Sunset Park

Sunset Park consists of a strong residential community, two viable commercial strips as well as a large industrial area. The 23-acre facility, Sunset Park, has an Olympic-sized pool, a recreation area and a large open space. The Gowanus Expressway looms over Third Avenue, separating the industrial from the residential sections of the neighborhood. The community holds the largest Federal Historic Housing District and has some of the oldest cooperative apartments in the country. The industrial area has fallen on hard times over the past few decades but recent investments and plans point this area towards a better future.

Historically a first stop for immigrants, Sunset Park boasted a large Scandinavian, Italian and Irish population into the second half of the 20th century. Beginning in the 1960s, a large influx of Latinos from Puerto Rico began to move into the community and today, along with succeeding waves of Latino immigrants from Central and South America as well as the Caribbean, the Latino population represents the majority of the community. More recently, immigrants from Asia, primarily China, Mexico and the Middle East have helped to reinvigorate the community.