Bay Ridge Pl, Bay Ridge

Bay Ridge is located in southwestern Brooklyn and is a unique neighborhood like no other. I just love Bay Ridge, with its magnificent mansions and spectacular views of Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. My mother told me that Bay Ridge is where John Travolta’s Saturday Night Fever was filmed. Although a little before my time, the movie adds just one more piece in Bay Ridge’s history.

Bay Ridge used to be a resort town for the wealthy beyond wealthy Manhattanites. Today Bay Ridge still maintains the peaceful charm of a resort town with its quiet streets and ample parking spaces. It is a family-oriented neighborhood, historically Irish and Italian, now home to a wide variety of ethnicity. Russians, Greeks, and Chinese Americans make this friendly neighborhood what it is today.

At the edge of Bay Ridge is the gorgeous Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, connects Brooklyn to Staten Island. There are so many historic mansions and homes in the area, but my favorite is the “Gingerbread House” or officially the Howard E. and Jessie Jones House built in 1916. The house looks like huge cottage with its curved roof and cobblestone siding. Another famed house in the area, is the James Farrell House (founder of the Red Cross) built in 1847 - making this mansion the second oldest structure in the area.

Neighborhood restaurants include Aero on Third Avenue (a Brooklyn classic and where locals claim the best Italian food in the country is served) and the Pearl Room also on Third Avenue (a seafood haven complete with a summer garden). Stay away from the steak at Hunters Steak and Ale, you are better off chewing on a old rubber tire or leather boot.