Bay Ridge Turned 160 Today

The Birth of Bay Ridge

According to the Bay Ridge Historical Society, residents of Yellow Hook in the town of New Utrecht assembled at District School No. 2 on this day in 1853 and voted to rename their village, founded in 1675, “Bay Ridge.”

They sought to escape the association between the name "Yellow Hook" and yellow fever, of which there had been numerous outbreaks in the area.

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