The geographic district of Community Board 10 of Brooklyn encompasses the three neighborhoods of Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and Fort Hamilton, which are situated along the southwestern tip of Brooklyn. Defining the southern and western borders of our district are the waters of the Verrazzano Narrows. To the North, the L.I.R.R./MTA railroad cut from the shoreline at 65th Street, proceeds eastward to 62nd Street, where our district merges with our eastern border at 14th Avenue. The Fort Hamilton area, which follows the southern shoreline, is comprised of historic Fort Hamilton, located near the magnificent span of the Verrazzano Bridge and overlooking New York Harbor.
Numerous parksland located throughout the district further enhance these scenic vistas and provide a multitude of diversified athletic and passive recreational facilities to thousands of residents and visitors throughout the year.
Known primarily as a residential community, the stability of the district depends greatly on the viability of its commercial sectors and housing stock. Dissecting the geographic district, the commercial corridors of 3rd Avenue, 4th Avenue, 5th Avenue, Fort Hamilton Parkway, 11th Avenue, 13th Avenue and the bustling 86th Street strip, provide the goods, services and employment opportunities for the community. One and two family homes comprise the major portion of the housing composition and aging multiple dwellings together with some new structures, line Shore Road, Ridge Boulevard and 4th Avenue, while smaller clusters of four to six story structures are randomly situated in other areas of the district. Limited vacant land had inhibited active development of new housing stock and Special Zoning District implemented in 1978, has precluded high-rise construction and inconsistent development.
While our senior citizen population continues to rise, the ethnic and racial mix of the district’s population continues to shift with the out-migration of earlier established ethnic groups and the influx of Middle Eastern and Asian settlers and more recently, Eastern European.
The overall population consists primarily of middle income, blue-collar and white-collar workers, who contribute significantly toward our district’s low unemployment statistics. Consequently, our district continues to serve as a vital tax resource base for New York City.
The stable demographic indicators limit the availability of public funding programs for this community. Fortunately we are endowed with concerned, energetic, civil minded citizens who work and actively participate in self-help programs through local community organizations. Accordingly, these efforts have impacted positively on the vitality and stability of our district and our Community Board has supported, assisted, participated and championed many of these activities.
Constantly aware of the dedicated perseverance and outstanding contributions of the people of our district throughout the rigorous era of fiscal crises, our Board continues to aggressively advocate to preserve and strengthen our community’s stability by petitioning for improvement of the municipal services our district is entitled to receive.