Discovering Brooklyn: Sunset Park & Greenwood Cemetery
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Welcome back to our discovering Brooklyn series covering all of Brooklyn from Greenpoint to Sea Gate.
We last met in Red Hook during the winter month of January. It’s now Spring! During the time that’s past, we’ve been working diligently discovering ways to exceed your expectations and strengthen your love of Brooklyn. We shared exciting news and exclusive stories daily, featured 29 Days of Black History, challenged you with Brooklyn Quizzes, commended women in the military for Women’s History Month, and launched a new, improved, and more user friendly website. We know you’ve made new discoveries of your own; so let’s venture together into beautiful Sunset Park.
Take the “R” train to the 25th Street and 4th Avenue stop. Walk one block over to 5th Avenue. There you will see the main entrance to Greenwood Cemetery. This garden cemetery is quite beautiful and meticulously maintained. Chartered in the City of Brooklyn (now borough) in 1838, Greenwood held its first burial in 1840. Many famous people reside in Greenwood: artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, Weeksville’s Dr. Susan Smith McKinney-Steward, activist and abolitionist Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, actor Frank Morgan known for playing the Wizard in “The Wizard of Oz”, and Brooklyn Dodgers’ owner Charles Ebbets, to name only a few.
Speaking of Ebbets and baseball, this magnificent cemetery has regularly scheduled events for the living. On Saturday, April 2nd from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm, check out the Baseball Greats of Green-Wood Trolley Tour. For more information click here. Before leaving Greenwood, stop by the 30 foot dark grey granite obelisk on Battle and Bayview Avenues. This monument marks the common grave of 103 people who burned to death in the horrific Brooklyn Theatre fire on December 5, 1876.
On the corner of Johnson and Washington Streets in Downtown Brooklyn, (where Cadman Plaza is today) stood the Brooklyn Theatre. On that Tuesday evening, as patrons watched the play, “The Two Orphans”, fire blazed backstage. Someone screamed, “Fire!” With all 900 seats occupied inside the theater, frantic folks pushed, shoved, and scrambled to get outside. People in the balcony trampled others while desperately trying to exit. The theater’s only staircase remained blocked. Many were left trapped inside the raging inferno. Sadly, nearly 300 people died that evening. Several were injured. 103 of the deceased rest in Greenwood.
Sunset Park geographically has Gowanus and Park Slope above it, Greenwood Cemetery and Borough Park to its right, Dyker Heights and Bay Ridge below it, and to the left is Upper New York Bay. This neighborhood is huge and according to Citi-Data has a population of 88,328. Residents are quite diverse. A Daily News article dated October 7, 1998 informs, Sunset Park marchers were to carry flags from more than 50 nations during its Parade of Flags. Discussions on racial and ethnic relations were scheduled for later that evening.
“Although Sunset Park has always been a community of various immigrant groups living together, we reject the label of a “melting pot”. Instead we are a “mixed salad”- together we are a delicious blend of cultures with a unique taste, but if you look more closely you can still discover our individual taste,” says Sunset Park Restoration.
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The neighborhood of Sunset Park is named after its awesome 24.5 acre community park. Stand on the high ground in Sunset Park (the actual park) and you can see the best of Brooklyn, the Statue of Liberty, Manhattan’s skyline, Staten Island and even New Jersey. How cool is that? The park once had a golf course. Today, it has many facilities and events. On Thursday, March 31, 2016 from 6:30 to 8:30, filmmaker Karyn Kusama’s presents her award-winning film, ‘Girlfight.’
Celebrate Women’s History Month at Sunset Park Recreation Center with Kusama. The Center is located at 43rd Street and 7th Avenue and admission is FREE. The film “Girlfight” follows Diana Guzman, a teenager from Brooklyn, who uses her aggression and street smarts to become a boxer. A question and answer session follows the film.
What is also free, is the walk around Sunset Park, (the neighborhood) formally known as South Brooklyn. We suggest, because of its size, you make several trips to Sunset Park to really appreciate its beauty. Stroll down 5th Avenue; Manhattan isn’t the only borough to have one. Appreciate the houses, buildings and businesses. They are as diverse as the people. Stop at 36th Street and 5th Avenue.
Take a walk around the Jackie Gleason Depot. Jackie Gleason was born in Bushwick and starred in the sensational sitcom, “The Honeymooners.” Gleason played Ralph Kramden, a New York City bus driver, who lived in a modest Brooklyn apartment. Though “The Honeymooners” ran for only one season in the 1950s, fans still look forward to the show’s marathons. In June of 1988, one year after he died, the MTA honored Gleason. The 5th Avenue Depot officially became the Jackie Gleason Depot. Look at up on the facade. Can you spot the depot’s logo derived from the “The Honeymooners” opening credits?
In comparison to some of its neighbors, Sunset Park provides affordable housing. But like other areas of Brooklyn, Sunset Park is becoming an investor’s paradise. Residents are concerned that the construction of high-rises and out-of-scale, luxury condos may lead to displacement and unwanted changes to the character of their beloved community. Some are seeking landmark designation to prevent the demolition of historic properties and preserve the uniqueness of Sunset Park.
Looking for something to eat, Sunset Park has several fantastic restaurants and eateries. You will have to decide what type of food you’d like to eat though – Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, Mexican, Latin, Kosher, Italian, Middle Eastern, or maybe just a drink at Irish Haven.
See you next month in Borough Park.
