Dyker Heights is a predominantly residential neighborhood in the southwest corner of the
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
of
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. It is on a hill between
Bay Ridge
Bay Ridge is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by Sunset Park to the north, Dyker Heights to the east, the Narrows and the Belt Parkway to the west, and Fort Hamilton Army Base an ...
,
Bensonhurst
Bensonhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bordered on the northwest by 14th Avenue, on the northeast by 60th Street, on the southeast by Avenue P and 22n ...
,
Borough Park, and
Gravesend Bay
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Rochester, it is the ...
. The neighborhood is bounded by 7th and 14th Avenues, 65th Street, and the
Belt Parkway
The Belt Parkway is the name given to a series of connected limited-access highways that form a belt-like circle around the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. The Belt Parkway comprises three of the four parkways in what is known as t ...
on the west, east, north, and south, respectively.
Dyker Heights originated as a speculative luxury housing development in October 1895 when Walter Loveridge Johnson developed a portion of woodland into a suburban community. It maintained its status as a wealthy neighborhood through the 20th century. During the height of his development, the boundaries were primarily between Tenth and
Thirteenth Avenues and from 79th Street to 86th Street. The finest homes of the development were situated along the top of the hill, at about Eleventh Avenue and 82nd Street.
Dyker Heights has a suburban character with detached and semi-detached one-and two-family homes, many of which have driveways and private yards, which are uncommon in parts of New York City. The neighborhood contains tree-lined streets, and there are very few apartment buildings. Dyker Heights can be divided in roughly three sections. The southernmost section, south of 86th Street and east of 7th Avenue, contains
Dyker Beach Park and Golf Course
The Dyker Beach Park and Golf Course is a public park and a municipal, 18-hole, championship golf course in the southernmost part of Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, in New York City, United States. The area stretches from the Belt Parkway in the south t ...
. The central section between Bay Ridge Parkway and 86th Street, and between 14th Avenue and Fort Hamilton Parkway, is more exclusive in character. The northern border of the neighborhood is more closely integrated with surrounding areas. The Dyker Heights Civic Association, founded in 1928, is a civic group that represents the community's interests. The area as a whole is known for its Christmas lighting displays, which are often elaborate.
Dyker Heights is part of
Brooklyn Community District 10, and its primary
ZIP Code is 11228.
It is patrolled by the 68th Precinct of the
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
.
Politically it is represented by the
New York City Council
The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs.
The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...
's 43rd District.
History
Early development
![Brigadier General René Edward De Russy](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Brigadier_General_Ren%C3%A9_Edward_De_Russy.jpg)
The neighborhood of Dyker Heights lies within the boundaries of the then-Dutch town of
New Utrecht
New Utrecht ( nl, Nieuw Utrecht) was a town in western Long Island, New York (state), New York encompassing all or part of the present-day Bath Beach, Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Borough Park, Brooklyn, Borough Park, Dyker Heights and Fort Hamilton n ...
settled in 1657. The area that is now known as Dyker Heights was not developed in the 17th or 18th century because the land was too sloped for farming; it remained common woodland until the mid-19th century. The trees of this forest were used by the townsfolk as a source of
firewood
Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not highly processed and is in some sort of recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellets or chips. Firewood can ...
and construction material. When the agricultural industry of New Utrecht changed from the farming grains to the cultivation of market garden produce, the trees were cleared for tomatoes, cabbages, and potatoes, among other produce.
The first house built at the top of the hill (what is now 11th Avenue and 82nd Street, at about above sea level) was built in the late 1820s by Brigadier General
René Edward De Russy
René Edward De Russy (February 22, 1789 – November 23, 1865) was an engineer, military educator, and career United States Army officer who was responsible for constructing many Eastern United States coastal fortifications, as well as some fort ...
of the US Army. De Russy was a
military engineer
Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics b ...
who built many forts in the US – from the Canada–US border and the eastern seaboard to the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
and the
Pacific coast
Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean.
Geography Americas
Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western or southwestern border, except for Panama, where the Pac ...
– including
Fort Hamilton
Fort Hamilton is a United States Army installation in the southwestern corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, surrounded by the communities of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights. It is one of several posts that are part of the region which is ...
in Brooklyn. Since this was the tallest natural point in southwest Brooklyn, he built his
homestead
Homestead may refer to:
*Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses
* Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres
*Homestead principle, a legal concept t ...
here – it afforded a clear view of the harbor and its defenses, especially Fort Hamilton which was complete by November 1831. De Russy died in 1865 and his wife, Helen, sold the property in 1888 to Jane Elisabeth Loveridge and Frederick Henry Johnson.
Development by the Johnsons
![Johnson, Walter 1907](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Johnson%2C_Walter_1907.jpg)
According to the ''
Brooklyn Eagle
:''This article covers both the historical newspaper (1841–1955, 1960–1963), as well as an unrelated new Brooklyn Daily Eagle starting 1996 published currently''
The ''Brooklyn Eagle'' (originally joint name ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and ''King ...
'', Frederick Johnson did "much toward developing the locality in which he resided. He was the author of the original New Utrecht Improvement Bill, and an ardent advocate of the annexation of the Town to this City." The Town of New Utrecht was annexed to the City of Brooklyn on July 1, 1894. On January 1, 1898, the City of Brooklyn was annexed to the
City of New York
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. Involved with real estate, Johnson was probably aware of the real estate pressures on and potential of the real estate in New Utrecht. With this in mind, he most likely purchased the De Russy estate with the intention of building an upscale residential neighborhood similar to Bensonhurst-by-the-Sea, built by James D. Lynch in 1880–1890 in the
Bath Beach section of New Utrecht.
[Saitta House – Report Part 1]
", ''DykerHeightsCivicAssociation.com'' At that time, the ''Real Estate Record'' claimed Bensonhurst-by-the-Sea was "the most perfectly developed suburb ever laid out around New York."
[Marc Linder and Lawrence S. Zacharias, Of Cabbages and Kings County: Agriculture and The Formation of Modern Brooklyn (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1999), p. 275.] The restrictions placed upon the property made Bensonhurst-by-the-Sea "a model settlement, where some of the most refined, intelligent and cultured of
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
's citizens have built their homes."
Following Johnson's death on August 15, 1893, at the age of 52, his second son, Walter Loveridge Johnson, took over the real estate business and by October 1895 started Dyker Heights on his parents' property. Johnson named his development "Dyker Heights" after the Dyker Meadow and Beach, which his development overlooks. The meadow and beach received their name from either the Van Dykes (an original New Utrecht family) who built the dykes to drain the meadow, or for the dykes that the Van Dykes built.
Johnson was able to develop this portion of New Utrecht woodland into a residential community by making necessary improvements to it. In 1890, the only roads present were
Kings Highway, 86th Street, Denyse's Lane, and a small unnamed road near Tenth Avenue – none of which were paved and only 86th Street was a thoroughfare specifically planned as such. The remaining land was unimproved. Johnson continued Brooklyn's street grid south with macadam pavement, graded the properties, installed gas, water, telephone, and electricity lines, and planted sugar maple trees – seven on the avenues and twenty along the streets. This opened over two hundred more building sites between Tenth and
13th Avenues as well as between 79th and 86th Streets.
In 1895, Johnson, very much aware of the successful Bensonhurst-by-the-Sea, built three homes. His home was on the southwest corner of 11th Avenue and 82nd Street (across the Avenue from the home of his mother), Albert Edward Parfitt's home was on 82nd Street next to Johnson's, and the last, closest to Tenth Avenue, was the home of Arthur S. Tuttle who was Assistant Engineer of The Water Supply of The City Works Department of The City of Brooklyn. Parfitt was the architect of these three homes. Johnson's house burned down before 1900, Parfitt's was demolished by a developer in 1928 and replaced with seven, run-of-the-mill, fully detached, single-family homes, and Tuttle's house was remodeled over 10 years ago and clad in bright-white and sky-blue brick.
Throughout the infancy of the development, Johnson was able to use the print press to his advantage. He advertised his suburban homes heavily and stated that the high ground, magnificent ocean view, and careful restrictions made Dyker Heights the handsomest suburb in
Greater New York. Based on the newspaper accounts, he was right. In 1896 Johnson built and sold thirty homes in Dyker Heights. By January 1897, the ''Brooklyn Eagle'' reported on his achievements. "Mr. Johnson has met with great success in the development of Dyker Heights and had probably done more business and made more sales during the past year than all the rest of the surrounding settlements combined." In April 1898 sales were still very strong. "Dyker Heights still holds its lead among the suburban sections in building operations, over forty houses having been erected there during the past year... and there are fully twenty more houses about to be built." One of its many advantages was the location, which according to the ''Brooklyn Eagle'', "is one of the finest in Greater New York, commanding an extensive view of water from
Sandy Hook
Sandy Hook is a barrier spit in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States.
The barrier spit, approximately in length and varying from wide, is located at the north end of the Jersey Shore. It encloses the southern en ...
to the
New Jersey Palisades
The Palisades, also called the New Jersey Palisades or the Hudson River Palisades, are a line of steep cliffs along the west side of the lower Hudson River in Northeastern New Jersey and Southeastern New York in the United States. The cliffs s ...
, with
Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...
and the shores of
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
directly in front." Still more praise in February 1899, "Dyker Heights has been one of the most successful and the most rapid in growth of any of the suburban settlements, over one hundred dwellings, costing from $5,000 to $25,000 each, having been erected there within the last two years."
Advantages of the development
![Massive Stone Pier in Dyker Heights](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Massive_Stone_Pier_in_Dyker_Heights.jpg)
In September 1899, ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' even reported on the advantages of the development, recommending it to "the busy man of
Wall Street
Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...
" because of "its magnificent transportation facilities... it can be reached via the Thirty-Ninth Street
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
Ferry and Eighty-Sixth Street Nassau Line in 45 minutes."
[Wall Street Journal, "Dyker Heights and Wall Street," September 22, 1899, p. 5.] In addition, the article claimed that "the 45 minutes' trip between Dyker Heights and Wall Street by water and rail is as invigorating as the Dyker Heights climate is healthy-living. The rare opportunities afforded by Dyker Heights to the wealthy and to those in moderate circumstances are due largely to the energy, enterprise and good taste of its founder, Mr. Walter L. Johnson."
A month later, ''The Wall Street Journal'' published "An Ideal Spot for a Home." From that article, one can clearly see why Dyker Heights was so successful. Its location and luxurious homes were first rate, "
yker Heightsis without a rival as to location, situated as it is at an elevation of
10feet above the sea level, and is directly opposite the new Dyker Meadow Park... which will be the only seaside park in Greater New York."
[Wall Street Journal, "An Ideal Spot for a Home," October 24, 1899, p. 2.] The article also explained the exclusiveness of the property, which can be seen in "its massive stone piers with heavy wrought-iron lamps and scrolls" that adorn the entrances.
In December 1899 the ''Brooklyn Eagle'' reported that, "work has recently been commenced upon thirty high-class Houses, the demand for which runs a dead heat with the supply."
[Brooklyn Eagle, "Dyker Heights Development," December 31, 1899, p. 28.]
Johnson set very high standards for the community: the Wall Street Journal explained "the property is carefully restricted against all nuisances and no building can be erected upon a plot of less than in width by in depth, and each building must cost at least $4,000 and stand well back from the street."
These regulations, which were similar to those of
Bensonhurst
Bensonhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bordered on the northwest by 14th Avenue, on the northeast by 60th Street, on the southeast by Avenue P and 22n ...
-by-the-Sea, were active until 1915. However, the most desirable feature of the area was still the "uninterrupted view of the lower bay from
The Narrows
__NOTOC__
The Narrows is the tidal strait separating the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It connects the Upper New York Bay and Lower New York Bay and forms the principal channel by which the Hudson Riv ...
to Sandy Hook and
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
,
hich
Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...
is one of the most magnificent in the country, and nowhere else in the consolidated city is there anything to compare it with. From here can be seen a marine panorama hard to beat."
Dyker Heights was so desirous that important members of society flocked to it. The ''
Brooklyn Eagle
:''This article covers both the historical newspaper (1841–1955, 1960–1963), as well as an unrelated new Brooklyn Daily Eagle starting 1996 published currently''
The ''Brooklyn Eagle'' (originally joint name ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and ''King ...
'' reported in December 1899 that this "drain" on the more established social neighborhoods such as
Brooklyn Heights
Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, an ...
and those in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, "almost threatens to lower the social tone of the neighborhoods where this universal exodus is effecting a gradual change in the character of the population."
Late 19th and early 20th centuries
Property on 84th Street near 13th Avenue was made available to the International Sunshine Society in 1906 by lawyer, financier, and promoter George E. Crater, Jr. The society
was able to acquire the house for $11,000, roughly half the market value, and opened the Dyker Heights Home for Blind Babies on 1 November 1906.
Cynthia W. Alden,
Mary C. Seward, and other society officers worked with the
New York City Board of Education
The Panel for Educational Policy of the Department of Education of the City School District of the City of New York, abbreviated as the Panel for Educational Policy and also known as the New York City Board of Education, is the governing body of ...
to establish the first public kindergarten for
blind children at the home in 1907.
The original building is gone, but the work begun in Dyker Heights provided a legacy of significant reforms in the public education of blind children within New York and other regions of the United States.
![Dr Ullo home](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Dr_Ullo_home.jpg)
One of the many focal points of the neighborhood was the Dyker Heights Club, which started in October 1896.
By spring of 1898 the club had a $30,000 clubhouse designed by Albert Edward Parfitt on an $8,500 lot, measuring 200×200, located on the northeast corner of 13th Avenue and 86th Street. Johnson moved his real estate office into the clubhouse and hired a full-time architect, Constantine Schubert, who was also a Dyker Heights homeowner. This grand, neo-classical building was demolished in 1929 by the Archbishop John Hughes
Knights of Columbus
The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney on March 29, 1882. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. It is led by Patrick E. Kelly, the order's 14th Supreme Knight. ...
Club, when they acquired the property for $60,000.
Early in the history of Dyker Heights, Johnson continually purchased consecutive tracts of land until the boundaries of Dyker Heights stretched from 79th Street in the north, roughly 86th Street in the south, Tenth Avenue to the west, and about east of 13th Avenue to the east. However, the boundaries of the Neighborhood of Dyker Heights are now defined by the Dyker Heights Post Office on the northwest corner of 13th and 84th Streets; along its northeast edge runs Bay Ridge Avenue; 16th Avenue is its southeast boundary;
Fort Hamilton
Fort Hamilton is a United States Army installation in the southwestern corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, surrounded by the communities of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights. It is one of several posts that are part of the region which is ...
makes its southwest border; and
Interstate 278
Interstate 278 (I-278) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in New Jersey and New York in the United States. The road runs from US Route 1/9 (US 1/9) in Linden, New Jersey, northeast to the Bruckner Interchange in the New Yor ...
is the northwest limit.
Demographics
![St](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/St._Philip%27s_Church_in_Dyker_Heights.jpg)
Based on data from the
2010 United States Census
The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...
, the population of Dyker Heights was 42,419, an increase of 3,087 (7.8%) from the 39,332 counted in
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
.
[Table PL-P5 NTA: Total Population and Persons Per Acre - New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010](_blank)
, Population Division - New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
Department of City Planning, February 2012. Accessed June 16, 2016.
The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 70.2%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 0.1%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.0%
Native American, 27.1%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.0%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 0.1% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 1.0% (430) from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 5.9% of the population.
[Table PL-P3A NTA: Total Population by Mutually Exclusive Race and Hispanic Origin - New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010](_blank)
, Population Division - New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
Department of City Planning, March 29, 2011. Accessed June 14, 2016.
The entirety of Community Board 13 had 142,075 inhabitants as of
NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 83.1 years.
This is higher than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods.
Most inhabitants are middle-aged adults and youth: 20% are between the ages of 0–17, 34% between 25 and 44, and 25% between 45 and 64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 7% and 15% respectively.
As of 2016, the median
household income
Household income is a measure of the combined incomes of all people sharing a particular household or place of residence. It includes every form of income, e.g., salaries and wages, retirement income, near cash government transfers like food stamp ...
in Community District 10 was $68,679. In 2018, an estimated 19% of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights 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 49% in Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights, slightly lower than the citywide and boroughwide rates of 52% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, , Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights are considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city.
Cultural history
The first residents were either local government officials or wealthy professionals. For instance, I. M. De Varona was engineer of the Water Bureau, Clarence Barrow was ex-Fire Commissioner, William C. Bryant was current Fire Commissioner, George W. Dickinson was a cotton-goods merchant, W. Bennett Wardell was a retired judge, Richard Perry Chittenden was Assistant of the
Corporation Counsel, Freeland Willcox was Secretary of the Cheeseborough Vaseline Company, and Eugene Boucher was
longshoreman
A stevedore (), also called a longshoreman, a docker or a dockworker, is a waterfront manual laborer who is involved in loading and unloading ships, trucks, trains or airplanes.
After the shipping container revolution of the 1960s, the number o ...
and insurance broker.
Since the 1940s, Dyker Heights has had a majority Italian-American population. The ''
Brooklyn Eagle
:''This article covers both the historical newspaper (1841–1955, 1960–1963), as well as an unrelated new Brooklyn Daily Eagle starting 1996 published currently''
The ''Brooklyn Eagle'' (originally joint name ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and ''King ...
'' explained a problem Johnson had with a particular Italian family in a home "which at the time was owned by Walter L. Johnson, was occupied by an Italian family, to whom Mr. Johnson paid $600 to vacate it in order that the neighborhood of Dyker Heights, which is very carefully restricted, might have no objectionable features about it." By 1940 Dyker Heights was inhabited by a majority of people of Italian descent many of whom helped establish the Roman Catholic Shrine Church of Saint Bernadette (ca. 1935) on 13th Avenue between 82nd and 83rd streets.
Dyker Heights Boulevard, also known as 13th Avenue, contains many Italian-owned businesses. Dyker Heights Boulevard is the only commercial district in Dyker Heights and is the de facto center of the neighborhood.
However, since the 2000s, there has been a slow growing influx of Asian residents into the neighborhood and
NYC Dept. of City Planning released a 2020 census data showing for the first time in history, the Asian population in the neighborhood has surpassed the White population. The Asian population residents are between 30,000 and 39,999 while the remaining White population residents are between 10,000 and 19,999. The 2020 census data also showed a small, but significant Hispanic population residents of 5,000 to 9,999.
Housing
Dyker Heights' housing stock consists mostly of stately, single-family detached and semi-detached bungalows.
In December 1899, the ''
Brooklyn Eagle
:''This article covers both the historical newspaper (1841–1955, 1960–1963), as well as an unrelated new Brooklyn Daily Eagle starting 1996 published currently''
The ''Brooklyn Eagle'' (originally joint name ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and ''King ...
'' wrote a very detailed description of the homes in Dyker Heights:
Of the approximately 150 homes initially built by Johnson, about half remain; while the others have been razed and replaced by large Mediterranean
villa
A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...
s,
condos
A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...
, as well as semi and fully attached homes. Very few of the newer homes fit into the historic context of Dyker Heights, and in contrast to Brooklyn's contemporaneous
Ditmas Park and
Prospect Park South
Prospect Park South is a small neighborhood in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York City, located south of Prospect Park. It is included within the Prospect Park South Historic District, which was designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation ...
developments, many of the original surviving homes have been extensively renovated and remodeled.
Christmas decorations
![Dyker Lights (62317)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Dyker_Lights_%2862317%29.jpg)
Dyker Heights is now most famous for its Christmas lights and decorations erected each year by its residents. It has been called "Con Ed's warmest heartthrob," the "undisputed capital of Christmas pageantry,"
[7] and the "king of the Christmas lights." Christmas lights are now the core of the Dyker Heights identity, because the whole community, not just one home or one block, participates.
As such, Dyker Heights has been referred to as "an epicenter of professionally-hung Christmas lights". Most holiday decorations in the area are not erected by homeowners, but by local decorating companies, but the cost of hiring professional decorators can vary greatly, from $1,000 to $20,000 or more, depending on the scale of the display; many companies also offer additional services, including the option to take down and store decorations.
Formally, the lighting and Christmas decorations begin on the last Thursday of November (Thanksgiving) and they remain until the first days of January, with mid-December being the days most visited by tourists.
Although in which December the lights began is unclear, newspaper reports and tours of the area suggest it started sometime in the 1980s. In 1985 one Lou Singer began running tours (Singer's Brooklyn) through the most elaborately light parts of
Bensonhurst
Bensonhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bordered on the northwest by 14th Avenue, on the northeast by 60th Street, on the southeast by Avenue P and 22n ...
,
Canarsie
Canarsie ( ) is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin and East 108th Street; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on the west by Ralph Aven ...
,
Bay Ridge
Bay Ridge is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by Sunset Park to the north, Dyker Heights to the east, the Narrows and the Belt Parkway to the west, and Fort Hamilton Army Base an ...
, and Dyker Heights where one could find "designer lighting."
Since those initial 1980 reports, the lights of Dyker Heights have become increasingly popular with New Yorkers as newspaper articles, news programs, documentaries, and remotes were created. In 2000,
Conan O'Brien filmed a remote for ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...
'' in Dyker Heights. A
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
televised documentary "Dyker Lights" was produced in 2001 as an insight into the neighborhood with stories involving the Christmas celebration lights.
Notable decorations
Early on, the two most noted homes were on 84th Street, between 11th and 12th Avenues, directly across from one another. The home of Lucy Spata with her Santa theme at 1152 84th Street and that of Alfred Polizzotto with his Nutcracker motif at 1145 84th Street.
In December 1998, the Spatas' home was covered in lights, illuminated soldiers and choirboys, and other Christmas figures. The inside is decorated with 50 motorized dolls, miniature villages and many gifts. Outside Santa, played by her nephew, greets children and others who pass by.
The white mansion, owned by Alfred Polizzotto and his family, was adorned with a pair of high wooden soldiers which stood guard and wave their arms. The front lawn had rearing horses and a quartet of dancers. In 1988, Polizzotto was diagnosed with lymphoma, which was successfully treated the following year. To celebrate his triumph, Polizzotto mounted the display the following year and until his death. In 2001, Polizzotto died; however, his family continued the tradition in his honor for a few years, until stopping in 2020.
In 1996, the Casos, who moved to Dyker Heights in 1995 and have since relocated, had Midwood artist Carl Oliveri design Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," which included 29 life-size figures on their front lawn at 1062 84th St.
Political representation
![Dyker Heights Ladder 149](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Dyker_Heights_Ladder_149.jpg)
The neighborhood is part of
New York's 11th congressional district
New York's 11th congressional district is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives in New York City. The 11th district includes all of Staten Island and parts of southern Brooklyn, including the neighborhoods of B ...
, represented by Republican
Nicole Malliotakis
Nicole Malliotakis (; born November 11, 1980) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 11th congressional district since 2021. Her constituency covers Staten Island and southern Brooklyn.
Malliotakis is the on ...
. It is also part of the 22nd
State Senate
A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...
district, represented by Democrat
Andrew Gounardes
Andrew Gounardes (born July 8, 1985) is an American lawyer and politician. He is a Democrat and a member of the New York State Senate, representing the 26th district, which encompasses the neighborhoods of Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Sunset Park ...
, and the 46th and 49th
State Assembly districts, represented respectively by Democrats
Mathylde Frontus
Mathylde Frontus (born December 1, 1977) is an American politician. A Democrat, Frontus represented the 46th district in the New York State Assembly. Her district includes portions of southern Brooklyn, including Coney Island, Brighton Beach, B ...
and
Peter J. Abbate Jr. Dyker Heights is located in New York's 43rd
City Council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
district, represented by
Justin Brannan
Justin Lee Brannan (born October 14, 1978) is an American politician and musician. A Democrat, he is the current New York City Councilmember for the 43rd district, based in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. A former musician, he was a founding member of the ...
.
Dyker Heights is served by
Brooklyn Community Board 10
Brooklyn Community Board 10 is a New York City community board that encompasses the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, and Fort Hamilton. It is delimited by Upper New York Bay on the west, Bay Ridge R.R. Yards and Long Island Ra ...
.
The Dyker Heights Civic Association is the neighborhood's unofficial civic association.
Police and crime
The
NYPD
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
's 68th Precinct is located at 333 65th Street.
The 68th Precinct ranked 7th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010.
, with a non-fatal assault rate of 23 per 100,000 people, Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights' rate of
violent crime
A violent crime, violent felony, crime of violence or crime of a violent nature is a crime in which an offender or perpetrator uses or threatens to use harmful force upon a victim. This entails both crimes in which the violence, violent act is t ...
s per capita is less than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 168 per 100,000 people is lower than that of the city as a whole.
The 68th Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 88.6% between 1990 and 2018. The precinct reported 2
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
s, 16
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
s, 59
robberies
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...
, 129
felony
A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...
assaults, 96
burglaries
Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of entering a building or other areas without permission, with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, robbery or murder ...
, 387
grand larcenies, and 86
grand larcenies auto in 2018.
Fire safety
The
firehouse
__NOTOC__
A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equipment, fire h ...
for the
New York City Fire Department
The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY), is an American department of the government of New York City that provides fire protection services, technical rescue/special operations services, ...
(FDNY)'s Engine Co. 284/Ladder Co. 149 is located at 1157 79th Street.
Health
,
preterm birth
Preterm birth, also known as premature birth, is the Childbirth, birth of a baby at fewer than 37 weeks Gestational age (obstetrics), gestational age, as opposed to full-term delivery at approximately 40 weeks. Extreme preterm is less than 28 we ...
s and births to teenage mothers are less common in Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights than in other places citywide. In Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights, there were 95 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 11.4 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide).
Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights has a high population of residents who are
uninsured
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to Hedge ( ...
, or who receive healthcare through
Medicaid
Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and pers ...
.
[New York City Health Provider Partnership Brooklyn Community Needs Assessment: Final Report](_blank)
, New York Academy of Medicine
The New York Academy of Medicine (the Academy) is a health policy and advocacy organization founded in 1847 by a group of leading New York metropolitan area physicians as a voice for the medical profession in medical practice and public health ...
(October 3, 2014). In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 15%, which is higher than the citywide rate of 12%.
The concentration of
fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of
air pollutant
Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different type ...
, in Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights is , lower than the citywide and boroughwide averages.
Twelve percent of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights residents are
smokers, which is lower the city average of 14% of residents being smokers.
In Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights, 28% of residents are
obese
Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...
, 15% are
diabetic
Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level (hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased app ...
, and 31% have
high blood pressure
Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Long-term high bl ...
—compared to the citywide averages of 24%, 11%, and 28% respectively.
In addition, 16% of children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%.
Ninety-two percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is slightly higher than the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 74% of residents described their health as "good," "very good," or "excellent," lower than the city's average of 78%.
For every supermarket in Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights, there are 21
bodegas.
The Bay Ridge/Dyker Heights/Bensonhurst area does not have any hospitals. However, the
Coney Island Hospital
The hospital's Behavioral Health Clinic
Coney Island Hospital is a public teaching hospital located in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. It is owned by NYC Health + Hospitals, a public benefit corporation of the city. ...
,
NYU Langone Hospital – Brooklyn
NYU Langone Hospital – Brooklyn is a full-service, 450-bed academic teaching hospital in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. Formerly named NYU Lutheran Medical Center, it functions as the hub of Lutheran Healthcare, which ...
, and
Maimonides Medical Center
Maimonides Medical Center is a non-profit, non-sectarian hospital located in Borough Park, Brooklyn, Borough Park, in the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Maimonides is b ...
are located in nearby neighborhoods.
Additionally, the
BRAVO Volunteer Ambulance
BRAVO Volunteer Ambulance is a volunteer ambulance organization which provides 24/7 emergency medical services to the neighborhoods of Bay Ridge, Fort Hamilton and Dyker Heights in Brooklyn, New York. Its area is boarded by 60th Street to the nort ...
is run by the Bay Ridge Ambulance Volunteer Organization.
Post office and ZIP Code
Dyker Heights is covered by
ZIP Code 11228. The
United States Post Office
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the ...
's Dyker Heights Station is located at 8320 13th Avenue.
Education
Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights generally has a similar ratio of college-educated residents to the rest of the city . While 46% of residents age 25 and older have a college education or higher, 19% have less than a high school education and 35% are high school graduates or have some college education. By contrast, 40% of Brooklynites and 38% of city residents have a college education or higher.
The percentage of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights students excelling in reading and math has been increasing, with reading achievement rising from 51 percent in 2000 to 52 percent in 2011, and math achievement rising from 49 percent to 71 percent within the same time period.
Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights' rate of elementary school student absenteeism is lower than the rest of New York City. In Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights, 8% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per
school year
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...
, compared to the citywide average of 20% of students.
Additionally, 82% of high school students in Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights graduate on time, higher than the citywide average of 75% of students.
Schools
![Holy Prep back fields, 1919](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Holy_Prep_back_fields%2C_1919.jpg)
Private
*
Poly Prep Country Day School
Poly Prep Country Day School (commonly known as Poly Prep) is an independent, co-educational day school with two campuses in Brooklyn, New York, United States. The Middle School (5th to 8th grades) and Upper School (9th to 12th grades) are loc ...
(Pre-K – 12th Grade)
Parochial
* Leif Ericson Day School (Pre-K – 8th Grade;
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant Lutheran church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. , it has approxim ...
)
* St. Bernadette School (Pre-K – 8th Grade;
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
)
* St. Ephrem School (Pre-K – 8th Grade; Roman Catholic)
Public
* IS 187 Christa McAuliffe (6th Grade – 8th Grade)
* JHS 201 Dyker Heights (6th Grade – 8th Grade)
* JHS 259 William McKinley (6th Grade – 8th Grade)
* PS 127 McKinley Park (Kindergarten – 5th Grade)
* PS-IS 229 Dyker (Pre-Kindergarten – 8th Grade)
* PS 204 Vince Lombardi (Pre-Kindergarten – 5th Grade)
* PS 176 The Ovington School (Kindergarten – 5th Grade)
Early childhood education
* Lefferts Park Baptist Church Daycare (2 years old – 6 years old)
Libraries
The
Brooklyn Public Library
The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) is the public library system of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is the sixteenth largest public library system in the United States by holding and the seventh by number of visitors. Like the two othe ...
has two branches in Dyker Heights. The Dyker branch is located at 8202 13th Avenue, near 82nd Street. The one-story structure, opened in 1974, was designed by
Daniel Laitin and features a blue-green glazed facade.
The McKinley Park branch is located at 6802 Fort Hamilton Parkway, near 68th Street. The McKinley Park location was originally a "deposit station" with a small circulating collection, which opened in 1911. The library moved to the current building in 1959, and the structure was restored in 1995.
Transportation
Public transportation
![MTA Bus X28 Dyker Heights](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/MTA_Bus_X28_Dyker_Heights.jpg)
The center of Dyker Heights is not served directly by the
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...
, but its neighboring communities are; It can range from a 15-20 minute walk to a station in Bay Ridge, Borough Park or Bensonhurst depending on where in the neighborhood you are.
Bay Ridge
Bay Ridge is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by Sunset Park to the north, Dyker Heights to the east, the Narrows and the Belt Parkway to the west, and Fort Hamilton Army Base an ...
is served by the
BMT Fourth Avenue Line
The BMT Fourth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line of the New York City Subway, mainly running under Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn. The line is served by the D, N, and R at all times; the R typically runs local, while the D and N run express duri ...
(), with stations at
Bay Ridge Avenue,
77th Street,
86th Street and
95th Street. The far south end of
Borough Park is served by the
BMT Sea Beach Line
The BMT Sea Beach Line is a rapid transit line of the BMT division of the New York City Subway, connecting the BMT Fourth Avenue Line at 59th Street via a four-track wide open cut to Coney Island in Brooklyn. It has at times hosted the fastes ...
(), with stations at
Fort Hamilton Parkway and
New Utrecht Avenue.
Bensonhurst
Bensonhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bordered on the northwest by 14th Avenue, on the northeast by 60th Street, on the southeast by Avenue P and 22n ...
is served by the
BMT West End Line
The BMT West End Line is a line of the New York City Subway, serving the Brooklyn communities of Sunset Park, Borough Park, New Utrecht, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Coney Island. The D train operates local on the entire line at all times. A ...
(), with stations at
79th Street,
71st Street and
62nd Street.
Several local
New York City Bus
MTA Regional Bus Operations (RBO) is the surface transit division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). It was created in 2008 to consolidate all bus operations in New York City operated by the MTA. , MTA Regional Bus Operations ru ...
routes and two express routes serve Dyker Heights; the routes are .
Dyker Heights is accessible by car via the
Belt Parkway
The Belt Parkway is the name given to a series of connected limited-access highways that form a belt-like circle around the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. The Belt Parkway comprises three of the four parkways in what is known as t ...
as well as the
Interstate 278
Interstate 278 (I-278) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in New Jersey and New York in the United States. The road runs from US Route 1/9 (US 1/9) in Linden, New Jersey, northeast to the Bruckner Interchange in the New Yor ...
(
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge ( ) is a suspension bridge connecting the New York City boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn. It spans the Narrows, a body of water linking the relatively enclosed New York Harbor with Lower New York Bay and th ...
to
Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...
,
Gowanus Expressway
Interstate 278 (I-278) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in New Jersey and New York in the United States. The road runs from US Route 1/9 (US 1/9) in Linden, New Jersey, northeast to the Bruckner Interchange in the New York ...
, and
Brooklyn-Queens Expressway
Interstate 278 (I-278) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in New Jersey and New York in the United States. The road runs from US Route 1/9 (US 1/9) in Linden, New Jersey, northeast to the Bruckner Interchange in the New York ...
).
Named streets
* Lieutenant William E. Coffey Square – 81st Street between 7th Avenue and Fort Hamilton Parkway. In the square stands one flagpole and two upright granite stones. One stone contains a bronze plaque inscribed with "In Memory Of Those Members Of Our Armed Forces Who Gave Their Lives For Our Country These Dead Shall Not Have Died In Vain" and the other stone has an incised scene of Iwo Jima.
* Marie Walsh Corner – southwest corner of 84th Street and 7th Avenue. Marie Walsh was a dedicated community activist being a member of the Dyker Heights Civic Association, Bay Ridge Community Council, and the
Kings County Conservative Party. She also helped to establish the X28 bus. On June 10, 1996, Mayor
Rudolph W. Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 1 ...
signed the bill into law.
* Dyker Heights Boulevard – 13th Avenue between 86th Street and Bay Ridge Avenue. On August 8, 2001, Mayor
Rudolph W. Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 1 ...
signed the bill into law.
* Firefighter Dennis Patrick O'Berg 9/11 Memorial Way – 74th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues. Although he graduated from the
State University of New York at Geneseo
The State University of New York College at Geneseo (SUNY Geneseo, Geneseo State College or, colloquially, "Geneseo") is a public liberal arts college in Geneseo, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. The colle ...
with a degree in accounting, O'Berg followed in his father's footsteps and became a firefighter. He was a member of Ladder 105, in the
Prospect Heights section of
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. On October 20, 2003, Mayor
Michael R. Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...
signed the bill into law.
* Robert F. Tipaldi 9/11 Memorial Way – 80th Street between 7th and 10th Avenues. Tipaldi was a 25-year-old trader with
Cantor Fitzgerald
Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P. is an American financial services firm that was founded in 1945. It specializes in institutional equity, fixed income sales and trading, and serving the middle market with investment banking services, prime brokerage, an ...
on the 104th floor of
World Trade Center
World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association.
World Trade Center may refer to:
Buildings
* List of World Trade Centers
* World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
Tower 1. On December 21, 2004, Mayor
Michael R. Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...
signed the bill into law.
* Maria LaVache 9/11 Memorial Way – 12th Avenue between Bay Ridge Parkway and 76th Street. LaVache was a long-time receptionist for J&H's International Department but was transferred to another office on the 99th floor of the World Trade Center. On December 21, 2004, Mayor
Michael R. Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...
signed the bill into law.
* Charles J. Mauro 9/11 Memorial Way – 72nd Street between 11th and 12th Avenues. On December 21, 2004, Mayor
Michael R. Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...
signed the bill into law.
* Arturo Angelo Sereno 9/11 Memorial Way – 12th Avenue and 67th Street. On December 21, 2004, Mayor
Michael R. Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...
signed the bill into law.
![Richard M Caggiano 9-11 Memorial Way](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Richard_M_Caggiano_9-11_Memorial_Way.jpg)
* Richard M. Caggiano 9/11 Memorial Way – 80th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues. Caggiano worked for
Cantor Fitzgerald
Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P. is an American financial services firm that was founded in 1945. It specializes in institutional equity, fixed income sales and trading, and serving the middle market with investment banking services, prime brokerage, an ...
. On April 14, 2005, Mayor
Michael R. Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...
signed the bill into law.
* Frederick I. Ergang Way – 12th Avenue and Bay Ridge Avenue. Having been raised in Borough Park, he was principal of P.S. 176 at 69th Street and 12th Avenue from 1973 until his retirement in 1998. At the time of his retirement he had the second longest tenure of any educator in the city of New York.
On May 5, 2004, Mayor
Michael R. Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...
signed the bill into law.
* Det. Frank P. Collins Avenue – 72nd Street and 7th Avenue. Collins was a sergeant in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
, where he toured
Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
, and an officer with
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
, working as a narcotics detective in the 63rd precinct. He died in a motorcycle accident on June 12, 2002.
On May 5, 2004, Mayor
Michael R. Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...
signed the bill into law.
* Giuseppe "Joe" Papandrea Way – 86th Street between 15th and 16th Avenues. Born in Calabria, Italy, Papandrea immigrated to Brooklyn. A
leukemia
Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...
survivor, he was killed by a hit and run driver om this block on January 29, 2002.
On May 5, 2004, Mayor
Michael R. Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...
signed the bill into law.
* De Russy Drive – Circular drive in front of the Dyker Beach Golf Course Club House, connecting 7th Avenue with 86th Street. From approximately 1870 to 1930, an earlier 'De Russy Street' ran within this same parcel, as the northernmost section of the golf course was 92nd Street. This street ran perpendicular to 86th Street and some west of 11th Avenue and it was demapped when the park was expanded northward in the 1930s. Both the Dyker Heights Civic Association and the Dyker Heights Historical Society were instrumental in the naming of the street after René Edward De Russy, General Rene E. De Russy. It was redesignated in July 2009.
[Dyker Beach Golf & Catering Hall Ribbon Cutting Ceremony](_blank)
, Brooklyn Eagle, 07-09-2009
* Walter L. Johnson Corner – 82nd Street and 11th Avenue, southwest corner. Johnson developed Dyker Heights in about 1895 to 1905. This was the corner on which he built his house, the first at Dyker Heights. The Dyker Heights Civic Association, the Dyker Heights Historical Society, and Council Member Vincent J. Gentile, of the 43rd district, were instrumental in the naming of this corner.
On December 28, 2009, Mayor
Michael R. Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...
signed the bill into law.
* Hank Vogt Way – at the intersection of 85th Street and 7th Avenue. In 1974, Vogt established, and became the first chair of the Bay Ridge Ambulance Volunteer Organization. He was also Parade Chairman of the Ragamuffin Parade for many years as well as chairman of Planning Board 10. Council Member Gentile helped secure the corner's redesignation.
On December 28, 2009, Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed the bill into law.
Churches
* Shrine Church of Saint Bernadette (Roman Catholic)
* St. Rosalia-Regina Pacis Parish (Roman Catholic)
* St. Ephrem's (Roman Catholic)
* St. Philip's (Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal)
* Lefferts Park Baptist Church (Independent Baptist)
Park and golf course
Southwestern Dyker Heights contains the
Dyker Beach Park and Golf Course
The Dyker Beach Park and Golf Course is a public park and a municipal, 18-hole, championship golf course in the southernmost part of Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, in New York City, United States. The area stretches from the Belt Parkway in the south t ...
, a public park and a municipal, 18-hole, championship golf course.
Notable residents
Notable current and former residents of Dyker Heights include:
* Scott Baio (born 1960), actor
* Maria Bartiromo (born 1967), television host
* Wenjian Liu (1982–2014), NYPD officer, died in a 2014 killings of NYPD officers, 2014 shooting of NYPD officers
* Adam Ottavino (born 1985), baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, Colorado Rockies, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and New York Mets.
* Joe Rollino (1905-2010), an original Coney Island Strongman
* Rosanna Scotto (born 1958), TV news anchor, grew up in Dyker Heights.
* Anthony Fauci (born 1940), Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and one of the lead members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force regarding the COVID-19 pandemic grew up in Dyker Heights, above his family's neighborhood pharmacy.
References
External links
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Dyker Heights, Brooklyn,
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Brooklyn
Little Italys in the United States
Neighborhoods in Brooklyn
Populated coastal places in New York (state)
Sicilian-American culture
Italian-American history
Little Italys in New York (state)
Italian-American culture in New York City