Sheepshead Bay is a neighborhood in southern Brooklyn, New York City. It is bounded by Ocean Parkway to the west; Avenue T and Kings Highway to the north; Nostrand Avenue and Gerritsen Avenue to the east; and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. Sheepshead Bay is abutted by the neighborhoods of Brighton Beach and Homecrest to the west; Midwood to the north; and Gerritsen Beach to the east.
The neighborhood is named after a bay that separates mainland Brooklyn from the eastern portion of Coney Island, which was originally one of the Outer Barrier islands but is now a peninsula. The mouth of the bay is about 1.0 mile (1.6 km) southwest of Marine Park.
Sheepshead Bay is part of Brooklyn Community District 15, and its primary ZIP Codes are 11229 and 11235.[1] It is patrolled by the 61st Precinct of the New York City Police Department.[4] Politically it is represented by the New York City Council's 46th and 48th Districts.
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The name "Sheepshead Bay" applies to the neighborhood north of the bay as well as the bay itself. Sheepshead Bay was named for the sheepshead, an edible fish found in the bay's waters.[5][6]: 183 Originally an extension of the town of Gravesend to the west, Sheepshead Bay was a secluded fishing and farming community early in its history.[6]: 184 [7]: 2
Starting in the 1840s, residents of Brooklyn and Manhattan were drawn to the community as a summer destination. Hunters and fishermen started coming to Sheepshead Bay and various restaurants and hotels were erected.[6]: 184 [7]: 2 Sheepshead Bay's allure as a fishing destination was further helped by the opening of Ocean Avenue in 1876 and the extension of the Long Island Rail Road's Manhattan Beach Branch in 1877–1878, which brought visitors both to the community of Sheepshead Bay and to the Manhattan Beach resort across the bay. The first of the community's farms was split up into several lots for residential development in 1877.[7]: 2 [8] Three years later the Sheepshead Bay Race Track opened in the neighborhood,[9] bringing even more visitors during the spring and fall. Near the racecourse, racing investor William Collins Whitney constructed a training track.[7]: 2 A "Millionaire's Row" was built on Emmons Avenue east of East 27th Street,[10] while socialites tended to go to restaurants such as Tappan's.[7]: 2
The track would continue to operate as a horse-racing course until 1910 when horse betting was criminalized in New York state.[7]: 2 [11] Afterward it operated as an auto racing track from 1915 to 1919.[7]: 2 [12] The decline of the Sheepshead Bay Race Track, along with the construction of amusement parks at nearby Coney Island and the proximity of Coney Island's attractions to the newly built subway, led to the decline of Sheepshead Bay as a tourist destination.[10] Passenger rail service on the Manhattan Beach Branch ceased in 1924,[13] and the line was formally abandoned in 1937.[14] The former race track site was subdivided for the construction of housing, and Millionaire's Row was soon lined with bungalows.[10] The closure of the race track resulted in a plethora of newly vacant plots in the community of Sheepshead Bay, and by extension, an influx of residents.[7]: 2
The bay itself was originally the easterly entrance to Coney Island Creek, which was 3 miles (4.8 km) long and minimally navigable through the 20th century.[15] A map from 1898 shows that numerous inlets protruded from the bay into the community.[10] From the late 19th century through the early 20th century there were plans to turn the creek into the Gravesend Ship Canal.[16] The plan including re-dredging the creek into a canal running in a straight east-west line and filling all the marsh land either side of the creek to expand the urban grid to the edge of the canal. However, this never happened.[17] Squan Creek, a tributary of the Coney Island Creek, ran through the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood. While Squan Creek was infilled in the 1920s, its route is still evidenced by Sheepshead Bay Road's crooked route through the street grid, as well as the presence of several dead-end streets that used to abut the creek's route.[18]
With the development of the Sheepshead Bay community into a residential neighborhood, there were efforts to improve the facilities on the waterfront. The channel of the Sheepshead Bay waterway was dredged by 1916 to allow fishing boats to dock there; previously these craft had to dock at Canarsie.[7]: 2 In 1922 the New York City Dock Commission proposed to dredge the bays further, build bulkheads on the shore, and widen Emmons Avenue on the waterfront from 80 to 120 feet (24 to 37 m).[19] 25 piers would be built on the south side of Emmons Avenue while 26 buildings, including a new Lundy's Restaurant location, would be built on the north side.[7]: 2 Residents expressed concerns that the bay might become a commercial shipping port, and local fishermen opposed the city's plan to establish a fish market there.[20] A compromise to use Sheepshead Bay only for private and charter boats was reached in 1929,[7]: 2 and the city built several piers at an angle from the bulkhead to prevent trucks from loading onto these piers.[10]
In 1931, the city condemned several buildings on the bay shore, including the original Lundy's Restaurant, to widen Emmons Avenue.[10] The Great Depression delayed further progress, as these buildings would not be destroyed until mid-1934, and construction started on new buildings on Emmons Avenue's northern sidewalk.[7]: 3 At that point a newspaper article noted that Emmons Avenue had been "transformed by attractive looking restaurants and stores."[21] In 1936, the city and the owners of the condemned buildings reached a monetary settlement,[22] and by the following year, the channel had been dredged and ten docks had been constructed.[23] The filling-in of the central part of the Coney Island during the 1930s, in conjunction with construction of the Shore Parkway portion of the Belt Parkway.[24] Shore Parkway opened in 1941, and soon afterward, the last remaining farms in Sheepshead Bay were redeveloped into residential buildings.[10]
Sheepshead Bay became populated by Jewish and Soviet immigrants during the late 20th century, similar to neighboring Brighton Beach.[10] In 1978, in one of the largest disasters in Sheepshead Bay's modern history, six firefighters were killed while fighting the Waldbaum's supermarket fire.[25] Sheepshead Bay did not undergo the white flight and high crime that afflicted other New York City neighborhoods. Lundy's closed in 1979, resulting in the closure of retail on Emmons Avenue.[26] After the closure of Lundy's, Sheepshead Bay transformed from a predominantly Irish and Italian enclave into a more racially diverse neighborhood, and the population became increasingly elderly. Recreational fishing along the bay also started to decline in the surrounding community.[27] In the 1970s, the city created a maritime zoning district on Emmons Avenue to promote waterfront development.[28]
In the last decade of the 20th century, a real estate boom brought the reopening of Lundy's Restaurant,[29] which was made a city landmark in 1992.[30] Furthermore, Loehmann's proposed a store in Sheepshead Bay in 1993, the first major development in the area in several years,[31] though the city rejected initial plans for the development after community opposition.[32] After another proposal for a Loehmann's shopping center was rejected, Mayor Rudy Giuliani's administration approved a smaller version of the shopping center in the late 1990s.[33] Meanwhile, the reopening of Lundy's in 1995 spurred a wave of development on Emmons Avenue. By March 1996, property owners reported that real estate prices had doubled and that vacant apartments were being occupied.[34] With new development, housing prices in the area increased sharply, and there were concerns about a dearth of parking, since the new developments had collectively resulted in the removal of 2,000 parking spots in Sheepshead Bay.[35] Also in the mid-1990s, a small amusement park called Fun Time USA opened on Knapp Street, operating for almost 11 years before closing in 2005.[36]
Lundy's closed again in 2007;[37] a shopping center took its place.[38] Soviet-style restaurants/nightclubs opened along the waterfront.[35] Sheepshead Bay has also experienced a growth of condominium developments,[39] and on Emmons Avenue, the northern shoreline street along the bay, are piers boasting an active seafood market and tour boats.[35]
Sheepshead Bay is mostly residential. Low-density, one- and two-family attached and semi-attached houses are common near the western and eastern edges of the neighborhood. Higher-density condominiums and co-ops are more common near Ocean Avenue, at the center of the neighborhood.[40]
Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of Sheepshead Bay was 64,518, a change of −78 (−0.1%) from the 64,596 counted in 2000. Covering an area of 1,459.24 acres (590.53 ha), the neighborhood had a population density of 44.2 inhabitants per acre (28,300/sq mi; 10,900/km2).[2]
The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 68.1% (43,944) White, 6.4% (4,161) African American, 0.1% (43) Native American, 15.7% (10,135) Asian, 0% (3) Pacific Islander, 0.2% (152) from other races, and 1.4% (877) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race were 8.1% (5,203) of the population.[3]
The entirety of Community Board 15, which comprises Sheepshead Bay, had 173,961 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 83.7 years.[41]: 2, 20 This is higher than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods.[42]: 53 (PDF p. 84) [43] Most inhabitants are middle-aged adults and youth: 21% are between the ages of 0–17, 28% between 25–44, and 26% between 45–64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 8% and 17% respectively.[41]: 2
As of 2016, the median household income in Community Board 15 was $61,274.[44] In 2018, an estimated 19% of Sheepshead Bay residents lived in poverty, compared to 21% in all of Brooklyn and 20% in all of New York City. One in twelve residents (8%) were unemployed, compared to 9% in the rest of both Brooklyn and New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 53% in Sheepshead Bay, slightly higher than the citywide and boroughwide rates of 52% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, as of 2018[update], Sheepshead Bay is considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying.[41]: 7
In the 2020 census data from New York City Department of City Planning, southern Sheepshead Bay and nearby Manhattan Beach/Gerritsen Beach is still an overwhelming majority White population of 40,000 or more residents, between 10,000 and 19,999 Asian residents, and between 5,000 and 9,999 Hispanic residents. Meanwhile the northern section called Madison has between 20,000 and 29,999 White residents and 5,000 to 9,999 Asian residents, while the Black and Hispanic populations were less than 5000 residents each. However, there is a significant concentrated community of Black residents inside the affordable NYCHA Development, Sheepshead Bay Houses that is located on the borderline of Sheepshead Bay and Gerritsen Beach, though the housing development also has other diverse racial populations as well.[45][46][47][48][49][50]
There are large populations of Chinese and Russian ancestry in Sheepshead Bay.[40] Brooklyn's Avenue U Chinatown, which emerged as the second Chinatown of Brooklyn during the late 1990s, is located partially in Sheepshead Bay and partially in nearby Homecrest.[51][52] Along the waterfront is a high concentration of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, including Russians and Central Asians, similar to in nearby Brighton Beach.[40] Other ethnic groups in the area include Albanians, Turks and Hispanics.
Sheepshead Bay is patrolled by the 61st Precinct of the NYPD, located at 2575 Coney Island Avenue.[4]The 61st Precinct ranked 5th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010.[53] As of 2018[update], with a non-fatal assault rate of 22 per 100,000 people, Sheepshead Bay's rate of violent crimes per capita is less than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 200 per 100,000 people is lower than that of the city as a whole.[41]: 8
The 61st Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 88.2% between 1990 and 2018. The precinct reported one murder, 17 rapes, 150 robberies, 170 felony assaults, 169 burglaries, 584 grand larcenies, and 72 grand larcenies auto in 2018.[54]
Sheepshead Bay is served by three New York City Fire Department (FDNY) fire stations:[55]
As of 2018[update], preterm births and births to teenage mothers are less common in Sheepshead Bay than in other places citywide. In Sheepshead Bay, there were 66 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 12.4 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide).[41]: 11 Sheepshead Bay has a relatively high population of residents who are uninsured, or who receive healthcare through Medicaid.[59] In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 4%, which is lower than the citywide rate of 12%.[41]: 14
The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant, in Sheepshead Bay is 0.0068 milligrams per cubic metre (6.8×10−9 oz/cu ft), lower than the citywide and boroughwide averages.[41]: 9 Seventeen percent of Sheepshead Bay residents are smokers, which is slightly higher than the city average of 14% of residents being smokers.[41]: 13 In Sheepshead Bay, 26% of residents are obese, 9% are diabetic, and 25% have high blood pressure—compared to the citywide averages of 24%, 11%, and 28% respectively.[41]: 16 In addition, 17% of children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%.[41]: 12
Ninety-three percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is higher than the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 70% of residents described their health as "good", "very good", or "excellent", less than the city's average of 78%.[41]: 13 For every supermarket in Sheepshead Bay, there are 25 bodegas.[41]: 10
The nearest large hospital is the Coney Island Hospital.[59]
