And some blocks seem to have as many as four or five massage parlors. I started noticing more missing people posters. Over the years I've noticed an uptick in things that made me uneasy: if I was out too late, walking on my own, sometimes cars would follow me. Some of the older people can be very closed-minded. Bensonhurst feels like a small town, and the walls do close in on you. There’s a lot of cheap restaurants to go to, and a lot of supermarkets, but not much in terms of nightlife, unless you really like sketchy massage parlors. I really recommend getting some Olivier salad it’s like egg salad but more heavenly. There are several NetCost markets, which sell delicious Russian pickles and snacks. I also definitely recommend going to Ria's Hallmark next to Lenny's, and not just because I've worked there on and off for six years! They've got something for nearly everything. My favorite Chinese bakery is probably the one down the block from Lenny's. Of course, you can't miss Lenny's pizza or L&B Spumoni Gardens. There are several good bubble tea shops but my go to is ViVi, which has branches on Bay Parkway and on 18th Ave. There’s some amazing food on 18th Avenue, like Steam Box Rice Roll. It's the people I know, the streets I know, the shops I know. I have my favorite comfort foods: the Chinese bakeries, the bubble tea shops, the Russian supermarkets with their rows of salads and pickles. I know all the shortcuts and all the side streets. I cut class to go to the library-I had a circuit of libraries worked out because back then you got a maximum of one hour of computer time per library card, per library.

I went to elementary, middle, and high school there. I'll always have every single good and bad memory from every corner and every street. Now they are nice and clean.īensonhurst is always going to be home. There were stalagmite-like things growing on the ceilings and all the paint was peeling. Back when I was in high school, the N train stations were disgusting. Unfortunately, there are lots of subway repairs being done all the time, so the weekends would get awkward, but it was sorely needed. The N, D, and F are all within very close range, and the buses usually weren't too terrible. The nice thing about Bensonhurst is that there is so much public transportation, so I could get to my marketing job easily. The difficult part was doing laundry-most prewar buildings don't have laundry machines and it's a struggle to do laundry, especially if you're someone like me who procrastinates and then can barely lift the bags. Apartments shot up so much in only a few years. It felt surreal: In 2011 I rented a bedroom for $500 a month. At that point, even renting a single room was expensive, over $1,500 in some cases. Otherwise I would not have been able to return to Bensonhurst. My friends were kind enough to not charge me rent while I got my life sorted out. I remember when we first moved to Bensonhurst in 2002, the rent for my parent’s one-bedroom apartment was like $800 or $900 a month. They keep the hot air in well, which works well in the winter but not so much in the summer. Coming back to Bensonhurst, where the air smells more like the sea, was like coming home-giving me stability and certainty.Įach of the apartments I've lived in was spacious with really high ceilings. I had spent a few years in Queens, never feeling like I was quite at home. The last place I lived in Bensonhurst was my friend’s couch, where I crashed for a few years while I figured out what I was doing with my life. I wonder if it has gotten any better since. My elderly neighbors, who lived in the building forever, said it was always a crappy school. When I was a kid, I lived right down the block from Seth Low, which in my time was considered one of the worst middle schools in the area. I've lived in a lot of places in Bensonhurst-mostly prewar buildings. Petersburg, Russia, and raised in Bensonhurst. They decide to move in with their boyfriend (now husband) and find an affordable place in Woodhaven. It was where they were raised and lived as an adult, until the area started to feel seedy to them. The artist known as Dark Reconstruction, who uses they/them pronouns, considers Bensonhurst home.

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