Sunset Park has a wonderfully rich neighborhood history, starting in the 1600s when the Dutch acquired the area from the Canarsee Indians and turned it into productive farmland.
In the 1830s, Brooklyn's street grid was planned and built and European immigrants began moving in, transforming the land and the city's future. Rapid growth continued as New York's harbors ruled the North American shipping trades; Sunset Park was heavily populated by Scandinavians, and numerous original Finnish co–op buildings constructed during this period remain as active and stately homes today.
In 1891, the City of Brooklyn acquired the first parcel of land for Sunset Park's namesake city park, and 1905 saw the park expanded to its current size—a beautiful 24.5 acre bluff with sweeping views of Brooklyn and beyond.
The Sunset Park Pool was first opened under the Works Progress Administration in 1936, giving residents a remarkable recreational facility that flourishes to this day.
During the Second World War, the Brooklyn Army Terminal (BAT) employed more than 10,000 civilians to ship an astounding 80% of all US supplies and troops!
After WWII, however, our area experienced a decline largely due to increased truck–based freight shipping and new ports in NJ, the closing of BAT, and increased suburban sprawl.
But in the 1980s, a wave of Latin American and Asian immigrants jump–started Sunset Park's rebirth, continuing into the 1990s, as people from locales far and wide continued to set down roots in Sunset Park and create a wonderful neighborhood.
Today, Sunset Park is a thriving, vibrant community where property values are increasing and more and more restaurants and businesses flourish.
The New York Times calls Sunset Park "a diverse land of plenty." (Jeff Vandam)
The neighborhood is spotlighted by Time Out New York as one of the city's "places to be." (Scot Meyer)