Bay Ridge, Residential neighborhood in Brooklyn, United States.
Bay Ridge is a residential neighborhood on the southwestern tip of Brooklyn, set along the Narrows waterfront with tree-lined streets and a series of parks facing the water. The housing ranges from detached single-family homes to multi-story apartment buildings, and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge is visible from several points in the neighborhood.
The area was originally called Yellow Hook but was renamed Bay Ridge in 1853 to move away from associations with yellow fever outbreaks. Rail connections in the late 1800s opened it up for development, and it grew into a dense residential community over the following decades.
Bay Ridge has a Norwegian heritage visible in a few shops and restaurants that have been here for generations. Today, a growing Arab-American community has added Middle Eastern cafés and stores to the mix, and both influences are easy to spot on the same street.
The R train along Fourth Avenue is the main subway connection, and several bus lines reach other parts of Brooklyn and Manhattan from here. The streets follow a grid, which makes getting around on foot easy, and the waterfront is flat and simple to walk along.
Third Avenue is said to have the highest number of bars offering happy hour in all of New York City, packed into just a few blocks. It is a contrast that visitors rarely expect when first walking through the otherwise calm residential streets nearby.
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