Bensonhurst

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Image:Bensonhurst Embrakement.JPG Image:Verezano-Bensonhurst.JPG Image:Bensonhurst15th.jpg

Bensonhurst is a working class neighborhood located in the south-central part of New York City, USA's borough of Brooklyn. Bensonhurst runs from about 11th Avenue to 25th Avenue and from Gravesend Bay to 63rd Street, encompassing Bath Beach and part of Dyker Heights and bordered by the Bath Beach, Bay Ridge, Gravesend, and Borough Park sections.

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History

In the early 1900s, many Jews and Italians moved into the neighborhood and prior to World War II, the neighborhood was about equally Jewish and Italian. In the 1950s, there was an influx of immigrants from southern Italy and most of the Jewish population left the neighborhood and the neighborhood remained predominately Italian until the 1980s when many Chinese and Russian immigrants began to arrive. Today, the Italian-American community numbers about 50,000 or one-third of the population. Despite increasing diversity, Bensonhurst still remains the most authentic "Little Italy" in New York, as its Italian-speaking community remains about 20,000 strong, according to 2000 census figures. Its main thoroughfare, 86th Street between roughly 14th Avenue and Stillwell Avenue, is lined with predominantly small, family-owned businesses, many of which have remained in the same family for several generations, and is topped by an elevated subway line.

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80's Racial Tension

On August 23, 1989, the neighborhood made national headlines when Yusef Hawkins, a 16-year-old African American, went there with three of his friends to inquire about a used car which was for sale, only to be set upon by an angry mob of youths from the neighborhood, one of whom, armed with a handgun, shot and killed Hawkins. Spike Lee's film Jungle Fever is dedicated in memory of Hawkins, and his photograph appears at the beginning of the film.

The incident uncorked a torrent of racial tension in and around New York City in the ensuing days and weeks, culminating in a protest march through the neighborhood led by the Reverend Al Sharpton, which almost precipitated a full-scale riot. The episode underscored the strained relations between Italian Americans and African Americans that have existed in many Northeastern and Rust Belt cities for decades. This further perpetuated the negative stereotype of Italian Americans as invariably racist. Many in Bensonhurst, the larger Italian American community, argue that this is a false stereotype, citing the fact that Italian-American religious, political and community leaders in Bensonhurst, as well as the vast majority of community residents, condemned the murder and desired to see the perpetrators jailed for their crime. The man who fired the shots that killed Hawkins, Joseph Fama, received a sentence of 32 years to life in prison for murder and unlawful possession of a weapon following his trial and conviction; several other defendants received lesser sentences on charges that included riot in the first degree, a felony.

Two years later, Al Sharpton was stabbed on Jan. 12, 1991, as he prepared to lead a march one block from where Yusuf Hawkins had been shot. The attempted assassin, Michael Riccardi, was a resident of Bensonhurst who felt he would be considered heroic by his community at the height of the racial tension.

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Brooklyn's "Little Italy"

Bensonhurst was stereotyped as a haven for Mafia members (Gus Farace, a reputed mob associate suspected of murdering a federal drug-enforcement agent, was found shot to death in a parked car there on November 17, 1989, and two years later the neighborhood provided the setting for the mob-themed film Out for Justice starring Steven Seagal), many of whom are believed to maintain residences in Dyker Heights, a neighborhood adjacent to Bensonhurst. Despite this old stereotype, the reality is that the overwhelming majority of Bensonhurst residents (like the overwhelming majority of all Italian-Americans) have nothing to do with organized crime.

Currently the neighborhood is undergoing a transformation; many of the original houses dating back over 90 years ago are being torn down and replaced by three-story brick apartment buildings and multi-family dwellings. Many of the original Italian-American families are leaving Brooklyn, and selling their homes to developers. A great number of them have moved to Long Island or Staten Island for a more suburban life. This is especially attractive to its more elderly residents. As a result, Bensonhurst is becoming a more integrated neighborhood as many Middle-Eastern as well as Eastern European, Russian, and Asian families have moved in.

Visitors from throughout the New York City metropolitan area flock to the neighborhood each year in late August or early September to take part in the colorful Santa Rosalia Festival, held on 18th Avenue from Bay Ridge Parkway (75 Street) to 69 Street. St. Rosalia is the patron saint of the city of Palermo and is sometimes venerated as the patron for the entire island of Sicily (a portion of Bensonhurst's Italian American residents are of Sicilian heritage).

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Trivia

  • Bensonhurst was the setting for "The Honeymooners" series, featuring actor/comedian Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden, a bus driver in Brooklyn during the 1950s.
  • Bensonhurst is named after the Benson family whose farm was divided into many 20 by 100 foot lots and sold off in the early 1900's.
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Famous People

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External links

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