Gerritsen Beach, Brooklyn

Gerritsen Beach is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, located near Marine Park and Sheepshead Bay. The area is served by Brooklyn Community Board 15.



Geography
Gerritsen Beach lies on a peninsula in the southeastern part of Brooklyn, near Marine Park; it is bounded on the north by Avenue U, to the east by Gerritsen Avenue, to the south by Plum Beach (named after the beach plums but often misspelled Plumb Beach) Channel, and on the west by Shell Bank Creek and Knapp Street. It is almost bisected by the east-west Gotham Avenue Canal. Gerritsen Avenue in the area north of the canal, known as the "new section" by local residents, is a traditional city street lined with stores, brick houses and wide sidewalks; the elementary school, P.S. 277 ("The Gerritsen Beach School"), is also north of the canal. The area south of the canal (the "old section") retains the character of a small fishing village and is a popular spot for party boats and chartered fishing boats to be berthed. The northeast-southwest streets in the old section are in alphabetical order; the northeast-southwest streets in the new section are also in alphabetical order, starting again at the beginning of the alphabet (e.g., Aster, Bevy, Celeste, Dictum, etc.), crossed by avenues that are also in alphabetical order. Gerritsen Beach is served by the New York Police Department's 61st Precinct.

History
The neighborhood (originally Gravesend Neck) is named for Wolphert Gerretse, a Dutch settler who built a house and mill in the early 17th century on Gerritsen Creek (which is now part of Marine Park.). The 300-year-old mill was destroyed by fire in 1931.

Until the early 20th century, the area remained undeveloped except for a few squatter bungalows clustered at the foot of Gerritsen Avenue. In 1920, Realty Associates, a speculative real-estate builder, began constructing a middle-class summer resort. The southwestern section of Gerritsen’s meadow was soon covered by one-story bungalows with peaked roofs and no backyards; typically, these houses were built on tiny 40-by-45-foot lots. The popularity of this venture spurred further growth. Some home owners owners made their bungalow suitable for year-round habitation; others built two-story houses with backyards; and within a decade there were 1,500 houses in Gerritsen Beach. With its narrow streets and closely bunched homes (some sitting directly at the water's edge), this neighborhood in southern Brooklyn is often likened to a New England fishing village.

Demography
The neighborhood has residents of many races and ethnic backgrounds, but there has been a large Irish-Catholic presence. A few long-standing residents of Irish descent refer to the community as cois farraige, an Irish phrase that means "by the sea."

Education
Resurrection Roman Catholic Elementary School operated until the end of the 2004-2005 school year, when it was closed by the diocese. Currently, the Brooklyn Blue-Feather School for special-needs children operates in the former Resurrection School building. The neighborhood is also home of the New York City Department of Education's Public School 277 (P.S. 277), an elementary school known simply as "The Gerritsen Beach School."

Recreation
The Gerritsen Ballfields, consisting of three baseball fields, two athletic fields for soccer or football, and one Little League field, are located on the east side of Gerritsen Avenue. In 1993, this site benefited from a $192,000 renovation sponsored by Borough Council Member Herbert E. Berman. The park area also supports a "mini-airport" for motorized model airplanes; it is located at Seba Avenue and Gerritsen Avenue.

Recreational fishing is very popular with citizens of the community. Anglers can be found fishing along the shore at the southern end of Gerritsen Avenue and along the adjacent shoreline of the Gerritsen Creek-Marine Park 'salt marsh'. The Gerritsen Creek estuary and the adjacent salt marsh is also a major spawning ground for various species of marine fish. Riding of quads is also popular, as people ride around the beach and in the trails.

A small beach, Kiddie Beach, is situated near the foot of Lois Avenue.

Transportation
The community is served by the New York City Transit bus B31 to the Kings Highway B/Q subway station and, for a premium fare, by the BM4 express bus to and from Manhattan.

Worship
Resurrection Roman Catholic Church, and St. James Evangelical Lutheran Church both serve the community.



The Gerritsen Beach Volunteer Fire Department
Housed at 52 Seba Avenue, the Gerritsen Beach Volunteer Fire Department (a.k.a. "the Vollies"), the last remaining volunteer fire department in Brooklyn, was organized in 1922, when Gerritsen Beach was a small summer-resort community. In 1921, a damaging fire on Abbey Court demonstrated to the community that the city’s regular fire apparatus could not reach the beach in time to put out a fire. A mass meeting was called by the residents, resulting in the organization of the only volunteer fire department in Brooklyn.

Before the city added water mains under Gerritsen Beach streets, the Volunteers had to handle at least three fires a week. The danger posed to Gerritsen Beach residents by fire was especially acute because most families relied on oil stoves and kerosene lamps, and the water to fight fires had to be pumped from wells. The city did not build Engine Company 321’s firehouse at Gerritsen Avenue and Avenue U until October 4, 1930.

The Gerritsen Beach Volunteer Fire Department has one fire engine, one ambulance, and one rescue vehicle. For further information, see Vollies.

Members of the fire brigade, currently known as the Vollies, were nicknamed "the Vamps." Members are trained to not only fight fires but also to rescue people who are drowning and to assist in other medical emergencies. According to the Vollies 1976 anniversary booklet, the Vollies were approved by the New York State Department of Health as an Emergency Services Training Center.

Even though the community is now served by Engine Company 321, strong support continues for the volunteer firemen.

The following historical events involved the Gerritsen Beach volunteers in actions outside their own neighborhood:
 * The Vollies responded with medical aid to the victims of the jet airliner crash at 7th Avenue and Sterling Place on December 16, 1960, when two planes collided over Lower Manhattan and landed in Park Slope and Staten Island.
 * Just three days after the New York air disaster on December 19, 1960 the Vollies responded to the city’s call for assistance in fighting a blaze aboard the aircraft carrier USS Constitution at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
 * During heavy fog, the powerful beam of the department's Mack searchlight is used at Kennedy Airport when requested.
 * When there was a major oil fire in Mill Basin in 1962, the Vollies responded with foam to help put it out.

Other Neighborhood Organizations

 * Gerritsen Beach Cares
 * Veterans of Foreign Wars - Argonne Marine Park Post #107
 * Kings County AOH Div. 4

Movies Filmed In Gerritsen Beach

 * City Across the River
 * Moscow on the Hudson
 * The Departed
 * Shaft (2000)
 * She's the One (1996)
 * Then She Found Me (2007)