Greenwood Heights
Greenwood Heights – Is a small neighborhood within the larger Southern Brooklyn neighborhood of Sunset Park. The church was centered around Saint Rocco Italian National Parish, which was not large enough to accommodate the neighborhood’s swelling Italian American population in the mid-20th century, so many parishioners of Saint Rocco wound up going to Saint John The Evangelist, just a few blocks south. This neighborhood was mostly Italian since the late 1800’s, early 1900’s. At the time, there were tons of jobs available on the Brooklyn docks, so many of the people living in this neighborhood were dock workers like Longshoremen or somehow employed in the maritime industry. There were quite a few Italians in Sunset Park as well just north of Greenwood Heights surrounding Our Lady of Perpetual Help, which borders Borough Park, Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights. Greenwood Heights is at the foot of Greenwood cemetery, which borders the neighborhood to the East. Further south of Greenwood Heights is Park Slope, which itself had an Italian enclave. The migratory patterns in this area were greatly affected by the subway system which runs through Sunset Park (Greenwood Heights). There are still some Italian residents living here but not many. There are one or two Italian businesses remaining that are construction related. The Italian National Parish of Saint Rocco has been closed.