page_title: Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
section_title: Rapid development and subway construction
hierarchical_section_title: Bay Ridge, Brooklyn / History / Rapid development and subway construction
caption_attribution_description: English: Platform at 95th Street on the R.
context_page_description: Bay Ridge is a residential neighborhood in the southwest corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by Sunset Park on the north, Dyker Heights on the east, the Narrows and the Belt Parkway on the west, and Fort Hamilton Army Base and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge on the south. The section of Bay Ridge south of 86th Street is sometimes considered part of a sub-neighborhood called Fort Hamilton.
  Bay Ridge was formerly the westernmost portion of the town of New Utrecht, comprising two smaller villages: Yellow Hook to the north and Fort Hamilton to the south. Yellow Hook was renamed Bay Ridge in 1853 to avoid negative connotations with yellow fever at the time. Bay Ridge became developed as a rural summer resort during the mid-19th century. The arrival of the New York City Subway's Fourth Avenue Line in the early 20th century led to its development as a residential neighborhood.
  Bay Ridge is part of Brooklyn Community District 10, and its primary ZIP Codes are 11209 and 11220. It is patrolled by the 68th Precinct of the New York City Police Department. Politically it is represented by the New York City Council's 43rd District.
context_section_description: Until the late 19th century, Bay Ridge would remain a relatively isolated rural area, reached primarily by stagecoaches, then by steam trolleys after 1878. In 1892, the first electric trolley line was built in Brooklyn, starting at a ferry terminal at 39th Street and running via Second Avenue to 65th Street, and then via Third Avenue. The Fifth Avenue Elevated was then extended to Third Avenue and 65th Street. This had the effect of raising land prices: one entity, the Bay Ridge Improvement Company, was able to buy land for $1,000 per acre ($2,500/ha) in 1890, and then sell land off for $1,000 per lot several years later.
  Real estate speculation commenced at the beginning of the 20th century. A building boom in South Brooklyn started in about 1902 and 1903, and thousands of people started coming to the area from Manhattan and from other places. The first definite plans for a Fourth Avenue subway (today's R train) were proposed by Rapid Transit Commission engineer William Barclay Parsons in 1903, and two years later, a citizens' committee was created to aid the creation of the subway line. The announcement of the subway line resulted in the immediate development of row houses in Bay Ridge. In 1905 and 1906 realty values increased by about 100 percent, and land values increased due to the promise of improved transportation access. Such was the rate of development, houses were being sold before they were even completed, and land prices could rise significantly just within several hours.
  The subway itself faced delays. In 1905, the Rapid Transit Commission adopted the Fourth Avenue route to Fort Hamilton; following approval by the Board of Estimate and mayor of New York City, the route was approved by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. Bids for construction and operation were let, but in 1907, the Rapid Transit Commission was succeeded by the Public Service Commission (PSC). For much of 1908, there were legal disagreements about whether the project could be funded while remaining within the city's debt limit. The PSC voted unanimously for the Fourth Avenue subway line in March 1908, but the Board of Estimate did not approve contracts for the line until October 1909. By then, a non-partisan political body, with the backing of 25,000 South Brooklyn residents, was created that would only support candidates in the municipal election that pledged support for the Fourth Avenue subway. Groundbreaking for the first section of the subway, between DeKalb Avenue and 43rd Street took place in 1909.  Not long after the contracts were awarded, the PSC started negotiating with the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company and the Interborough Rapid Transit Company in the execution of the Dual Contracts, which were signed in 1913. During the Dual System negotiations, the construction of an extension of the Fourth Avenue subway was recommended as part of the Dual System, which was approved in 1912. Construction began on the sections between 61st–89th Streets and between 43rd–61st Streets in 1913, and was completed two years later.
  The line opened to 59th Street on June 21, 1915, and was extended to 86th Street on January 15, 1916, at which time development started to accelerate. At the time, Bay Ridge extended northward to what is now present-day Sunset Park. Industrial developments were constructed along the waterfront north of present-day 65th Street, such as Bush Terminal (now Industry City), and those were considered to be within Bay Ridge. By the 1920s, the number of apartment buildings had increased fivefold, replacing old farms, homesteads and houses. Schools, churches, stores, movie theaters, and other structures were also created to serve the growing population. The Fourth Avenue subway was extended further to Bay Ridge–95th Street in 1925, by which point Bay Ridge's population had more than doubled since 1900. By World War II, almost all of these large houses had been replaced with apartment buildings.
  In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, many Norwegian and Danish sailors emigrated to Brooklyn, including Bay Ridge and ne
caption: The Bay Ridge–95th Street terminal station of the BMT Fourth Avenue Line was opened in 1925
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