Happy 170th birthday to good old Bay Ridge

The small “town” in the big city is about to celebrate the 170th anniversary of its official name change from Yellow Hook to Bay Ridge.

It was a mild Friday evening on Dec. 16, 1853 when a group of prominent area landowners met at the School District No. 2 Yellow Hook school house, then located on Third Avenue near our present day 73rd Street. As a result of the 1848-49 yellow fever epidemic in other Brooklyn communities, villagers were especially concerned about the continual stigma of having a name like Yellow Hook. So in the one-story frame school building, a historic meeting was called to consider a name change for the village. Yellow Hook was then a small village within the Town of New Utrecht.

Town Supervisor Tunis Bergen, a Yellow Hook resident, chaired the meeting. Florist James Weir proposed the name “Bay Ridge,” taking into consideration the geographic features of the surrounding land, specifically the bay along the Narrows and the high ridge just up from the shore which had been formed by a glacial moraine. The new name was unanimously accepted and a resolution was passed adopting it.

In 1894 the Town of New Utrecht was annexed by the independent City of Brooklyn, and in 1898 Brooklyn became one of the five boroughs of the City of New York.

Lasting monuments from the 150th anniversary celebration include a bronze plaque at the Bay Ridge Public Library, Ridge Boulevard and 73rd Street; a time capsule, a large mural on the 92nd Street wall of Food Town, and the formal designation by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz naming the hydrangea as Bay Ridge’s official flower.

So if you happen to be in a local pub, or dining with friends, make a toast and cheer Bay Ridge on her 170th birthday anniversary!

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Fort Hamilton Army Garrison Commander Col. Brian Jacobs did the honors on Dec. 8, as the base’s towering Christmas tree was lit while hundreds of adults and kids cheered. There were several tents on the grounds offering food, holiday gifts, wares and services. And of course, Jolly St. Nick and Mrs. Claus were on hand to the delight of the many kids lining up with their parents to meet him.