86-424: Bergen Beach is a residential neighborhood in the borough of Brooklyn , New York City . It is located on a peninsula abutting Jamaica Bay in the southeastern portion of the borough, and is bordered by Mill Basin and the neighborhood of the same name to the south and west; the neighborhood of Flatlands to the northwest; Paerdegat Basin and the neighborhood of Canarsie to the northeast; and Jamaica Bay and
172-556: A beer garden. The park had a "casino", which at the time meant a place where entertainments were staged. The casino put on vaudeville, musical comedies and stock company productions. The Trocadero Theatre was also located on the Bergen Beach boardwalk. In March 1902, the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company offered to buy the Bergen Beach resort, but could not meet Williams's price. Separately, the frequency of trolley service
258-521: A borough is an independent level of government, as well as with borough forms used in other states and in Greater London . New York City is often referred to collectively as the five boroughs , which can unambiguously refer to the city proper as a whole, avoiding confusion with any particular borough or with the Greater New York metropolitan area . The term is also used by politicians to counter
344-497: A county in themselves, or are completely separate and independent of any county. Each borough is represented by a borough president . Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island each have a Borough Hall with limited administrative functions. The Manhattan Borough President's office is situated in the Manhattan Municipal Building . The Bronx Borough President's office used to be in its own Bronx Borough Hall but has been in
430-409: A currency and adopted it as such in trading with them. Eventually, the colonists applied their technologies to more efficiently produce wampum, which caused inflation and ultimately its obsolescence as currency. Wampum artists continue to weave belts of a historical nature, as well as designing new belts or jewelry based on their own concepts. The term wampum is a shortening of wampumpeag , which
516-553: A formal affirmation of cooperation or friendship between groups, or as an invitation to a meeting. In his study on the origins of money, anthropologist David Graeber placed wampum as it was used by indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands before European colonization in a category of things with symbolic cultural value that were "mainly used to rearrange relations between people" rather than being used in exchanges of everyday items. The Iroquois used wampum as
602-630: A frequent focus on Manhattan and thereby to place all five boroughs on equal footing. In the same vein, the term outer boroughs refers to all of the boroughs excluding Manhattan, even though the geographic center of the city is along the Brooklyn–Queens border. All five boroughs were created in 1898 during consolidation, when the city's modern boundaries were established. The Bronx originally included parts of New York County outside of Manhattan that had previously been ceded by neighboring Westchester County in two stages; in 1874 ( southern Yonkers , and
688-502: A grinding stone with water and sand until they were smooth. The beads would be strung or woven on deer hide thongs, sinew, milkweed bast, or basswood fibers. The process to make wampum was labor-intensive with stone tools. Only the coastal tribes had sufficient access to the basic shells to make wampum. These factors increased its scarcity and consequent value among the European traders. The introduction of European metal tools revolutionized
774-402: A lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 82.7% between 1990 and 2022. The precinct reported 1 murder, 10 rapes, 114 robberies, 170 felony assaults, 119 burglaries, 537 grand larcenies, and 135 grand larcenies auto in 2022. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation operates several parks in the Bergen Beach area. Joseph T. McGuire Park
860-506: A memory aid in oral tradition, and were sometimes used as badges of office or as ceremonial devices in Indigenous cultures, such as the Iroquois . For example, the 1820 New Monthly Magazine reports on a speech given by chief Tecumseh in which he vehemently gesticulated to a belt as he pointed out treaties made 20 years earlier and battles fought since then. Wampum strings may be presented as
946-504: A person's credentials or a certificate of authority. It was also used for official purposes and religious ceremonies, and as a way to bind peace between tribes. Among the Iroquois, every chief and every clan mother has a certain string of wampum that serves as their certificate of office. When they pass on or are removed from their station, the string will then pass on to the new leader. Runners carrying messages during colonial times would present
SECTION 10
#17328696123991032-503: A proclamation setting the rate at six white or three black to one penny ; this proclamation also applied in Delaware. The black shells were rarer than the white shells and so were worth more, which led people to dye the white and dilute the value of black shells. In the writings of Robert Beverley Jr. of Virginia Colony about tribes in Virginia in 1705, he described peak as referring to
1118-448: A quarter of an inch long and an eighth of an inch wide. One 17th-century Seneca wampum belt featured beads almost 2.5 inches (65 mm) long. Women artisans traditionally made wampum beads by rounding small pieces of whelk shells, then piercing them with a hole before stringing them. Wooden pump drills with quartz drill bits and steatite weights were used to drill the shells. The unfinished beads would be strung together and rolled on
1204-611: A resort, which was connected to the rest of the city by the Flatbush Avenue streetcar route (now the B41 bus). The resort opened in 1893 with a dance hall, concessions, rides and a pier. The Flatbush Avenue streetcar to Bergen Beach started operating in May 1896. The coast of Bergen Island, and the park itself, came to be known as "Bergen Beach". In August 1896, the New York Herald characterized
1290-477: A scenic railroad. The resorts in Coney Island and Rockaway Beach proved to be more popular than Bergen Beach because the other resorts had easy transit access, whereas Bergen Beach did not. Pollution from Barren Island, a notorious waste processing site, also decreased the appeal of Bergen Beach. As a result, the Bergen Beach resort closed by 1919. In 1917, as part of a dredging project in nearby Rockaway Inlet ,
1376-482: A short time, there was also a ferry to Rockaway Beach. However, ferry routes to Bergen Beach were not profitable, and it was hard to navigate the shallow channels near Bergen Island. A more serious fire in 1910 crippled the Percy Williams Amusement Park's operations, destroying $ 400,000 worth of property (equivalent to $ 13,080,000 in 2023). By 1912, two more amusement parks had been built, as well as
1462-603: A strip along Bergen Basin is zoned for light industrial uses. The coastal lands around Jamaica Bay, including present-day Bergen Beach, were originally settled by the Canarsie Indians . At the time, the Native Americans referred to Bergen Island as "Winnipague" or "Winnippague". The Canarsie Indians also called the island "Wimbaco", a name meaning "fine water place". The Native Americans likely used Bergen Island to create wampum . This location may have been chosen because it
1548-681: Is 11234. It is patrolled by the 63rd Precinct of the New York City Police Department . Originally, Bergen Beach was an island in Jamaica Bay off the coast of Canarsie , called "Bergen Island" or "Bergen's Island". Most of the island was sea-level meadows, but 60 acres (24 ha) of the island were uplands, or hilly areas located above sea level. The sea-level meadows were replete with shell middens , or mounds, harvested from univalves and bivalves caught in Jamaica Bay. A bulkhead
1634-471: Is adjacent to Canarsie and Paerdegat Basin to the northeast, Flatlands to the west, Mill Basin to the southwest, and Jamaica Bay to the southeast. The website Forgotten NY delineates the boundaries of Bergen Beach as Paerdegat Basin to the northeast, Ralph and Mill Avenues to the west, Avenue U and the Little Mill Basin waterway to the southwest, and Jamaica Bay to the southeast. Google Maps defines
1720-420: Is also refuted by other evidence. By the 1850s, Cornelius Bergen owned a farm on the island along the Jamaica Bay coast. However, Bergen Island remained largely undeveloped until the end of the century. According to an 1870 map, John C. Bergen owned most of the island, which only had two structures and a dirt road. In the late 1880s, vaudeville theater manager Percy G. Williams partnered with Thomas Adams ,
1806-500: Is derived from the Massachusett or Narragansett word meaning "white strings of shell beads". The Proto-Algonquian reconstructed form is thought to be (wa·p-a·py-aki) , "white strings". The term wampum (or wampumpeag ) initially referred only to the white beads which are made of the inner spiral or columella of the channeled whelk shell Busycotypus canaliculatus or Busycotypus carica . Sewant or suckauhock beads are
SECTION 20
#17328696123991892-525: Is located in the extreme western section of present-day Bergen Beach. It formerly connected with a Native American trail named Bergen Beach Road, which led from the town of Flatlands to Bergen Island. Ralph Avenue, the western boundary of Bergen Beach, was named after Ralph Patchen, an early landowner in Brooklyn who owned land further north along the avenue. There is very little public transportation in Bergen Beach. There are no New York City Subway stations in
1978-445: Is located on Bergen Avenue, along the eastern coast of Bergen Beach between Avenue V and Shore Parkway. It contains several fields for sports such as baseball and volleyball. Bergen Beach Playground is located in Bergen Beach's northwestern section along East 71st Street between Avenues N and T. Hickman Playground, located on Veterans Avenue between East 66th and 68th Streets, is named for Flatlands resident Vincent Hickman, who died during
2064-402: The 2010 United States Census , the combined population of Georgetown, Marine Park, Bergen Beach, and Mill Basin was 45,231, an increase of 2,291 (5.3%) from the 42,940 counted in the 2000 United States Census . Covering an area of 1,662.88 acres (672.94 ha), the neighborhood had a population density of 27.2 inhabitants per acre (17,400/sq mi; 6,700/km). By the end of the 20th century,
2150-526: The Belt Parkway to the east. Bergen Beach contains a sub-neighborhood named Georgetown. The vast majority of residents are white, and the neighborhood generally has a suburban quality. Bergen Beach was originally an island. The Canarsie Indians who occupied the area referred to it as Winnipague . The island was renamed Bergen Island for early settler Hans Hansen Bergen . From 1896 to 1919, Percy G. Williams and Thomas Adams operated an amusement park in
2236-935: The Bronx County Courthouse for decades. Since the abolition of the Board of Estimate in 1990 (due to a 1989 ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court ), the borough presidents have minimal executive powers, and there is no legislative function within a borough. Executive functions in New York City are the responsibility of the Mayor of New York City , while legislative functions reside with the New York City Council . The borough presidents primarily act as spokesmen, advocates, and ceremonial leaders for their boroughs, have budgets from which they can allocate relatively modest sums of money to community organizations and projects, and appoint
2322-643: The George Washington Bridge , has also been called the sixth borough. Yonkers , in Westchester County, is often referred to as the sixth borough as well. Wampum Wampum is a traditional shell bead of the Eastern Woodlands tribes of Native Americans. It includes white shell beads hand-fashioned from the North Atlantic channeled whelk shell and white and purple beads made from
2408-656: The Korean War . Since 1971, the Jamaica Bay Riding Academy has operated a horseback riding school along Shore Parkway with 80 stables. The academy spans 500 acres (200 ha) within the Gateway National Recreation Area , which borders Bergen Beach to the south. P.S. 312, a public elementary school, is located in Bergen Beach. Success Academy Charter Schools also operates an elementary school in Bergen Beach. Brooklyn Public Library operates
2494-589: The New York City Department of Docks began leasing lots and bungalows on Bergen Beach. As of 1930, the yearly rates for these lots ranged between $ 10 and $ 240 (worth between $ 182 and $ 4,377 in 2023). Bergen's house itself was demolished during the construction of Belt Parkway , also known as the Shore Parkway, in the 1930s. When the parkway opened in 1936, though, it did not spur development in Bergen Beach. The 1939 WPA Guide to New York City mentions that
2580-519: The New York metropolitan area as well as in other states, U.S. territories , and foreign countries. In 2011, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg referred to the city's waterfront and waterways as a composite sixth borough during presentations of planned rehabilitation projects along the city's shoreline , including Governor's Island in the Upper New York Bay . The Hudson Waterfront , in
2666-668: The U.S. state of New Jersey , lies opposite Manhattan on the Hudson River , and during the Dutch colonial era , it was under the jurisdiction of New Amsterdam and known as Bergen . Jersey City and Hoboken , in New Jersey's Hudson County , are sometimes referred to as the sixth borough, given their proximity and connections by rapid transit PATH trains to the city. Fort Lee , in Bergen County , opposite Upper Manhattan and connected by
Bergen Beach, Brooklyn - Misplaced Pages Continue
2752-618: The quahog or Western North Atlantic hard-shelled clam. In New York, wampum beads have been discovered dating before 1510. Before European contact, strings of wampum were used for storytelling, ceremonial gifts, and recording important treaties and historical events, such as the Two Row Wampum Treaty and the Hiawatha Belt . Wampum was also used by the northeastern Indigenous tribes as a means of exchange, strung together in lengths for convenience. The first colonists understood it as
2838-439: The "brightly caparisoned and gilded resort" at Bergen Beach: The board walk echoes with the tread of Egyptian dancing girls, Irish villagers, knights in armor, girls in clinging lace costumes, young men in white duck trousers, soubrettes adorned with yellow tresses, jugglers, mountebanks, opera singers, and Frankfurter sausage venders. The Casino is for dining either inside or on the veranda; steak or raw clams. Inside you can watch
2924-598: The 1960s. Starting in the 1950s, a series of suburban waterfront communities were being rapidly developed in Southeast Brooklyn, including in present-day Bergen Beach, Canarsie, and Mill Basin. By 1963, a new 69th Precinct building for the New York City Police Department , as well as the South Shore High School in Canarsie, had to be constructed to accommodate the growing population. The neighborhood had some of
3010-675: The 2000s. The "Georgetowne" appellation still exists in the name of a strip mall in Georgetown. Located along the southern coast of Brooklyn, Bergen Beach has a suburban quality. The nearest stores are located in the Georgetown Shopping Center, as well as a Key Food location in Mill Basin. Bergen Beach also contains the Mill Harbor Condominiums, one of the few gated communities in New York City. The neighborhood includes
3096-450: The 2010s, a combined sewer overflow (CSO) facility for Paerdegat Basin was built in Bergen Beach. It was completed in August 2011. A part of the neighborhood called Georgetowne, located to the north of Bergen Beach proper, was undeveloped until the 1960s, when a community of 400 two-story semi-attached colonials called Georgetowne Greens was proposed. Many of the homes would have been built on
3182-533: The Bronx , Brooklyn , Manhattan , Queens , and Staten Island . Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of the State of New York : The Bronx is Bronx County, Brooklyn is Kings County, Manhattan is New York County, Queens is Queens County, and Staten Island is Richmond County. All five boroughs of New York came into existence with the creation of modern New York City in 1898, when New York County (then including
3268-452: The Bronx), Kings County, Richmond County, and part of Queens County were consolidated within one municipal government under a new city charter . All former municipalities within the newly consolidated city were dissolved. New York City was originally confined to Manhattan Island and the smaller surrounding islands that formed New York County. As the city grew northward, it began annexing areas on
3354-518: The Iroquois Thanksgiving ceremonies. Wampum was central to the giving of names, in which the names and titles of deceased persons were passed on to others. Deceased individuals of high office are quickly replaced, and a wampum inscribed with the name of the deceased is laid on the shoulders of the successor, who may shake it off and reject the transfer of name. The reception of a name may also transfer personal history and previous obligations of
3440-613: The Iroquois society together. When Europeans came to the Americas, they adopted wampum as money to trade with the native peoples of New England and New York. Wampum was legal tender in New England from 1637 to 1661. It continued as currency in New York until 1673 at the rate of eight white or four black wampum equalling one stuiver , meaning that the white had the same value as the copper duit coin. The colonial government in New Jersey issued
3526-840: The Mill Basin Library at 2385 Ralph Avenue, near Avenue N. The Mill Basin Library first opened in 1940, and it has been located in its current building since 1975. Private Cosmo L. Barone Triangle is bounded by Avenue U, East 71st Street, and Veterans Avenue. It is named after Pfc. Cosmo Barone, a soldier who grew up in Brooklyn and died during the Vietnam War . Veterans Avenue, in turn, was renamed to honor soldiers who fought in World War II . It had been named Island Avenue because it originally led to Bergen Island. Mill Lane exists in several small, disconnected segments south of Avenue N. One segment
Bergen Beach, Brooklyn - Misplaced Pages Continue
3612-617: The New York City area, competing with similar resorts in Canarsie; Coney Island; Rockaway Beach, Queens ; and Staten Island . A roller skating rink at the park opened in 1907, with a band playing in the afternoons. That year, surveyors were sent to map the settlements around Jamaica Bay as part of a project to dredge the bay for potential use. They reported that at the time, the only occupied settlements along Jamaica Bay were located at Canarsie and Bergen Beach. Piers for ferry service were constructed along Bergen Beach at Avenues V and X. Two ferry routes to Canarsie ran between 1905 and 1921, and for
3698-512: The St. Bernard Clairvaux Church, located on Veterans Avenue near 69th Street. Bergen Beach and Georgetown are part of Brooklyn Community Board 18 , which also includes Canarsie , Mill Basin , Marine Park , and the southern portion of Flatlands . Bergen Beach and Georgetown are located in ZIP Code 11234, which also includes Mill Basin, Marine Park, and the southern portion of Flatlands. Based on data from
3784-413: The area comprising present-day Mill Basin and Bergen Beach was the residence of "pathetic communities of squatters, who live in makeshift houses, and eke out a living by fishing and scouring the near-by city dumps for odd necessities". At the time, the southern shore was still marshland. Although fourteen single-family houses were built in the 1940s, much of the neighborhood retained a rural character through
3870-451: The area, and many residents drive their own vehicles. A survey in 2014 found that Bergen Beach and Georgetown were among the neighborhoods in Brooklyn that were the furthest from the subway. The only public transportation is the B3 , B41 , and BM1 bus routes, operated by MTA Regional Bus Operations . The B3 route formerly ran further into Bergen Beach, serving East 73rd and East 74th Streets, but
3956-444: The area. Bergen Beach was connected to the rest of Brooklyn via landfill by 1918, although development did not come for many years. In the 1960s, a housing development called "Georgetowne" was proposed for Bergen Beach, but it was never built due to opposition from local residents. As a result, much of Bergen Beach was not fully developed until the 1990s. Bergen Beach is part of Brooklyn Community District 18 , and its primary ZIP Code
4042-500: The black or purple shell beads made from the quahog or poquahock clamshell Mercenaria mercenaria . Sewant or z eewant was the term used for this currency by the New Netherland colonists. Common terms for the dark and white beads are wampi (white and yellowish) and saki (dark). The Lenape name for Long Island is Sewanacky , reflecting its connection to the dark wampum. Wampum beads are typically tubular in shape, often
4128-499: The boundaries similarly, except that Veterans Avenue, instead of Avenue U, forms part of the southwestern boundary. Georgetown is considered a subsection of Bergen Beach. It is bounded by Ralph Avenue to the west, Avenue N to the south, Avenue U to the southeast, and Paerdegat Basin to the northeast. Both Bergen Beach and Georgetown are zoned as predominantly residential neighborhoods with one- or two-family residences. Small commercial overlays and recreational waterfront uses also exist, and
4214-490: The chewing gum magnate, to buy 300 acres (120 ha) of marshland on Bergen Island. The island was sold to the Germania Real Estate and Improvement Company in 1892. It quickly laid out streets between Avenues T and Z, east of present-day East 70th Street. Williams and Adams had meant to construct housing, but instead decided to emulate the successful Coney Island resort further west. They converted Bergen Island into
4300-420: The city agreed to add bulkheads along 4,000 feet (1,200 m) of the Bergen Beach coast. Williams and Adams later sued, ostensibly to delay the project. After the failure of the amusement park, Bergen Beach was redeveloped. In 1925, real estate developers Max Natanson and Mandlebaum & Levine bought Williams and Adams's former amusement park for close to $ 2 million (equivalent to $ 34,748,000 in 2023). At
4386-555: The city. In some document collections the boroughs used to be designated with a one-letter abbreviation: K for Brooklyn, M for Manhattan, Q for Queens, R for Staten Island (Richmond County), and X for the Bronx. The term "sixth borough" is used to describe any of a number of places that have been metaphorically called a part of New York City because of their geographic location, demographics (they include large numbers of former New Yorkers), special affiliation, or cosmopolitan character. They have included adjacent cities and counties in
SECTION 50
#17328696123994472-507: The counties are considered to be arms of the state government), rather than officials of the city government, they are not subject to the term limitations that govern other New York City officials such as the mayor, the New York City Public Advocate , members of the city council, or the borough presidents. Some civil court judges also are elected on a borough-wide basis, although they generally are eligible to serve throughout
4558-522: The deceased (e.g., the successor of a person killed in war may be obligated to avenge the death of the name's previous holder, or care for the deceased person's family as their own). ... the Iroquoians (Five Nations and Huron alike) shared a very particular constitution: they saw their societies not as a collection of living individuals but as a collection of eternal names, which over the course of times passed from one individual holder to another. Just as
4644-522: The early 18th century. The use of wampum as currency spans back to 1622, when the Dutch implemented it into their trade. After the introduction of wampum into European currency, the European colonists quickly began trying to amass large quantities of this currency, and shifting control of this currency determined which power would have control of the European-Indigenous trade. The wampum's significance to
4730-509: The landfilled section of the area. Around the same time, Mayor John Lindsay sought to build a 904-unit middle-class housing development called Harbour Village in the same area. Harbour Village would be a Mitchell-Lama development built using modular construction . The uncertainty of whether it would be approved brought new construction on Georgetowne Greens to a halt. The New York City Board of Estimate approved Harbour Village by an 18–0 vote on March 25, 1971. However, it ultimately rejected
4816-460: The mainland, absorbing territory from Westchester County into New York County in 1874 ( West Bronx ) and 1895 ( East Bronx ). During the 1898 consolidation, this territory was organized as the Borough of the Bronx, though still part of New York County. In 1914, Bronx County was split off from New York County so that each borough was then coterminous with a county. When the western part of Queens County
4902-405: The media, they are technically and legally the district attorneys of New York County and Kings County, respectively. The same goes for Staten Island. There is no such distinction made for the district attorneys of the other two counties, Queens and the Bronx, since these boroughs share the respective counties' names. Because the five district attorneys are, technically speaking, state officials (since
4988-522: The members of the 59 largely advisory community boards in the city's various neighborhoods. The Brooklyn and Queens borough presidents also appoint trustees to the local public library systems in those boroughs. Being coextensive with an individual county, each borough also elects a district attorney , as does every other county of New York State. While the district attorneys of Manhattan and Brooklyn are popularly referred to as "Manhattan D.A. Cyrus Vance, Jr. ", or "Brooklyn D.A. Kenneth P. Thompson " by
5074-559: The mid-20th century. Bergen Island may also have contained fields that the Indians used for planting. There were collectively three planting fields on Bergen Island and in Canarsie . In 1624, the Dutch Republic incorporated much of the current New York City area into the colony of New Netherland . In 1636, as the Dutch were expanding outward from present-day Manhattan , Dutch settlers founded
5160-549: The most expensive houses in Brooklyn by 1972. Bergen Beach only became popular as a suburban neighborhood toward the end of the 20th century. Further development did not come until the 1980s, when more of the marsh was filled in. From 1983 to 1988, prices of residential lots in Bergen Beach increased fourfold. At the time, one developer was constructing two- and three-bedroom apartments with prices ranging between $ 115,000 and $ 243,500. The last city-owned sites along Paerdegat Basin were sold to private developers between 1980 and 1990. In
5246-420: The name of the county unchanged. There are hundreds of distinct neighborhoods throughout the five boroughs of New York City, many with a definable history and character to call their own. Since 1914, each of New York City's five boroughs has been coextensive with a county of New York State – unlike most U.S. cities , which lie within a single county or extend partially into another county, constitute
SECTION 60
#17328696123995332-571: The newly consolidated city . Under the 1898 City Charter adopted by the New York State Legislature, a borough is a municipal corporation that is created when a county is merged with populated areas within it. The limited powers of the boroughs are inferior to the authority of the government of New York City , contrasting significantly with the powers of boroughs as that term is used in Connecticut , New Jersey , and Pennsylvania , where
5418-436: The population. Bergen Beach is patrolled by the New York City Police Department 's 63rd Precinct. The precinct also covers Marine Park, Mill Basin, and part of Flatlands. Because of the precinct's distance from Bergen Beach, some residents had complained that there was not enough police presence in the neighborhood. The 63rd Precinct ranked 31st safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. The 63rd Precinct has
5504-465: The production of wampum, and by the mid-seventeenth century, production numbered in the tens of millions of beads. Dutch colonists discovered the importance of wampum as a means of exchange between tribes, and they began mass-producing it in workshops. John Campbell established such a factory in Passaic, New Jersey, which manufactured wampum into the early 20th century. Eventually the primary source of wampum
5590-520: The proposal in September 1972 after public outcry by the mostly white, mostly well-off residents of nearby Bergen Beach and Mill Basin. By that point, interest in Georgetowne Greens had waned, and the project was terminated. The first houses built for the development still remain. The area was ultimately developed as the neighborhood of Georgetown, though parts of Georgetown remained undeveloped through
5676-723: The soubrettes sing and dance. There are annexes to the Casino on either end of the boardwalk where they sell drinks; hard and soft. The intervening gulfs (along the Boardwalk) are filled with Moorish castles, Egyptian encampments, Irish villages, black Americans, white Coney Island fakirs, blood testing machines, vitascopes, knock-the-baby-down skill games. The report went on to describe the Irish Village, Mystic Moorish Maze, Egyptian encampment, scenic railway and other attractions. There were also bathing facilities, exhibits, sideshows, eating places and
5762-556: The steepest such increase of any area in the city. As of that year, the African American population in these neighborhoods represented 10.9% of the total population. As of the 2010 Census, the racial makeup of Southeast Brooklyn was 73.8% (33,399) White , 10.9% (4,952) African American , 0.1% (47) Native American , 5.6% (2,521) Asian , 0.0% (7) Pacific Islander , 0.3% (144) from other races , and 1.3% (578) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.9% (3,583) of
5848-406: The three eastern towns of Queens County that had not joined the city the year before—the towns of Hempstead , North Hempstead , and Oyster Bay —formally seceded from Queens County to form the new Nassau County . The borough of Staten Island, coextensive with Richmond County, was officially the borough of Richmond until the name was changed in 1975 to reflect its common appellation, while leaving
5934-540: The time, they planned to develop Bergen Beach's 3,200 lots as a residential area with an entertainment district. There would have been a beach and an amusement park similar to Williams and Adams's park. However, this plan never materialized, and by 1926, the lots were sold off piece-by-piece to different people. Bungalows and vacation houses were built on the coast of "Flatlands Bay", around Bergen Island, before World War I . However, city records from 1909 to 1915 do not indicate where exactly these houses were erected. In 1927,
6020-487: The town of Achtervelt (later Amersfoort) and purchased 15,000 acres (6,100 ha) around Jamaica Bay. Amersfoort was centered around the present-day intersection of Flatbush Avenue and Flatlands Avenue . The Dutch also founded a trading post on Bergen Island, which they renamed "Mentelaer's Island". Ownership of Bergen Island was granted to John Underhill in 1646, and Underhill soon sold the property to others. New Netherland became British New York in 1664, and Amersfoort
6106-483: The towns of Kingsbridge , West Farms , and Morrisania ) and then following a referendum in 1894 (towns of Westchester , Williamsbridge , and the southern portion of Eastchester ). Ultimately in 1914, the present-day separate Bronx County became the most recent county to be created in the State of New York. The borough of Queens consists of what formerly was only the western part of a then-larger Queens County. In 1899,
6192-512: The tribes that collected it meant that no one individual wanted to amass too much of it, however, European colonists did not care about its cultural significance, but it would always hold value to the indigenous populations. In this way, colonists could trade wampum for goods and sell those goods to Europeans for European currencies, therefore amassing wealth. This is one of the few examples of settler adaptation of indigenous practices for trade with indigenous people and also amongst themselves. However,
6278-611: The turn of the century, it had been renamed for Hans Hansen Bergen , an early Norwegian or Dutch settler of New Netherland . He lived in the Bergen House, which was built sometime before 1800. One story has it that Bergen's house was hit by British bombs during the American Revolutionary War , but this is not supported by documentation. Another rumor, that the American spy Nathan Hale was executed near or on Bergen Island,
6364-438: The vast majority of Bergen Beach residents were white, as were most residents of adjacent neighborhoods such as Mill Basin and Marine Park. Specifically, many of the residents were Italian-Americans. The 1990 United States Census counted 3,873 residents, of which three were black; as of the 2000 United States Census, there were 28 black residents. However, by 2011, the number of black residents in Southeast Brooklyn had risen 241%,
6450-404: The wampum enabled the continuation of names and the histories of persons, the wampum was central to establishing and renewing peace between clans and families. When a man representing his respective social unit met another, he would offer one wampum inscribed with mnemonic symbols representing the purpose of the meeting or message. The wampum, thus, facilitated the most essential practices in holding
6536-571: The wampum showing that they had the authority to carry the message. As a method of recording and an aid in narrating, Iroquois warriors with exceptional skills were provided training in interpreting the wampum belts. As the Keepers of the Central Fire, the Onondaga Nation was also trusted with the task of keeping all wampum records. Wampum is still used in the ceremony of raising up a new chief and in
6622-545: The white shell bead, valued at 9 pence a yard, and wampom peak as denoting the more expensive dark purple shell bead, at the rate of 1 shilling and 6 pence (18 pence) per yard. He added that these polished shells with drilled holes were made from the cunk ( conch ), while another currency of lesser value called roenoke was fashioned from the cockleshell . Wampum briefly became legal tender in North Carolina in 1710, but its use as common currency died out in New York by
6708-426: The whole season. The resort suffered $ 25,000 in damages (equivalent to $ 848,000 in 2023) due to a fire in 1904, but The New York Times reported that "the tide in Jamaica Bay and two Brooklyn Rapid Transit trolley cars" brought the water that ultimately saved the park from burning down. The Percy Williams Amusement Park opened the next year at the Bergen Beach resort. This became one of several amusement districts in
6794-419: Was added in the 1980s. This fill was unstable, and as a result, parts of Bergen Beach have been sinking . Many homes in the area were built so that if the ground in front of the house sank, extra steps could be added. The sinking land is particularly pronounced in some parts of Bergen Beach, where minor rainfall or snow melt can cause ponding and flooding in the streets. The modern neighborhood of Bergen Beach
6880-427: Was built along the shore in the late 1890s, and was later connected to the uplands of nearby Mill Basin . This created a continuous embankment between Mill Basin and Paerdegat Basin , which was later used for the construction of Belt Parkway . Bergen Island was connected to the mainland by 1918, when the marshland was filled in, though some sources state that the island was connected to the mainland by 1911. More fill
6966-423: Was consolidated with New York City in 1898, that area became the Borough of Queens. In 1899, the remaining eastern section of Queens County was split off to form Nassau County on Long Island , thereafter making the borough and county of Queens coextensive with each other. The term borough was adopted in 1898 to describe a form of governmental administration for each of the five fundamental constituent parts of
7052-428: Was easy to defend: the Indians could see intruders from the uplands and form a line of defense across the narrow flat that led to the island. Through the 20th century, the shell middens that resulted from the wampum-making process were used to create roads, as well as for fertilizer. Remnants of Native American activity on the island, including stone markings, conch shell beds, and broken arrow tips, could be seen through
7138-562: Was reduced since the Flatbush Avenue tracks had been damaged by a storm that winter. In April of that month, Williams announced that the resort would not open unless the BRT repaired the trolley tracks to Bergen Beach. Later the trolley service improved, since Bergen Beach was a good source of fares. In the summer of 1903 the casino staged The Girl in Black , a popular musical-and-comedy show that ran for
7224-450: Was renamed Flatlands . Bergen Island, as well as nearby Mill Island and Barren Island , were part of the Town of Flatlands. A settler named Elbert Elbertse bought Bergen Island in 1665, and by the 1670s, all three islands were leased by Elbertse. When he died in 1686, he bequeathed 60 acres (24 ha) of the island to his son. The island was known as "Winnipague" through the 18th century. By
7310-559: Was that manufactured by colonists, a market glutted by the Dutch. As William James Sidis wrote in his 1935 history: The weaving of wampum belts is a sort of writing by means of belts of colored beads, in which the various designs of beads denoted different ideas according to a definitely accepted system, which could be read by anyone acquainted with wampum language, irrespective of what the spoken language is. Records and treaties are kept in this manner, and individuals could write letters to one another in this way. Wampum belts were used as
7396-535: Was truncated to Avenue U and East 71st Street in 2010. The B41 route actually has two branches: one to Bergen Beach and one to the Kings Plaza shopping mall. It was a descendant of the Flatbush Avenue streetcar route , which was replaced by the current bus service in March 1951. Boroughs of New York City The boroughs of New York City are the five major governmental districts that compose New York City . They are
#398601