Red Hook

Red Hook has a lot of Italian American History. Red Hook borders Sunset Park, Carroll Gardens, and Gowanus. A large part of Red Hook is comprised of docks and commercial buildings related to the ports that line the Brooklyn waterline. The Italians in Red Hook came after the Irish and German immigrants. Mainly, people who settled in this area worked on the docks or in a business related to shipping. The Catholic church in Red Hook is Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Roman Catholic Church and this church was founded for the Irish and Germans. Italians first started settling in the neighborhood in the late 1800’s but many began coming in the early 1900’s as the New York waterways boomed with explosive commercial growth. The Germans and Irish were already settled in this neighborhood since the 1700’s in some semblance or another. As the population began to explode, Fiorello LaGuardia, the mayor of New York, pioneered an affordable housing project in Red Hook which is home to 6,000 people in 30 buildings. The buildings were originally built by LaGuardia to house the longshoremen and dockworkers. It was a spectacular place. Over the years, many of the jobs vanished due to automation and many of the longshoremen and dockworkers with tenure moved elsewhere. The buildings soon offered opportunities for the less fortunate and a demographic change rapidly occurred. A major gentrification has occurred in Red Hook and the neighborhood is filled with hip restaurants, cafes, lounges and more. The Italians are long gone from Red Hook but there are still a few Italian businesses there, namely DeFonte’s famous sandwich shop.