Looking east at Flushing Bay from the promenade near LaGuardia Airport.

Flushing Bay is a tidal embayment in New York City. It is located on the south side of the East River and stretches to the south near the neighborhood of Flushing, Queens. It is bordered on the west by LaGuardia Airport and the Grand Central Parkway, on the south by Northern Boulevard, and on the east by the neighborhood of College Point. The Flushing River empties into the bay at its southeast corner. A 150-foot-wide navigational channel (46 m) dredged at a depth of 14 feet (4.3 m) runs along much of the bay's length.^[1]

Flushing Bay was an important source of food for the Matinecock tribe of Native Americans and early European settlers, providing fish, shellfish, and waterfowl. After the American Civil War, the area surrounding the bay became waterfront resort for the wealthy. The World's Fair Marina, constructed for the 1964 New York World's Fair, is located on the southern end of the bay. The marina is part of Flushing Meadows–Corona Park and is bordered by the 1.4-mile-long (2.3 km) Flushing Bay Promenade.^[2] The Williamsburgh Yacht Club is situated on the east side of Flushing Bay in College Point. Established in Brooklyn in 1865, the yacht club moved to North Beach (now LaGuardia Airport) in 1896.^[3]

The present shoreline of Flushing Bay has been largely altered by the development of LaGuardia Airport. Before the airport opened in December 1939, millions of cubic yards of landfill were added to the western shoreline of the bay to create space for runways.^[4] In 1966, the Port Authority extended the northern end of Runway 4-22 by 2,000 feet (610 m) and the western end of Runway 13-31 by 1,500 feet (460 m) by constructing a 50-acre (20 ha), pile-supported concrete deck over parts of Flushing Bay, including the Rikers Island Channel.^[5] In the 1990s, approximately 20 acres (8 ha) of Flushing Bay were filled in to create an overrun at the eastern end of Runway 13-31. To offset the loss of wetlands, new wetlands were constructed adjacent to the airport in Flushing Bay and in Little Neck Bay.^[6]

On September 21, 1776, American patriot Nathan Hale was captured by the British outside a tavern at Flushing Bay after being exposed as a spy.^[7] He was hanged the next day on Manhattan Island.

The New York City Department of Sanitation North Shore Marine Transfer Station is located in College Point on the eastern shore of Flushing Bay. From 1954 to 2001, it was used to transfer garbage from trucks to barges. A new marine transfer station at this location is presently under construction (as of January 2012). Concerns have arisen given its proximity to a flight path into LaGuardia Airport^[8], although the city government insists that the design includes adequate safeguards that will prevent the facility from attracting flocks of birds that might be harmful to aviation.^[9]

References[link]

Coordinates: 40°46′44″N 73°51′24″W / 40.77889°N 73.85667°W / 40.77889; -73.85667

Coordinates: 40°34′55.2″N 73°56′31.2″W / 40.582°N 73.942°W / 40.582; -73.942

Ocean Avenue Footbridge

Sheepshead Bay is a bay separating the mainland of Brooklyn, New York City from the eastern portion of Coney Island, the latter originally a barrier island but now effectively an extension of the mainland with peninsulas both east (the neighborhood of Manhattan Beach) and west (the neighborhoods of Coney Island and Sea Gate). Its mouth is about a mile (1.6 km) southwest of Marine Park, Brooklyn. The area is part of Brooklyn Community Board 15.^[1]

The bay itself was originally the easterly entrance to Coney Island Creek, but filling of the central part of this waterway during the 1930s in conjunction with construction of the Shore Parkway portion of the Belt Parkway eliminated access to the creek. At the same time the bay was widened at its western end, deepened and bulkheaded. It is now the home of recreational fishing fleets. The fishing fleet has been shrinking every year and is being replaced by dinner boats. At the western end of the bay, there is Holocaust Memorial Park, which is used throughout the year for commemorative events.

In the last decade of the 20th century, a real estate boom brought the reopening of the landmark Lundy Brothers seafood restaurant, which closed again in 2007. A grocery store now takes its place. Soviet-style restaurants/nightclubs such as Paradise and Baku Palace have opened along the waterfront. It has also experienced a growth of condominium developments. Emmons Avenue, the northern shoreline street along the bay, has piers with an active seafood market and tour boats.

Sheepshead Bay is named for the sheepshead^[2], an edible fish once found in the bay's waters. Even though it is rare, the fish can still be caught in the local waters every once in a while.

Demographics[link]

As of 2007, there were 123,181 people living in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood. The demographics were 75.4% White, 14.6% Asian, 6.6% Hispanic or Latino, 4.7% African American and 0.2% Native American. Brooklyn's Avenue U Chinatown, which recently emerged as the 2nd Chinatown of Brooklyn during the late 1990s happens to overlap between Sheepshead Bay and Homecrest.^[3][4]

Community and location[link]

Facing west, towards the head

Subway service to Sheepshead Bay is provided by the BMT Brighton Line (B and Q trains), with local stops at Avenue U and Neck Road, and express-local stops at the Kings Highway and Sheepshead Bay Road station. The main shopping and business thoroughfares are Emmons Avenue, Sheepshead Bay Road, Ocean Avenue, and Nostrand Avenue. Emmons Avenue is at the west end of the shore Greenway which lies between Shore Parkway and Jamaica Bay, connecting eastward and northward to Canarsie and Cross Bay Boulevard. Emmons Avenue is a waterfront road with piers from which yachts and boats offer day trips for fishing and dancing.

Several public schools serve the community: Sheepshead Bay High School; JHS 14 Shell Bank Intermediate School; The Bay Academy; P.S. 254 and P.S. 52 (elementary). Private schools in the area include the St. Mark's School and St. Edmund's. Kingsborough Community College, part of the City University of New York (CUNY) is nearby. Sheepshead Bay is patrolled by the NYPD's 61st ^[5] Precinct.

Much like its neighbor, Brighton Beach, Sheepshead Bay is known for its high concentration of immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Many stores and buildings are bilingual, with both English and Russian signage. Other ethnic groups include Italians, Irish, Jews, Turkish, Chinese and some Spanish.

Sheepshead Bay is served by the independent news blog Sheepshead Bites.^[6]

Notable residents[link]

Notable current and former residents of Sheepshead Bay include:

• Elayne Boosler, comedienne
• James Brady (1928–2009), columnist.^[7]
• Andrew Dice Clay, comedian
• Larry David (born 1947), comedian.^[8]
• James E. Fitzsimmons (1874–1966), thoroughbred horse trainer.^[9]
• Frank Frazetta, artist, lived in Sheepshead Bay
• Keith Green (1953–1982), gospel singer.^[10]
• Terry Gross (born 1951), host of Fresh Air on National Public Radio.^[11]
• Vince Lombardi (1913-1970), legendary NFL head coach of the Green Bay Packers.
• James Morrissey, (born 1966) Fisherman worked out of Sheepshead Bay
• Rico Petrocelli, Boston Red Sox shortstop and third baseman, 1963–1976
• Thomas Pitera, mafia mobster, grew up in Sheepshead Bay
• Mark Roth, professional bowler; second in all-time professional tour earnings
• Michelle Trachtenberg (born 1985), actress.^[12]
• Frank Mainolfi, former Dada 5000 and Strikeforce fighter.^[13]

Elected Officials[link]

• Congressional District: New York's 9th Congressional District- Congressman Bob Turner (politician)^[14]
• Council District: 46th District- Councilman Lewis Fidler^[15]
• 48th District- Councilman Michael Chaim Nelson^[16]
• State Senate District: 27th District- State Senator Carl Kruger^[17]
• Assembly District: 41st District- Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein^[18]
• 45th District- Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz ^[19]
• 59th District- Assemblyman Alan Maisel^[20]

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn

• Sheepshead Bay Music Video
• Neighborhood Watch: Sheepshead Bay / LifeStyler
• City Data

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