Exploring Sunset Park

This semester, me and two of my classmates ventured to Sunset Park, Brooklynn and we went there to explore the neighborhood and learn its history. One of the historical landmarks that we visited was Green-Wood Cemetery; it was established in 1838 and was one of the first cemeteries in the country to have a graveyard not located at a church. It also has a great view of the city and the harbor. The next place that we visited was Brooklynn’s proclaimed ”Chinatown”. Going down 8th Avenue, we were able to see a flux of people who were of Chinese descent. There were many restaurants and small shops that sold fish, fresh fruits, and vegetables. One of the restaurants that we went to was Kai Feng Fu Dumpling House. My teacher had recommended that we visit it, and sure enough his recommendation was not disappointing. I ordered shrimp and pork dumplings and I must say that they were absolutely delicious. Lets just say that I have been having a craving for dumplings ever since I ate them and I made sure my mom ordered me more dumplings to snack on almost every week since then. Even though my project on this neighborhood is complete, I will try to visit Sunset Park more often and I can’t wait to find out what other historical aspects of the neighborhood I will learn about.

This is the beautiful entrance to Green-Wood Cemetery established in 1838.

Sunset Park

This past week my two teammates, Olivia and Vincent, and I visited Sunset Park for our neighborhood project. Living in Bay Ridge I’ve been to Sunset Park many times, but I never actually paid attention to my surroundings. I was too busy screaming and yelling about all the traffic. Sunset Park is located between Bay Ridge and Gowanus. This neighborhood is home to a large Chinese population. From visiting this area, I realized it is extremely overpopulated and congested but what I found most interesting is that the people living there had no problem with this issue, it seemed normal to them. They had their cars double parked, and corners were overpacked; you could barely move. Besides all of these negative aspects, there were many positives. Chinatown is filled with a variety of food stands with fresh fruit and goods. These food stands were mainly on corners and outside that caused this congestion. Reading before visiting Sunset Park, I read that Chinatown is famous for its dumplings. Thanks to Dr. Nolan, he recommended a Chinese restaurant that served delicious dumplings. IMG_1254Once we reached the restaurant, I was a bit unsure. The restaurant from the outside did not seem very appealing. We proceeded inside and ordered dumplings. I was amazed as
to how delicious these dumplings tasted. They were so fresh and hot. It was an enjoyable experience visiting a new neighborhood and seeing how one culture can dominate an
area. I’m excited to visit Sunset Park again and learn more.

Trip to Sunset Park

Last week my group and I went to visit sunset park for our grand proposal. On our way to Sunset park, Brooklyn we tried to see where we were going to start first. We ended up starting at the furthest place and worked our way through sunset park to our destinations. Our first destination was Greenwood cemetery, this is a historical spot in sunset park that has been there for years. Then we decided to go to the Brooklyn army terminal which is now converted into buildings that contain many stores and companies.

As we were making our way through Sunset park and the avenues changed so did the people. First, we started on 4th and 5th avenue and between 30th and 65th st and it was inhabited by Spanish and Dominicans. As we went up toward 7th and 8th avenue we ended up in whats known as Brooklyn’s “China Towns”. Every store was written in Chinese and as we walked around we saw the variety of different fresh fruits, vegetables and fish they sold.

Before going to Sunset park Dr. Nolan had emailed my group a news article talking about some dumpling spots that are popular in sunset park. My group and I ventured out and went to one of greatly reviewed dumpling spots. As we approached Kai Feng Fu Dumpling House we were hesitant at first because it was a small place on a side block but we went in and the dumplings were delicious!! I really enjoyed venturing out to Sunset park because I was able to see and experience a different neighborhood other than mine.

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