Bensonhurst's People

From The Peopling of New York City

1 Demographics

Demographics

Where is Bensonhurst?

Bensonhurst’s borders are 61st Street, Mcdonald Avenue, Gravsend Bay, and 14th Avenue, with the neighboring towns of Bath Beach, Bay Ridge, Gravesend, and Borough Park. Since Bensonhurst’s beginnings, the long-lasting generations of Jewish and Italian residents have defined Bensonhurst’s geographic boundaries where the ethnic mix of Bensonhurst conflicts. This area is comprised of 44 Census Tracts, which are US Census Tracts 182, 184, 186, 188, 190, 248, 250, 252, 254, 256, 258, 260, 262, 264, 266, 268, 270, 272, 274, 276, 278, 284, 288, 290, 294, 296, 298, 300, 302, 304, 400, 402, 404, 406, 408, 410, 412, 424, 426, 428, 430, 432, 434, and 436.

Bensonhurst in 1950

In the 1950’s Bensonhurst was predominately white, however the white population was changing. Where in the earlier 1900s there were many Italian and Jewish immigrants moving into Bensonhurst, in 1950 immigration to Bensonhurst was largely Italian. In the 1950 census Bensonhurst was 99.17% white and 22% of the white population consisted of people who were born in other countries. Half of those people were born in Italy making 10.5% of the population Italian immigrants. Of the remaining .83% of the population .77% is African American leaving only .08% of the population to other nationalities.

Bensonhurst in 1990

In the 1990’s Bensonhurst’s population was going through some major changes. The white population dropped to 85.5% of the total. This was due to a large increase in the amount of Asian immigrants moving into Bensonhurst. The population was 11.49% Asian, 9.61% being Chinese. There are also Russian immigrants arriving at this time.

Bensonhurst in 2000

Bensonhurst today has a population of over 140,000 people. It is and always has been, however, very limited in its cultural diversity. As of the US Census of 2000 the population of Bensonhurst was 68.9% white and 24% Asian. The white population is predominately Italian. A large portion of this consists of Russians as well. Out of the 24% of Bensonhurst that is Asian 20.9% of the total population is Chinese. The African American population of Bensonhurst is very small making up only .4% of the total population this is a very small figure when compared to Brooklyn as a whole, which has 35% of its overall population being African American.

Population Maps

These maps help show the difference between the Italian Russian and Chinese population in Bensonhurst in 2000. Each red dot on a map represents 10 people.