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We may have an opportunity to rent a place around 8th Ave and 42nd Street (Sunset Park). We see this as a temporary location (1 year) while we figure out the city and surrounding suburbs.
Pros: Proximity to the park (for our 2 yr old), access to the subway (D&M at 9th Ave), access to Brooklyn College via the No. 11 Bus, cheap(ish) rent ($1500).
We understand from previous threads that the neighborhood demographics are primarily hispanic and chinese, the area is generally considered safe but bland, and most consider Bay Ridge to be worth the extra commute to Manhattan.
We would like to know if anyone has any experience and/or opinions with Sunset Park (the park, not the nabe) and the surrounding blocks? Is the park well maintained? Is 42nd and 8th Ave a convenient place to live in terms of amenities (shopping)? How are the D and M lines for commuting (my wife MAY end up working in Manhattan...I'll be at Brooklyn College).
Bland? Sunset Park has wayy more flavor than Bay Ridge! Chinatown on 8th and 5th is Latino Land.
The park is pretty clean. I really like what they've done with the place. They repaired it alot from what it used to be like back in the 90s. As for safety, I personally don't really feel 100% safe at the park at night. Some shady characters at night. During the day it's perfectly safe. The side blocks of the park are also very nice but I avoid walking up 44th and 41st at night mainly because of the fact that my friend got robbed at gunpoint going up 44th and my other friend got robbed going up the same block. Keep in mind all this happened at night, during the day I feel 200% safe.
42nd and 8th is close to the C-Town on 46th but other than that you'll just find some bodegas around that area.
The D takes you express to Manhattan. If her stop isn't on the D line you can transfer at 36th street to the N.
just out of curiosity on a side note, do the chinese and hispanics get along?
There isn't many ethnic beefs in NY like in Europe, LA, etc. The Italians in Bay Ridge and Bensonhurst are not very tolerant, so they tend to clear out the minute anyone non-white comes in. This is why the Chinese, Russians, Arabs, Jews, and Latin Americans are taking over southern Brooklyn, with some old school Irish saying around.
42 and 8 isn't terrible but the young kids you see standing on the corner at all hours of the night aren't there to hand out religious pamphlets. If you follow the usual safety precautions you'll be fine. It's leaps and bounds above Bushwick and "SoBro" and whatever supposed up-and-coming areas you hear about here.
just out of curiosity on a side note, do the chinese and hispanics get along?
Yeah, I don't remember any conflict between the two groups. Around the 50s on 6th and 7th avenue the latinos and chinese really mix up around that area.
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