Canarsie

Canarsie is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of the borough. Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin and Louisiana Avenue/Starrett City, currently known as Spring Creek Towers; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on the west by Ralph Avenue; and on the south by Jamaica Bay. The area adjacent to Canarsie was originally settled by the Canarsie Native Americans. The community's name was adapted from a Lenape word meaning "fenced area". Canarsie was initially a fishing community. It became a popular summer seaside resort in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its speakeasies, beer gardens, vaudeville houses and the Golden City Amusement Park, opened in 1907 near the current site of the Canarsie Pier. In 1939, the amusement park burned down. Shortly after, that area was leveled to build the Belt Parkway. The Canarsie Pier later became part of the Gateway National Recreation Area. Legislation passed by then-Congressman Frank Brasco created Gateway. At that time, it was the largest urban National Park in the Nation. The six-acre pier is currently used year-round for recreational opportunities. Nearby, along Seaview Avenue, is one of the city’s largest parks -- the 132-acre Canarsie Park. In 1895-96 the City of Brooklyn purchased land for Canarsie Park which included the “Schenck House”. At that time, then-Brooklyn Parks Commissioner Frank Squier stated that "this [Schenck] house will be preserved and will always be one of the Park's attractions". Fifty-seven years later the house was dismantled, preserved, removed from the park, and relocated and reassembled at the Brooklyn Museum. The Schenck house stands today as a living history of past generations and their pioneering efforts in building, what we call today, Canarsie. Canarsie Park grew from 93rd Street to 88th Street, and from Seaview Avenue to Skidmore Avenue. It was extended in 1934 with land from the Department of Docks, in 1938 and 1949 with additional land parcels authorized by the Board of Estimate. In the 1950’s Parks Commissioner Robert Moses requested the transfer of land that had been used for temporary housing for returning veterans during World War II to expand Canarsie Park. A parcel at the corner of Fresh Creek Basin and Seaview Avenue was also assigned to Parks in 1958. Most of the city parkland south of the Shore Parkway was transferred to the National Park Service for the creation of Gateway National Recreation Area. With its playgrounds, basketball and tennis courts, baseball diamonds, and Skate Park, Canarsie Park grew to be a regional park and provides much recreational space for the residents of Brooklyn.

In the 1950’s, Canarsie saw a burst of development of one and two-family homes with some mid-rise developments and included Breukelen and Bayview Houses, two (2) large NYCHA developments. With the new development came a series of strip shopping, neighborhood facilities, religious institutions and five (5) elementary, two (2) intermediate and two (2) High Schools within the Canarsie Community.