Moving to Bensonhurst

jnewton1220

Hey all! I'm moving from Astoria down to Bensonhurst (by Bay Pkwy and 65th St)... was wondering basic stuff like how long the subway ride is to Union Sq on the N and/or the F... where's a supermarket for groceries, is the area as safe as it seems, any good places to hang out, eat, etc etc... ???

Anything helps... thanks!!
Jen

domino

Kinda quite - the neighborhood is a mix of Italian, Chinese, Hasid and Russian.
It is safe - although I would not suggest hanging out on MacDonald Avenue or by the cemetery.

Most of the places to hang out are down in Bay Ridge, Cobble Hill & Park Slope. There are still some good mom & pop restaurants on Bay Pkway but mostly old Italian and standard Chinese.

Not sure what your age or vibe is, or if you have a car. Most common means of transport - car service.

k_j_pall

Take the N. Its about 40 minutes to Union Square on a weekday. Do keep in mind that the D/N service usually gets screwed up on the weekends.
Not a whole lot to do, really. Theres a bunch of sushi places and the like along 18th ave and 86th street has a lot of shopping. I dont know what the closest supermarket up by you is, but there's a 24 hour rite aid on Kings Highway.

kikintina

3rd Avenue has a lot of choice for food. And 3rd and 5th have good basic shopping. As Domino mentioned, if you give up some information about what you're looking for, more suggestions may come your way.

I'm all about bakeries (Lesky's!) and food (Robicelli's!) and shopping (Century 21 and 86th btw Frt Ham and 4th) and kids (playgrounds!), but others could probably chime in with bars/higher end restaurants/clothes...

jnewton1220

Thanks everyone!

I'll be moving from Astoria, right between a big park that had lots of free events and space to play catch, lay out in the sun, etc., and lots of shopping in the other direction. I also love to just take walks and go for the occasional bike ride. So I think as long as I can get somewhere to do stuff like that, I'll be good As far as restaurants I love sushi, good italian food, bagels, and of course pizza... so let me know where to go! I did a search on NYontap.com for even just a small sports bar or something in the area and came up empty... I prob won't be using playgrounds too much haha but anything's good to know.

Thank youuuu!!!

domino

So I am assuming that you near Bay Parkway b/w 75th Street (Bay Ridge Parkway) and 86th Street.
Italian restaurants - Ortobella (corner 64th and Bay Parkway), Torres also on Bay Pkway
Pizza - L&B on 86th Street past 25th Avenue
18th Avenue in the low 70's - - brick oven on 76th
Bagels - any one of the Bagel Boys
Sushi - can't help you there
Biking - access to the bike path - straight down Bay Parkway (past 86th street) to Shore Road Parkway which runs along the Belt Pkwy to the 69th Street pier
Shopping - 86th street b/w 4th & 5th and also all 86th st after 18th Ave

Sports Bars - Nothing where you are - although there was one on 18th Ave in the 70's at one point. You are going to have to go to Bay Ridge on 3rd or 5th Avenue (b/w 75th and 95th).

Ragamuffin parade is on Oct 3rd - go check out 3rd ave - might see something that piques your interest

kikintina

Europa Cafe is fantastic. L&B, of course. Tenzan Sushi on 18th is also pretty good. Check out Yelp for Bensonhurst and nearby. There's also a huge selection of Italian bakeries. So good. Walk up and down 18th from the high 60's to the high 80's. Lots of good stuff. Great veggie shopping on 86th, and there's a huge Chinese supermarket on 86th and 25th Avenue.

Wait, what was the original question?

gentlemike1

if you want to move to china then do it,this area is becoming all chinese and central american
it is a sewer,i moved there 8 yrs ago and cant beleive the scum living therenow
good luck

brooklyngal24

gentlemike1 wrote: if you want to move to china then do it,this area is becoming all chinese and central american
it is a sewer,i moved there 8 yrs ago and cant beleive the scum living therenow
good luck

I agree. But closer to 86th, you'll run into more Russians. Around 65th & Bay Pkwy, all Chinese. Go to 65th & 20th and you'll feel like you took a wrong turn to Central America with all of the illegal day laborers hanging out by Europa & the Bagel shops.