's block, the houses go (in rough order): Polish-Americans there since the 40's, Norwegian there since the 40's, Irish, American Jewish, Chinese immigrants, Irish, Puerto Rican, Italian. In apartments across the street there are a lot of people from PR, DR, and Mexico.

You could, today, find all sorts of "white ethnics," a decent pocket of Scandinavians, Latinos of all stripes, Indians and Pakistanis, Russians, Arabs of all stripes, and several different kinds of East Asians. The black population is still quite minimal, but in my experience overt racial hostility would still be much more likely to happen in Bensonhurst than Bay Ridge. To a lot of people Bensonhurst and Bay Ridge are "same difference," but I don't think that's the case at all. A lot of the things that are said about "Bay Ridge" really involve Dyker Heights, which is more Bensonshurst than Bay Ridge.

[Rexer]

Check out the local section of the NY Daily News and under neighborhoods you'll find all kinds of statistics pertaining to any of the neighborhoods in all five boroughs. Interesting stuff.