Welcome to Bay Ridge!

Ridgeites are aware that their neighborhood holds many historic sights, and now they have a booklet created by the Historic Districts Council (HDC) to prove it.

“Bay Ridge is hot, and as a community we can see it growing,” said Councilmember Vincent Gentile, who was among several attendees on Wednesday, April 10, at an informal and intimate get-together that took place at HOM, 8804 Third Avenue.

“This booklet captures the soul of the neighborhood. It’s small, but it’s a very important thing,” he added.

“I didn’t just want to give it out,” said Victoria Hofmo, the founder of the Bay Ridge Conservancy, who helped get the neighborhood recognized, about the brochure, insisting that first she wanted to introduce it to supporters and neighbors who would be happy to know that Bay Ridge takes pride in this guide to a historic New York City neighborhood.

Hofmo thanked her “partner in crime,” Susan Pulaski, president emeritus of the Bay Ridge Historical Society, saying that together they “commit the best crimes, trying to capture the soul of our neighborhood and preserving it.

“They’ve selected Bay Ridge because it had a place for long-time residents and newcomers, something almost extinct in New York today,” Hofmo added

Also present was Barbara Zay, the staff person from the Historic District Council, who worked on the brochure by investigating certain parts of the neighborhood. “I love how positive the feeling is here; people seem to thrive in those neighborhoods,” she said.

The booklet was created by HDC in partnership with the Bay Ridge Conservancy, thanks in part to an allocation by Gentile. Two hundred copies will be distributed to people who are interested as part of HDC’s Six to Celebrate program, which annually identifies six historic New York City neighborhoods. Bay Ridge was included in the group in 2012 along with Victorian Flatbush and four neighborhoods in other boroughs. Sunset Park is one of six neighborhoods to make the list for 2013.

Some of the notable locations associated with Bay Ridge that are listed in the booklet include: Owl’s Head Park, the American Veterans Memorial Pier on 69th Street, the Narrows Botanical Garden, Christ Church Bay Ridge, Visitation Academy, the architectural designs on 81st and 82nd Streets between Third Avenue and Colonial Road, the Fort Hamilton branch of the Brooklyn Public Library and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.

If you’d like your own copy, stop by Gentile’s office, 8703 Third Avenue.