Between Itself and Brooklyn: Gerritsen Beach’s Developing Identity from the 1920s-1930s

By Michael Sutherland

The sleepy seaside Brooklyn neighborhood of Gerritsen Beach resembles a New England fishing village far more than a neighborhood in the largest city in the United States. Its residents are insular, and rarely want to rely on the City or its officials for help, with some proclaiming at property owners’ meetings, “We don’t want people to know about Gerritsen Beach!”[1] It even has its own volunteer fire department — just one of nine left in the city. But, during the neighborhood’s infancy in the early 20th century, the people of Gerritsen Beach were grappling with forming and maintaining their own identity as a neighborhood while attempting to completely and equitably integrate the fledgling neighborhood into Brooklyn and as a part of the city as a whole.

As a result of legislative changes in 1920 that attempted to ease a shortage of housing by allowing developers to exempt residential structures built before 1922 from property taxes, residential building boomed city-wide.[2] This boom continued throughout the decade, and William Greve, President of Realty Associates, set his sights on Gerritsen Beach in 1922, which was mostly marshland at the time. His vision, a spate of bungalows along the peninsula with shops, a place of worship, and a community clubhouse, was at times referred to as Gerritsen Estates and sometimes billed as Gerritsen Park in advertising. Over a span of two years, Realty Associates mass produced around 600 cookie-cutter homes, and about 5,000 people (including 400 children) quickly moved in.[3]  The community was largely made up of German, Swedish, and notably, Irish working-class, as noted by the Reverend James F. Cox of the local Roman Catholic Church of the Resurrection: “a great earthquake shook Ireland a part of Cork was dislodged, and being Cork, it floated to America... and the rest floated down and became what is now Gerritsen Beach…”[4]

The rapid influx of people and homes in the area created a situation where the City couldn’t keep up with the needs and demands of the new residents. Perhaps most urgently, the fire infrastructure in the area was severely lacking and insufficient to meet the potential danger that rows of houses closely lined up with one another presented. The volunteer Gerrittsen Beach Fire Department — spelled  purposefully with two t’s, as the neighborhood sometimes was during its early days — was formed in 1922 to address the desperate need for a local fire response.[5] Even six years later in 1928, the closest City firehouse was on Kings Highway and Avenue U, nearly three miles away. Additionally, utilities, including wells meant to help combat potential fires and electricity rates that cost almost double the standard rate, put residents on edge at meetings with City officials.[6] Gerritsen Beach also lacked some other main features of a prosperous neighborhood, including a fully paved thoroughfare until 1926 when plans were completed to pave Gerritsen Avenue, the main artery of Gerritsen Beach.[7]

Another pressing situation was the need for a local public school. Hundreds of children were packed into portable school structures and nearby grade schools, but the capacity was too great for the system to handle. In 1929, parents were outraged that the school buses ferrying children to nearby PS 194 only transported the lower-grade students to school, and were even sometimes too full to accommodate the youngest children, forcing the “tiny tots... to plod their way to school,” which was nearly a mile away.[8] In 1931, nearly a decade after Gerritsen Beach’s construction, the City announced plans to build a local, permanent school, PS 243, to relieve other nearby grade schools,[9] but the plans stalled, and Gerritsen residents threatened a school strike in 1935.[10] It appears PS 243 was never built, however, and residents had to wait until 1950 for plans to develop anew for public school in Gerritsen Beach, PS 277, which still stands today.[11]

Rev. Cox is presented with the loving cup, donated by the Democratic and Republican county leaders, which was to be delivered to the winner of the Gerritsen Beach mayoral election.

Local efforts, like fundraisers to support the local churches and volunteer fire department, were held in an effort to fill in the gap in public resources and investment. One example — a July 1935 fundraiser to support the local Roman Catholic Church of the Resurrection — featured the election of a symbolic democratically elected “Mayor of Gerritsen Beach” and a mayoral administration, an event held to gather excitement and interest in the fundraiser that was later leveraged as an opportunity to organize the community. Six candidates — Leonora Lahey, Frank C. Frerichs, Patrick G. Finnegan, Patrick G. Byrnes, John Harrigan, and Thomas G. Hunter — were selected from the 123 that ran in a primary election which took place the month prior. The winner of this general election, which was to be revealed at the July 1935 fundraiser, was to be presented a silver loving cup donated and presented by the Democratic and Republican County leaders, Frank V. Kelly and John R. Crews.[12] For the occasion, Gerritsen Beach nominated tax appraiser David F. Soden as their Commissioner of Elections.[13] In the end, Hunter, a local mainstay who was President of both the Gerritsen Beach Republican and Gerritsen Beach Regular Democratic Clubs, won the contest.[14]

A spectacle designed to stake Gerritsen Beach’s claim as a Brooklyn neighborhood of note and to bring borough-wide attention to the fundraiser took place on the final night of the festival. A fiery debate between fellow Irishmen Rev. Cox and Peter J. McGuinness, the famed Greenpoint Democratic leader over whether Gerritsen Beach or Greenpoint deserved the title “Garden Spot of the World” drew spectators from all over the borough. There were 7,000 anticipated attendees, and over fifty judges of the debate, including US Representatives Andrew Somers and Richard Tonry, and other elected officials — Supreme Court and County judges, State Senators, Assemblymembers, Aldermen, and City Commissioners.[15] While there doesn’t seem to have been a conclusive winner, Rev. Cox, who goaded McGuinness into the debate in the first place to draw attention to the church fundraiser, seemed to succeed in his goal. The debate, frivolous but vociferously defended by both sides, was seen as the “drawing card” of the entire six-day fundraiser, and the wide attendance by elected and city officials and Brooklyn residents displays an interesting piece of effective organizing in support of Gerritsen Beach by Rev. Cox.[16]

On October 9th, 1935, Hunter was inaugurated as “Mayor,” along with his extensive cabinet (some of whom were Hunter’s former “opponents”): Welfare Commissioner Rev. Cox, Controller Finnegan, Fire Commissioner Harry Bloodgood, Commissioner of Labor Harrigan, Commissioner of the Public Works Frerichs, Commissioner of Sanitation Michael Deis, Park Commissioner Byrnes, Health Commissioner Mrs. C. Hay, Corporation Counsel Dan Kohan, Commissioner of Education John Manning, Police Commissioner William Jones, and Commissioner of Taxes Lahay. More than 2,000 Gerritsen Beach residents were expected to attend the inauguration, which also served as a fundraiser, the proceeds of which would go towards the needy in Gerritsen Beach. Notable attendees included New York State Attorney General John J. Bennet Jr. and New York City Comptroller Frank J. Taylor.[17]

At the inauguration, Welfare Commissioner Rev. Cox first made his plea for Marine Park to be the host spot of the 1939 World’s Fair. As part of his pitch, Rev. Cox railed against the “real estate promoters” for “select[ing] their own site on Flushing Meadows without consulting the people.” The Gerritsen Mayor and his administration, along with the Gerritsen Beach Chamber of Commerce, began making their push in earnest in October of 1935. The “mayoral administration” would, from the inauguration forward, act as an informal civic organization, adding to the wealth of organizations already active in Gerritsen Beach like the aforementioned Gerritsen Beach Chamber of Commerce, Property Owners Association, and Republican and Regular Democratic Clubs; they considered the advocacy for Marine Park as the 1939 World’s Fair their “first duty.”[18]

Plans to massively develop Marine Park by Charles Downing Lay, which won the silver medal in Town Planning at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. The plans, like those for the 1939 World's Fair in Marine Park, were scrapped and downsized, due in part to Robert Moses.

The Commissioner of Public Works and President of the Gerritsen Beach Chamber of Commerce Frerichs alleged that there was a “gentleman’s agreement” that, by “relinquishing our rights to A Century of Progress Exposition” to Chicago, Marine Park ought to be the World's Fair's next location. The Gerritsen Beach groups estimated that the costs incurred by bringing the World’s Fair to Marine Park would be relatively small, ranging from $15 to $20 million, in comparison to the expensive and potentially dangerous endeavor of building on the “shifting... soil” in Flushing Meadows. They also posited that holding the World’s Fair in Marine Park was not just a fight for the area, but a “fight for Brooklyn,” [19] highlighting the potential economic benefit to the surrounding neighborhoods and borough at-large,[20] and admonished Borough President Raymond Ingersoll for not partaking in this fight. A number of prominent Brooklynites pledged to aid in the bid, including Rev. Cox’s previous debate rival Pete McGuinness, professing Marine Park to be the “one and only” spot for the fair, and Assemblyman Albert D. Schanzer who said he would do “everything possible to help.”[21]

Although seeming like gossip at first glance, it turns out Frerichs’ claims held some water. New York Representative Sol Bloom, a musician-turned-politician, had grand designs to hold a Washington Bicentennial Exposition in 1932 in Marine Park. The exposition would have forty-six pavilions, a channel deep enough for docking naval ships, and a 200,000 seat football stadium, and wouldn’t just serve this singular, temporary purpose; it would serve as a “perpetual monument to Washington’s memory.” These plans, however, fell through after a series of misfortunes — internal bickering, legislative stalling, and monetary scandals.[22] Chicago put its hat in the ring for the exposition, which eventually became the Century of Progress Exposition, and won. However, Bloom had piqued New York’s interest in a future fair to be held in the city, and conversations continued on a potential site other than Brooklyn, to which Brooklynites — Frerichs included — cried foul.[23] In the end, the wishes of then-New York City Parks Commissioner Robert Moses to develop what would become Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, and the more logical, accessible location, won out over the ragtag group of Southern Brooklyners, and Queens was solidified as the 1939 World’s Fair site.

Although the ambitious, and admittedly long-shot, attempt to host the World’s Fair failed, it exemplifies the neighborhood’s dance between creating its own local identity and integrating as part of Brooklyn. While the local benefits of hosting the Fair were clear — greater development, economic stimulation, and national attention — there was a pride and advocacy of not only their neighborhood, but of their borough. And while it may at first seem inward-looking to appoint a neighborhood mayor, and to use that title to organize, Gerritsen Beach actually used the flamboyant act to champion their community (which needed championing in the face of a lack of municipal support) and Brooklyn. The first two decades of Gerritsen Beach’s history demonstrate its tricky navigation of a dual identity as a fledgling and distant coastal enclave and proud part of their borough of Brooklyn.

Michael Sutherland is an MPA candidate at the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at Baruch College studying urban development and sustainability, and a lifelong Gerritsen Beach resident.

[1] Jake Mooney, “The Art of Hiding in Plain Sight”, The New York Times (New York, NY), August 17, 2012.

[2] Thomas J. Campanella, Brooklyn: The Once and Future City (Princeton University Press, 2019), 302-303.

[3] Campanella, 313.

[4] “Sponsors Will Debate 2 Rival Garden Spots”, The Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn, NY), July 6, 1935.

[5] “About | Gerrittsen Beach Fire Department”, Gerrittsen Beach Fire Department, 2018, https://www.gbfd.net/about.

[6] “Village Requests Fire Permission”, The Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn, NY), September 16, 1928. 

[7] “Gerritsen Beach Paving Plan Hailed With Joy”, The Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn, NY), August 13, 1926. 

[8] “Gerritsen Beach Hits School Bus Situation”, The Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn, NY), November 3, 1929.

[9] “Brooklyn, Queens School Projects Approved by Board”, The Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn, NY), January 29, 1931.

[10] “Gerritsen Beach Parents Threaten School Strike Over Building Delay, Want Speedy Construction of P.S. 243”, The Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn, NY), April 1, 1935.

[11] “Budget Shifts Add $1,962,000 to Brooklyn School Funds”, The Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn, NY), November 21, 1950.

[12] “Gets Loving Cup For Gerritsen Beach Mayor”, The Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn, NY), July 2, 1935.

[13] “7,000 Expected to Hear Debate on ‘Garden Spot”, The Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn, NY), July 20, 1935.

[14] “Gerritsen Beach to Install Mayor”, The Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn, NY), September 17, 1935.

[15] “7,000 Expected to Hear Debate on ‘Garden Spot”, The Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn, NY), July 20, 1935.

[16] “7,000 Expected to Hear Debate on ‘Garden Spot”, The Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn, NY), July 20, 1935.

[17] “Gerritsen ‘Officials’ Want Fair Held Here”, The Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn, NY), October 6, 1935.

[18] “Gerritsen Beach Set for World Fair Fight”, The Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn, NY), October 3, 1935.

[19] “Gerritsen Beach Set for World Fair Fight”, The Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn, NY), October 3, 1935.

[20] “Gerritsen Beach Chamber Pledges to Shift Fair”, The Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn, NY), October 17, 1935

[21] “Gerritsen Beach Set for World Fair Fight”, The Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn, NY), October 3, 1935.

[22] Campanella, 246

[23] Campanella, 245-247.