What is today Fort Hamilton High School, for example, was once the site of the Crescent Athletic Club, a posh retreat that brought together the richest Bay Ridge residents. Perhaps the greatest challenge to residents' conception of their community was the building of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge to Staten Island. Many claim that the Bay Ridge community's unsuccessful opposition to the construction fueled the activism that remains strong today. The results of this community involvement are impressive. Unlike many other Brooklyn neighborhoods, these houses have garages, basements, and lawns, which make certain streets of Bay Ridge look like those in the outer suburbs.
Ethnic diversity is a strength of the community.
Generations of original Scandinavian and Italian residents have welcomed more recent Chinese, Russian, Greek, Korean, Lebanese, Egyptian, Syrian, and Jordanian immigrants. In the 1980s, Chinese entrepreneurs who had settled in nearby Sunset Park transformed some of Bay Ridge's abandoned warehouses into bustling garment factories. The most prevalent settlers in the 1990s have been newcomers from China and the former Soviet Union. The ethnic foods served in 3rd and 5th Avenue restaurants and sold in specialty stores now represent the full diversity of the neighborhood's residents, and the shopping area from 4th to 6th Avenues is vibrant and diverse. One of the most famous stores in Bay Ridge is Kleinfeld's, which opened more than 55 years ago as a furrier named I. Kleinfeld and Son.