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City Legacy - Canarsie

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Updated 06/16/2009

Located in southeast Brooklyn, Canarsie takes its name from the Canarsee Indians of the Algonquin group who originally inhabited the area. All our land titles in the greater part of Brooklyn have come from the Canarsee Indians. They held what is now Kings County and the shore of Jamaica Bay. In 1626 a small band of Canarsee Indians were camping in New Amsterdam (Later named New York in 1664). Peter Minuit, who had become friendly with the Indians, offered to buy the land from them. The famous selling of Manhattan Island was actually a scam on the part of the Canarsee Indians. Although they did not own it, they accepted about twenty-four dollars ($24.00) in payment for Manhattan Island.

The area of Canarsie was surrounded by creeks. They were known as Sands Bay Creek, Steamboat Creek, Indian Creek, Fresh Creek and Bedford’s Creek (now known as Paerdegat Basin). Around 1921, the city decided to fill up the creeks by pumping them with sand to that they could build on the sites. Canarsie was famous for its boating and fishing, being the headquarters of the large shellfish industry of Jamaica Bay until April 1, 1920, when the City of New York banned fishing due to pollution of the water because of the sewerage being dumped into the bay. Due to its somewhat secluded location and sparse population, Canarsie was at times a meeting place for pirates and smugglers.

In the early teens there were two main routes in Canarsie to get to the City. Rockaway Avenue (later known as Rockaway Parkway from Foster Avenue to the Shore) and Main Road (now East 92 Street). In those days, anyone who wished to get to the city could travel on Church Lane, (which was known on the city maps as the "Road to Lotts House") to Varken Hook's Road (what is now known as East 84 Street) which continued through the woods up to Canarsie Lane, then went past the Schenk-Lotts House under the sharp turn at East 85 Street under the Long Island Railroad tracks. The other outlet to the city was Rockaway Avenue.

In the 1800's Canarsie Village was a primarily quiet life of clamming, fishing and farming. There were businesses and farms scattered around Canarsie. In 1839, The Grace Protestant Church (then called The Methodist Protestant Church) was built on Canarsie Road (Now known as East 92 Street). The land was donated by the Old Squire Remsen. In 1843, John Remsen donated land to the town of Flatlands to be used as a burial ground. Located off of Church Lane it was later named Canarsie Cemetery. In the 1870's a large number of immigrants from Germany moved into the Canarsie community and in 1877 they built a church called The Canarsie Reformed Church on Conklin Avenue and East 93 Street. Due to the strong Dutch population in Canarsie, the church was known as The Dutch Reformed Church Of Canarsie. Two years later, the German Lutherans built another church to call their own one block over, known today as St. Matthews Church Of Canarsie. The following year (1880), The Plymouth Congregational Church was founded and located on East 95 Street between Avenue J and Avenue K. The church was relocated to East 96 Street between Flatlands Avenue and Ave J to make room for Canarsie High School's new athletic field.

1880 also saw the birth of Canarsie’s first Roman Catholic Church, Holy Family. The church's first building was a small wooden structure that stood on the corner of East 93 Street and Conklin Avenue. After a fire destroyed the building, the church was rebuilt on Flatlands Avenue and Rockaway Parkway. In 1935 the church started to expand by adding a Rectory, a Convent and a School. The present Holy Family Church still stands on the corner of Flatlands Avenue and Rockaway Parkway. With the church’s expansion, it covers 2 blocks, Rockaway Parkway thru East 98 Street.

In 1894, the Village of Canarsie joined the City of Brooklyn. Then in 1897 Brooklyn joined the City of New York as part of the 5 Boros.

In 1901 The St. Alban's Episcopal Church was built on Farragut Road. In 1906, The Brooklyn Rapid Transit opened a sand pit on Avenue J and East 99 Street. On that site they buried over 100 trolley cars till 1939.

On May 30, 1907, The Golden City Amusement Park opened its doors on Seaview Avenue and Canarsie Road. It was illuminated by 140,000 lights. A record crowd of twenty-five thousand attended. They came from all over the city to enjoy its activities along the shore. People played games, enjoyed a boat ride, a funhouse, the roller coaster, the merry-go-round, the whip, the tunnel of love, penny arcade, and many more great attractions and oddities. They also enjoyed all of the refreshments, from beer, soda, seafood, hot dogs and other assorted varieties. A boxing arena was one of the most exciting attractions. Outside the park, located near the train station, stood the famous Music Hall along with some hotels and beer halls.

P.S.114 was constructed before the turn of the century. The present building went up in 1907. It was and still is located at 1077 Remsen Avenue. It served Canarsie children from grades 5A - 8B. Today it serves children from kindergarten to grade 6. P.S.115 was also built before the turn of the century but was reconstructed in 1922. The school, which is located on East 92 Street and Avenue M, had only 4 classrooms and 1 office for the principal. It served children from grades 1A - 4B.

Just about 1918, a great building boom started in Canarsie. New homes started to spring up by various builders. On Rockaway Parkway, between Avenues K and M on the east side, rows of bungalows were built. Two-family homes were built on East 98 Street between Avenues L and M, and East 99 Street between Avenues K and L. On the west side of Rockaway Parkway, there were many two family homes built on East 93 Street between Avenues K and J and on Avenue K between East 92 Street and Remsen Avenue. Homes were being built five houses in a row, which were sold for twenty-five hundred dollars for the inside ones and around twenty-nine hundred for the corner ones. All you had to put as a down payment was one hundred dollars and pay them off at about ($25) twenty-five dollars per month on the mortgage. There were five on Rockaway Parkway, between Truckleman Lane and Skidmore Lane, another five on Avenue K between East 93 Street and East 94 Street and another group on East 92 Street between Farragut Road and Old Canarsie Lane (now called Bedell Lane).

As Canarsie began to grow Canarsie got its first bank on the corner of East 93 Street and Flatlands Avenue known as Canarsie State Bank. A long row of new stores on East 92 Street up to Conklin Avenue had many types of businesses in the early days. There was an A&P, a Bakery, a Photo studio, a Piano store and on the corner was a Chevrolet car dealer with one car on display since there weren’t too many models yet. But it failed and when they moved, Canarsie got its first Public Library, which soon became too small and was moved to Glenwood Road and East 95th Street for a few years until it relocated to its present location on Rockaway Parkway near Avenue J. Across from the library on East 92 Street was a hardware store. Next to it was one of Canarsie’s first chain stores, H.C. Bohack. When they moved, it became a dance studio. After they moved, a pizzeria and restaurant was opened. The building next door was the storage home for all the machinery of a Construction Co. who built most of N.Y. City Public Schools. The next building was the place originally owned by an undertaker, who kept his trucks there. The building next door is the home of a Furniture store on the corner and had a rear part of the building for storage which was at one time a garage and gas station. The first small building that was the original headquarters of the American Legion Post No. 573, for the soldiers who came back after World War I was built in 1920, and then as the population grew a new building was erected in 1925 and is the present home today.

The Jewish population began growing in the 1920's along with the Italian population. The Italian people had a place to worship (Holy Family Church) but the Jewish people did not. To meet the needs of the growing Jewish population, three temples were constructed during that period. They were The Ahavas Achim Anshe Canarsie located on Glenwood Road and East 95 Street, The Kevelson Synagogue on Avenue L and East 96 Street and The A.A.A. Sfard on East 94 Street and Avenue L.

In 1921 Canarsie saw the first issue of the Canarsie Courier published. The first office of the Canarsie Courier was a small office on Rockaway Parkway, on the present site of the Green Point Savings Bank. The second office was a little six-by-ten wooden shack located where the public health building now stands at East 95 Street and Conklin Avenue. The third office was and still is located on East 92 Street and Conklin Avenue. The Canarsie Courier is over 81 years old and is still published as of today.

In 1935, Public School 242 was built on Flatlands Avenue and East 100 Street. In 1939, the last of The Golden City Park (much of which had been destroyed by a fire in 1934) was torn down to make room for the Belt Parkway. The Rockaway Parkway exit was completed in 1940 bringing new life to the community. The City of New York built The Brooklyn Terminal Market on the land on Foster Avenue in 1940.

After World War II, the Jamaica Bay Houses were constructed in 1946 and 1947 to accommodate the returning veterans. The project was the largest in the city. The swamp lands were drained and dried, the marshlands were filled in to make room for the "Quonset Huts". They housed over 8,000 people. The "Huts", which were opened on June 20, 1946, resembled the houses of the Iroquois Nation who lived on the land several hundred years before. Preference for these apartments was given to the veterans who returned from WW II.

In 1951, Breukelen Houses (a city housing project) opened. Public School 260, “The Breukelen” opened in 1953. In 1954, the Jamaica Bay Houses were closed. A building project called Bay View Houses opened in 1955. In that same year Seaview Village was built. In 1957, Public School 272 was built on Seaview Avenue and East 102 Street to accommodate the children of Bay View Houses and Seaview Village. 1958 saw Canarsie's population grow to 64,000. To accommodate the growing community, Junior High School 211 was built on East 100 Street and Avenue J. In 1959 Canarsie saw another building erected. It was Public School 279 on East 104 Street and Avenue J.

1964 saw three new schools built in the Canarsie area. Public School 276 was built on East 83 Street and Avenue K, Isaac Bildersee Junior High School 68 was built on East 82 Street and Avenue J and Canarsie's first High School, Canarsie High School built on Rockaway Parkway and Avenue K. When the new school was to be built, about 20 homes were demolished by the City, which paid off the owners, needing all this land for the new school. The Plymouth Congregational Church, which was located on East 95 Street between Avenues J and K since 1880 was removed and relocated to East 96 Street between Flatlands Avenue and Avenue J to make room for Canarsie High School's new athletic field.

In 1968, the old 69th Precinct was torn down on Glenwood Road and a new one erected on Foster Avenue and Rockaway Parkway where it still is today. 1970 Canarsie received its second High School. South Shore High School, located on Flatlands Avenue and Ralph Avenue. The school was possibly the largest in the nation as it had over 6,000 students enrolled. 1975 saw the community's newest house of worship. The Sephardic Jewish Center on Flatlands Avenue and East 94 Street was built.

Canarsie, strong in tradition and heritage, is over 369 years old. Its borders span approximately 314 square blocks. Starting at Jamaica Bay on the South, it moves to Paerdegat Basin and Ralph Avenue on the West and then to Ditmas Avenue, Avenue D and Linden Boulevard on the North, and then down Louisiana Avenue to Fresh Creek Basin on the East. Spanning over 3 centuries, it is a combination of old and new, traditional and modern. Canarsie's proud traditions are deeply rooted in the American culture, history and heritage.