Bath Beach - A Diverse Neighborhood in Brooklyn
Like Brooklyn's other shore front neighborhoods, New York's elite were attracted to Bath Beach in the late 19th Century because its seaside location on Gravesend Bay made it an excellent spot for a summer resort. Soon they were building opulent villas and yacht clubs on its shores, and mansions with generous lawns. From 1893 to 1899, Bath Beach even had its own amusement park featuring rides, a dance hall, and swimming.
The affluent era came to an end, however, with the stock market crash of 1929 when mansions were abandoned and new housing was developed to accommodate residents of more modest means. More than a decade before the crash, Jewish and Italian families had begun relocating to Bath Beach from the Lower East Side after the subway system expanded.
Additional residential development followed the opening of the Belt Parkway in 1939 with the Shore Haven Apartments opening in 1949 at 21st Street near the Belt Parkway and the three high rise apartment buildings in the Contello Towers complex opening in 1960, 1963, and 1967.
The community of Bath Beech features an ample amount of green space for recreation with its 19-acre Bensonhurst Park, 73-acre Dreier-Offerman Park, and next door in Dyker Heights, the 242-acre Dyker Beach Park, and the Dyker Beach Heights Golf Course.
