Today, the thought of Bensonhurst might cue the sound of the Bee Gees and images of pizzerias, spumoni, dim sum, bubble tea, and zefir. But when the neighborhood was first conceived, it was intended to conjure the sound of seagulls and visions of land ownership. It was known by the breezy name of Bensonhurst-by-the-Sea.

The name Bensonhurst was first applied to property owned by the Bensons in the independent town of New Utrecht. Once home to the indigenous Lenape, the land came into the hands of the Bensons upon the marriage between Egbert Benson and Maria Cowenhoven in 1820. Egbert, the first attorney general of New York, acquired ~200 acres of land through Maria, who had inherited the land from her grandfather, Judge Nicholas Cowenhoven. Initially, the Bensons leased the land to farming tenants while they resided in Manhattan. However, as seaside resorts sprouted up in nearby Bath Beach and the surrounding areas, later generations of the Bensons took interest in the land and began living there themselves. In the mid 1880s, the Bensons' large tract of land caught the eye of millionaire real estate developer James D. Lynch, along with smaller surrounding land parcels belonging to the Smith, Schmidt, Wyckoff, McGaw, and Van Sicklen families. In 1887, after three years of pursuit, Lynch purchased the desired land, roughly enclosed by today's 20th Avenue, 78th Street, Stillwell Avenue, 25th Avenue, and Bath Avenue. It comprised about one square mile in all, save for one acre, upon which stood the Benson home. The house stood in defiance of Lynch’s plans near today’s Benson Avenue and Bay 24th Street. Perhaps Lynch admired the family’s tenacity, or perhaps he hoped their social status would draw investors. Whatever his reason, he memorialized the Bensons in naming the new neighborhood Bensonhurst-by-the-Sea.

Though the area’s existing resorts catered to wealthier clientele, Lynch touted not the grandeur of Bensonhurst but its affordability. This advertising angle is captured in an 1889 guide (or “illustrated circular”) for the new neighborhood, detailing its history, construction, health benefits, attractions, and, of course, affordability. Simply titled Bensonhurst-by-the-Sea, the guide opens with the evergreen issue of New York City's unaffordability: "The City of New York, as a place of residence, has become suitable only for the very rich . . . For persons of moderate incomes the great metropolis has ceased to be a practicable dwelling place. House rent makes too great a drain on their purses, and they can hardly even hope ever to own a home in a desirable part of the city.” The remedy for this chronic condition: Bensonhurst-by-the-Sea. The Times Union declared the new neighborhood to be where “one can live luxuriously without extravagance.” The Brooklyn Citizen announced it to be “developed to a higher state of perfection than any other suburb” with lots sold at “extremely low” prices. It seems the prices were indeed a steal, with lots of 20 x 100 feet beginning at just $150, or $7.50 per square foot, compared to $12.00 to $15.00 per square foot in Manhattan’s Bowery.\* \*Based on 1893 prices. Real estate values varied widely throughout Manhattan.

Though affordability was the hook, Bensonhurst-by-the-Sea’s design spared no expense. As the guide claims, it was created by “the best landscape and engineering talent that money could secure,” specifically: Samuel H. McElroy (surveyor), B. S. & G. S. Olmstead (landscape architects), and Col. George E. Waring, Jr. (sanitary engineer). Bensonhurst had every modern necessity, from gas lighting to public transportation, sewers to social clubs. Before residents arrived around 1890, the streets were paved and “carefully curbed,” “miles of neat fence” laid, 5,000 trees planted, and 100 grand Victorian houses erected. The natural and crafted beauty of the land was reportedly pleasant to both the eye and the constitution. “Healthfulness'' receives the guide’s second billing. Bensonhurst was praised for having “an atmosphere most friendly to the human system and where malaria is impossible.” Malaria, a concern of the age, was deemed a dead threat thanks to the natural drainage of land and the air, which was “vivified by the salt air of the sea.” Clean water, the “crown” of good health, was delivered by the Kings Counter Water Supply Company. These positive qualities, combined with the bay’s protection from strong winds and booming surf of the open ocean, rendered Bensonhurst-by-the-Sea the alleged superior locale not only amongst New York suburbs, but along the entire eastern coast.

The savvy real estate investor might have questioned the longevity of fresh air, open space, and a waterview, thanks to the opportunistic wiles of developers like Lynch. However, Bensonhurst-by-the-Sea enforced a variety of zoning laws to protect the landscape that made it “Different from all the others,” as The Brooklyn Citizen put it. More than one house per three lots was “forbidden,” a restriction that was to be in place for a minimum of sixteen years. Buildings could be no closer to the street than ten feet, ensuring front lawns for all, a rule that was intended to be in effect “for all time." Additionally, the creation of the gated Bensonhurst Park was intended to protect the bayside from new, view-obstructing constructions.

Hopping over the neighborhood of Bath, Bensonhurst Park spanned Gravesend Bay along 21st Avenue, Bay 28th Street, and Bay 29th Street. Inspired by the Battery in Manhattan, this park was for residents-only, intended to be a “constant feast for the eye” for all ages. It was equipped with a tennis lawn, sandy beach, numerous bathing machines (changing rooms for Victorian swimmers), and an active waterway. The park still stands today, expanded and modified over the decades. Though it no longer provides beach access, it is now open to everyone.

In addition to the park, locals could find entertainment at the neighboring Bath Beach, the Marine and Field Club, old Dutch homesteads, the Brooklyn Jockey Club, and King’s Highway, the last of which was an attraction for local history enthusiasts, being the route the British and Hessians took on their march in the Battle of Brooklyn. Carriage rides down Ocean Parkway, connecting Prospect Park (in the north) and the Atlantic Ocean (in the south) were praised for being particularly scenic -- and where one could see “the best equipages and noble specimens of horse-flesh.”

While those who summered in Kings County’s south were likely less concerned about public transportation, those who resided there year-round were in need of a reliable method to reach their offices in the northern cities of Brooklyn and Manhattan.” As the guide put it, an unpleasant commute could “make even Paradise less attractive.” Fortunately, the guide continued, “the approach to Bensonhurst is delightful.” Brooklyn and Manhattan were just thirty- and forty-five-minute train rides away at the cost of 5 to 10 cents. Though the cost has risen over the years, the twenty-first century's MTA has not beaten Victorian travel times. Residents of Bensonhurst-by-the-Sea could take the Brooklyn Bath and West End Railroad north to the South Brooklyn Railroad and Terminal Company station at Brooklyn’s Second Ave between 39th and 38th Streets. Those heading onward to Manhattan could catch the new steam ferry just across Second Avenue and arrive at Whitehall Street in an additional 20 minutes. The train stations, ferry houses, and their vehicles were all new and “picturesque” providing travel as “delightful as it is brief.” The guide waxes on about the return trip to Bensonhurst-by-the-Sea, wooing the weary traveler: “After the day’s toil in the dusty, dirty, noisy city, the return trip is a positive exhilaration. It soothes the nerves and gives the jaded mind a relief so welcome that one reaches Bensonhurst with a keen zest for the pleasures of a quiet home. It is not only for the business man, however, that the mode of getting to Bensonhurst is a matter of importance. The comfort and convenience of women and children must be looked after and for them there is no such means of getting to and from New York as is provided for the dwellers in Bensonhurst.”

With so many comforts and conveniences, the siren song of Bensonhurst-by-the-Sea beckoned many to its vacant plots, including a list of recognized men of the day compiled by The Brooklyn Citizen in 1889: Charles F. Wingate (sanitary engineer), Dr. S. Fleet Speir (physician), C. Ferguson, Jr. (judge), Samuel H. McElroy (civil engineer and city surveyor), O. E. Tredwell (The Lawyers’ Title Insurance Company), W. E. Parfitt (architect), and D. W. Tallmadge (judge). Given the wealth held between these men (most of whom held second homes in Bensonhurst-by-the-Sea,) it begs the question of who exactly Bensonhurst was affordable for. Compared to Manhattan’s prices, Bensonhurst was indeed a deal, but likely still out of reach for most. Considering that the estimated average daily wage of an American citizen in 1889 was $2.51, it would have taken about three days for the steadily salaried worker to afford one square foot of the cheapest land in Bensonhurst -- without factoring in pre-existing expenses or construction costs.

It is unclear when the original zoning laws that promoted space were changed, but by the 1940s those laws were certainly gone. Fred C. Trump responded to the post-war housing shortage by constructing around 1,000 one and two-family attached brick homes throughout Bensonhurst, dramatically altering the neighborhood. Unlike the sprawling villas of Lynch’s Victorian design, these homes were made for the average income, with priority given to veterans. This rapid expansion in housing played a key role in transforming Bensonhurst into the neighborhood we recognize today.

Though few structures remain from Bensonhurst’s by-the-Sea days, the occasional historical home can still be found, such as those on Bay 26th Street and 21st Avenue, both between Benson and Bath Avenues, as well as the New Utrecht Reformed Church at 18th Avenue and 83rd Street. Once a remote farmbed for potatoes and cabbages, Bensonhurst went on to produce: rival enclaves to Manhattan’s Little Italy and Chinatown, Lenny’s Pizza (Saturday Night Fever), Sandy Koufax (baseball player), The Three Stooges (comedians), Harvey Fierstein (actor), Lordz of Brooklyn’s Dino Bottz (hip hop artist), and Alyssa Milano (actor). Today it is also home to the Brooklyn Public Library’s New Utrecht branch, one of the busiest branches in the library system.

A special thanks to... The Friends of Historic New Utrecht for their expertise on Bensonhurst’s agricultural days. Additional Sources Linder, Marc, and Lawrence Zacharias. Of Cabbages and Kings County: Agriculture and the Formation of Modern Brooklyn. University of Iowa Press, 1999. Merlis, Brian, and Lee A. Rosenzweig Brooklyn's Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and New Utrecht communities : a photographic history. Brooklynpix.com and Israelowitz Publishing, 2007. Bensonhurst-by-the-Sea. New York, 1889. Souvenir album : Bath Beach, Bensonhurst and vicinity, Brooklyn, New York, containing 68 views. Bayside Review Company, 1905.