New block on the block

March 3, 2007

By Matthew Lysiak
The Brooklyn Paper

The likely designation of Ovington Avenue, between Ridge and Third, to the National Register of Historic Places will make it Bay Ridge’s second historic district, joining Senator Street between Third and Fourth Avenues, which was designated in 2003.

And that sets up the inevitable debate: which block is Bay Ridge’s most distinguished?

It depends on what you want: quality or quantity?

“Senator Street is the only street in Bay Ridge with brownstones on both sides,” Eric Rouda, president of Senator Street’s 300 Block Association, said at a Community Board 10 meeting last year.

The distinction of being the only block in Bay Ridge with brownstones on both sides is one thing, but then again, Ovington has one distinction that not only sets it apart from the rest of Bay Ridge, but quite possibly all of New York.

“Ovington Avenue has a row of double-width brownstones, which I don’t think exists anywhere else in the city,” said Victoria Hofmo, founder of the Bay Ridge Conservancy. “Not even on Senator Street.”

Me-ow!

Ovington Avenue will have to wait until at least April, when the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation’s review board considers the application to add it to the state register of historic places. National accredation could follow.

Choosing between two elegant blocks of Bay Ridge brownstones is akin to making a father choose his favorite child, Hofmo suggested.

“They are both so beautiful it would be hard to choose just one,” Hofmo said. “The irony of it all is that [historians believe that] both blocks were created by the same architect.”

One father, two equally gorgeous children, eh?