The Real NYC #20 - Bay Ridge

The Verrazano Narrows Bridge looms over Bay Ridge

When most people think of the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn they picture John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. Or maybe Annabella Sciorra and John Tuturro in Jungle Fever. You know the stereotype - Italian, gold chains, leather jackets. Well, 35 years ago Bay Ridge was mostly Italian, with Irish and Norwegian thrown in. Today it is a very diverse community, adding Russians, Lebanese, Chinese and Arabs from the Middle East. This diversity shows up through the wide range of stores and restaurants along 3rd Ave - the main drag of Bay Ridge.

One restaurant I can highly recommend is The Tie Dye Pig. This is a wonderful little gastro-pub. It has excellent burgers and the french fries are out of this world. The come with salt, pepper and a dose of truffle oil.

Bay Ridge was originally settled in the late 18th century by Dutch settlers. In the late 19th century Norwegian sailors began moving in. In 1916 the subway reached Bay Ridge and opened it up to workers who could live way out away from downtown Brooklyn and still commute easily in to work. Most of the new arrivals then were Italians and Irish who moved in to small apartment buildings and houses. Many of those houses still exist today.

Decoration on an apartment building

Bay Ridge sits at the south-west corner of Brooklyn, alongside the NYC harbor. There is a wonderful park that goes along the river. At its north edge is Owl's Head Park.

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 The park then passes along the water until it reaches the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and joins with John Paul Jones Park.

This cannon was originally from Fort Pitt in Pennsylvania and was commissioned for the Civil War

One little gem in Bay Ridge is the Stone Gingerbread House.

So If you want to get out of Manhattan for an afternoon of walking along the water and good food come out to Bay Ridge.

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Getting to Bay Ridge - Take the R subway line toward Brooklyn. The last 3 stops on the R train are in Bay Ridge.