Sunset Park

Located south of Park Slope, Sunset Park is a great neighborhood where you will find that almost everything is cheaper than it is in Park Slope and Manhattan. The brownstones, apartments, condos, and co-ops here are more affordable and roomier than they are in other places in the city. Sunset Park also has a huge number of dollar stores, where you can buy just about anything for 99 cents. There are also plenty of discount clothing stores. Sunset Park is also an ethnic working class neighborhood that has large Chinese, Hispanic, and Indian communities. This diversity is also reflected in the town's stores and restaurants. As many people here have written, Sunset Park has its own Chinatown with countless Chinese restaurants and shops with traditional Chinese goods. On Eighth Ave, you can find just about anything that is Asian. On Fifth Ave, you can find almost anything you need or want to eat from Latin America. Sunset Park (the park, not the neighborhood) is also a great place for residents to relax. Lots of neighborhood kids swim there during the warmer months. There are plenty of schools in Sunset Park, including one public elementary school that has a magnet school.

I was born and raised in Park Slope but if you ask the old timers I was born in South Brooklyn - Gowanus and if you ask the hipsters now its the South Slope or Greenwood Heights. Where does Sunset begin? The Map on the right hand navigation shows community board 7 but like most of NYC a community board can represent several communities. As a native I understand that as neighborhoods ebb and flow names change like the waves of people that move in. I just cant understand for the life for me why anyone would think that Sunset Park begins on 15th Street when the post office( 11215 ends around 25th st), business improvement district, and neighborhood people refer to that area as Park Slope? I'm sure 10 years from now the area from 15th street to 39th Street will be Greenwood Heights considering the it is the bastard child of the "Park" neighborhoods. Where Sunset begins is up for debate but I say it runs from 39th Street where they hang the Holiday sign welcoming everyone to Sunset and ends around 60th Street in Bay Ridge. Now where Bay Ridge begins and ends is another story.

Foodies know about it, but your everyday tourist might not have a sojourn to Sunset Park on the itinerary. But they should! Brooklyn natives and residents head to the virtual Chinatown here to eat at amazing dim sum places like Pacificana and Seafood Palace. Yes, Sunset Park is a bit out-of-the-way for a date night if you don't live in the surrounding area, but I think it's worth the trip on a number of levels.

Since the neighborhood is largely residential, it offers a sort of old school Brooklyn vibe, and it's really fun to just wander around. It's a completely different scene from the crowded streets and high rises of Manhattan, and therefore can offer some relief to a chronically rushed city dweller. Granted, Sunset Park isn't as fancy and exciting a place as neighboring Park Slope - but I wouldn't mind living here. It's a bit of a trip into the city - maybe a 20 minute train ride to Union Square - as well as a bit lacking in nightlife, though. Perhaps it's a neighborhood best left to families and retirees. And foodies.

As somebody who works from home, I find Sunset Park to be an ideal place to live. It's close enough to Manhattan (about a 45 minute subway ride) that it's not inconvenient when I have work or other obligations in the city, but it's also removed enough that the rent stays cheap and there's still an old world, friendly neighborhood feeling. I love Sunset Park itself (the park), which serves as the perfect centerpiece for a diverse and fascinating neighborhood. It's the perfect place to fly a kite, eat a picnic, or just lounge with loved ones. The views are spectacular--the New York skyline is sprawled out below you, along with Brooklyn and the harbor. I love that you can see the Statue of Liberty so easily from this neighborhood, a luxury most Manhattanites don't enjoy. But the best aspects of Sunset Park are the amazing architecture (beautiful brownstones like in Park Slope) and the cultural diversity. You can go from Brooklyn's Chinatown on one end to a Hasidic area to an area populated by Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Dominican families. There's no better place in town for Mexican food, in my opinion, and in terms of the Chinatown area, I actually prefer it to Manhattan's Chinatown--the crowds are less overwhelming and the shops and restaurants are more authentic. A great place to live!

Sunset Park is one of Brooklyn’s most diverse neighborhoods, where you will find brownstones, Brooklyn’s largest Chinese community, vast Latin American culture, and some cheap rent. Sunset Park is a great piece of land with beautiful views of Manhattan, downtown Brooklyn, and even Staten Island. The neighborhood stretches south from 15th Street at the edge of Park Slope and then runs north to 65th Street. It is bordered by Bay Bridge. Transportation is great in the area, as the neighborhood can be accessed by subway and six bus lines.

Numerous schools, low crime, ample parking space, along with plentiful transportation make Sunset Park a desirable place to live. There has been a recent influx of young New Yorkers desiring a larger place with potential park views. The median apartment sells for $750,000 and studious rent for $1000-$1500.

If you want to go out on the town, look no further, head over to Vin Rouge at 629 5th Avenue for a great wine and cheese bar. Living Room Lounge also offers a great evening out with a low-key atmosphere and cheap drinks. The neighborhood also boasts a wide variety of ethnic cuisine. Latin American, Asian, and sandwich shops line the area. Ba Xuyen on 8th Avenue is my personal favorite for banh mi - the best in the City.

Shopping in Sunset Park is also ethnic. Fifth Avenue is filled with Latin American grocery stores and markets, while Eighth Avenue is the main are for Brooklyn’s Chinatown. Stock up on paper lanterns and every Chinese ingredient imaginable.

The main draw of the neighborhood is the namesake park that offers stunning views of the Statue of Liberty, the Manhattan skyline, Staten Island, and New Jersey. There is a large playground and a popular public swimming pool.

I lived in Sunset Park for a few years. It is a lively neighborhood with a large Hispanic community. People are always outside even in the dead of winter. It is not the safest neighborhood during the night especially along 3rd, 4th and 5th Avenues. There are many parks for kids to play and there is a strip of stores along 5th Avenue. You'll find $10 and up clothing stores, jewelry stores, 99 stores and discount stores mostly. The neighborhoods best quality is the accessibility to transportation. There are many buses and the train stations are within walking distance. So, you can easily get into Manhattan. There are also many schools in the area that are easily accessible either by walking or by public transportation. There is park by the name of ‘Sunset Park’ in the neighborhood and I believe it to be the highest point in Brooklyn you can actually see the Statue of Liberty in the distance from the park.

With wonderful parks, friendly people, and the family-oriented vibe Brooklyn is renown for, Sunset Park is a treasure within the Brooklyn neighborhood and within New York City.

Sunset Park has always been home to a diverse population of people, many of Norwegian, Irish, or Polish descent. A historically middle and working class neighborhood, Sunset Park like many neighborhoods in Brooklyn, saw a period of building and progress during the turn of the nineteenth century. The Great Depression made a major impact on New York City, namely because of the negative effects it had on industry-based communities like Sunset Park. The “white flight phenomenon” and declining businesses left much of the neighborhood abandoned leaving space for a new crop of immigrants from all around the world, their presence forever impacting the landscape of Sunset Park.

Entertainment is rich in this neighborhood. Within Sunset Park there lies a beautiful and scenic Sunset Park, located between 5th and 7th Avenues and 41st and 44th Streets. Here, people can see the beautiful skyline and harbor of Manhattan, a wonderful place to see the sunset over the majestic island that houses over 8 million people from every continent on Earth. The immigration of Chinese residents to Sunset Park has brought in their culture in terms of dining and traditions. The Chinese New Year Celebration or celebrate in February of each year brings people of all ethnicities to Sunset Park to take part in eating moon cakes, watching the famous Lion dance, setting off fireworks (fang bian pao) to frighten off the misfortune-bearing dragons, and celebrating a new Lunar Year.

Due to the diversity of the residents in Sunset Park, food and shopping are equally diverse and unique, with several restaraunts featuring an authentic and worldly cuisine.

Transportation in Sunset Park is convenient as it service not only by the Metro Transit Authority’s D, M, N, and R trains, but is also served by public buses, ferries, and freight trains, not to mention exclusive service from Manhattan’s Chinatown to Sunset Park, which is considered Brooklyn’s Chinatown, similar to the more long distance services provided between New York’s Chinatown and Washington D.C.’s Chinatown, as well as the Chinatown in Philadelphia.

Real Estate in this neighborhood is fairly expensive and the beautiful homes are the reason why.
Owning in this neighborhood would cost no less than $500,000 though renting or subletting can be done for as little as $700 per month.

Sunset Park is filled with a unique and changing culture and is a wonderful place both to live and to visit.

Other things about Sunset Park

Dining:
Georges - 5701 Fifth Ave.
Rotisseria Mexicana Los Pollitos - 5911 Fourth Ave.
The Esquites Man - Fifth Ave. nr. 53rd St.
El Tesoro Ecuatoriano - 4015 Fifth Ave.
Ba Xuyên - 4222 Eighth Ave.

This is a nice neighborhood for couples or people who are thinking of starting a family (or who already have!). Sunset Park gives off an historic vibe with its rowhouses and tree lined streets. The neighborhood is very resident-oriented – and resembles Park Slope in that way, though it is a bit prettier to behold. The neighborhood is an official Historic Place in the city, and that is really apparent when you look at the houses here, which give off such an obvious historic charm – this is a great neighborhood for those who want to avoid chain developers like Chilis or Borders, as you won’t find anything like that here.