This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Bill Storm (talk | contribs) at 17:02, 10 May 2007 (→The Vollies: restoring documented history of Gerritsen Beach Racism). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 17:02, 10 May 2007 by Bill Storm (talk | contribs) (→The Vollies: restoring documented history of Gerritsen Beach Racism)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Gerritsen Beach is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, located near Marine Park and Sheepshead Bay, in Brooklyn Community Board 15.
Gerritsen Beach is in southeastern Brooklyn, lying on a peninsula near Marine Park and bounded to the north by Avenue U, to the east by Gerritsen Avenue, to the south by Plumb Beach Channel, and to the west by Shell Bank Creek and Knapp Street; it is bisected from west to east by Gotham Avenue Canal. The neighborhood was named for Wolfert Gerritsen, a Dutchman, who in the early seventeenth century built a house and mill on Gerritsen Creek (now part of Marine Park); the mill was destroyed by fire about 1931.
Until the early twentieth century the area remained undeveloped except for a few squatters’ bungalows at the foot of Gerritsen Avenue. The firm of Realty Associates began building a middle-class summer resort there in 1920, and the southwest corner of Gerritsen’s Meadow was soon covered by one-story bungalows with peaked roofs and no backyards. The popularity of this first venture spurred further growth. Some bungalows were made suitable for year-round habitation, two-story houses with backyards were built, and within a decade there were fifteen hundred houses. With its narrow streets and close-set homes, some sitting on the water, this neighborhood in far south Brooklyn is often likened to a New England fishing village.
The area north of the canal, called the "New Section" by local residents, is lined with stores, brick houses, sidewalks, and the elementary school, P.S. 277 ("The Gerritsen Beach School").
The area south of the canal, the Old Section, retains the character of a small fishing village and is a popular station for party boats.
Racial Incidents
- June 26, 2006 Gerritsen Beach gained some attention on June 26, 2006 when four black teenagers were assaulted by local teenagers. According to the NYPD, four African American youths were biking through the neighborhood when they were chased and threatened by a group of local white youths shouting racist insults. Two of the victims escaped, one managed to hide in the neighborhood after being struck by a car, and one, sixteen year old Winston Johnson, was hit by a car and then beaten by the mob. This is just one of many racial incidents that have occurred in Gerritsen Beach, an all white, restricted community, regarded by many as "That trailer trash community." Some incidents are legend, and may in fact be considered justified,such as the late 1960s invasion by a black biker gang which was fended off by the "Beach Rats" as they called themselves back then. Others were not, such as when the Beach Rats invaded the Sheepshead Nostrand housing projects in the summers of 1974 and 1975 to go on a baseball bat attack rampage against black residents. As one witness who lived there at the time describes, "They came out of their cars, which they double parked along Batchelder Street and began to swing away, shouting ‘N----rs, get out of Sheepshead Bay.’" Even more shocking was a 1972 incident in which a black family's car had its brakes partially sawn through by unknown perpetrators, resulting in injuries to the family members. To this day the identities of the perpetrators remain unknown, undoubtedly owing to the stone cold silence of residents, who apparently adhere to a racist Code of Omerta. Many of the "lesser" racial incidents go unreported, perhaps because the large number of police officers living within the community, but the more violent crimes, such as assaults and firebombing of Gerritsen Houses rented by blacks often catch media attention, as was the case with June 26, 2006 incident, and an early 90s firebombing which was especially embarrassing for the 61st Precinct, when during the aftermath of the incident, a resident phoned in a complaint of seeing a black man with a handgun near the house that had been torched. Police officers rushed to the scene only to learn that the man with a gun was one of several black police detectives there to protect the family, who were friends of theirs. Later, the owner of the house was implicated as the arsonist, but one resident claims that it "was the family that did it." However, the notoriety of the 2006 incident may finally be the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back, and Gerritsen Beach may finally be compelled by community politicians and leaders to allow blacks to live there peacefully, and that, hopefully, Gerritsen Beach will no longer be regarded as the sphincter of Brooklyn.
Links
- NY1 Police Continue Investigation Into Brooklyn Bias Attack
- 1010 Wins Teens Arrested in Connection With Bias Crime
The Vollies
It is headquartered at 52 Seba Avenue and the is only remaining volunteer fire department in Brooklyn. The Gerrittsen Beach Volunteer Fire Department was organized in 1922, when Gerrittsen Beach was a small, predominantly summer community. In 1921 a damaging fire on Abbey Court showed the community that the city’s regular fire apparatus could not reach the Beach in time to put out the fire. A mass meeting was called by the residents that resulted in the organization of the only volunteer fire department in Brooklyn.
The volunteers (known as the Vollies or, in earlier days, the (Vamps) are ever on the alert for the fire siren. When it blows, they drop everything and rush to the firehouse, where the call may be for a deadly fire, a drowning, or a medical emergency.
Before the city added water mains to Gerrittsen Beach streets, the Volunteers had to handle fires at least three times a week. Most families had oil stoves or kerosene lamps, and the water 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.
Through the years the community has insisted on maintaining its firehouse even though Engine Company No. 321 serviced the area. The Vollies were, and still are, prepared for every emergency. For example,
- The Vollies responded with medical aid to the 1960 jet airliner crash on 7th Avenue and Sterling Place, on December 16, 1960.
- Just three days following the New York air disaster, the Vollies responded to the city’s call for the aircraft carrier USS Constitution fire at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on December 19, 1960.
- During heavy fog the Mack searchlight, with its powerful lights, was used at Kennedy Airport when needed.
- When there was a major oil fire in Mill Basin in 1962, the Vollies responded with foam to help put it out.
According to the Vollies 1976 anniversary booklet, in 1974 the Vollies were approved by the New York State Department of Health as an Emergency Services Training Center.
The Fleet
Gerritsen Beach VFD - 1 engine, 1 ambulance, 1 rescue
Organizations
- Gerritsen Beach Cares
- Veterans of Foreign Wars - Argonne Marine Park Post #107
Movies Filmed In Gerritsen Beach
Elected Officials
New York City Council
New York State Senate
House of Representatives
New York Senators
Website Dedicated To Gerritsen Beach
- GerritsenMemories.com - Marret Kauffner started the site in 1998 as a place for her family memories. Since there was no other outlet for Ex-"Gerritsen Beachers" to express their sentiment for Gerritsen Beach. People started to leave messages about the beach. She quickly learned that there was much more interest with other people then in her family. It hosts a message board, pictures and stories.
- GerritsenBeach.net - Offering Current News, Links & Reviews not Memories
External links
- St. James
- The Vollies
- Gerritsen Memories
- Fairy-Tale like views of ICE-Plated Gerritsen Bay
- Neighborhood description from the website of Congressman, Anthony Weiner
- Gerritsenbeach.net Current News
