A major part of the spring season at Bergen Beach fields belongs to the minor, aged five to six, and major, aged seven and older, divisions of baseball. Minor league baseball at Bergen Beach fields offers four teams, an awards ceremony, and picture day for the kids on the teams. The major league division of baseball for the BBYO offers six teams that enter into playoffs and a world series, as well as a picture day for the players. The New York Pony Softball B League offers teams at Bergen Beach fields as an instructional league of under-hand pitching and modified rules for aged ten years and younger. Two additional leagues of softball are offered for youth up to age 18. Though the Bergen Beach Youth Organization generates its own teams of baseball, many neighborhood high schools can be found on the fields for practice and games of softball and baseball throughout the season.
In addition to providing Bergen Beach with sports activities and teams close to home, the BBYO offers after-school programs in homework help, arts & crafts, drama, dance, movies, trips, recreational activates and community service opportunities. They offer summer day programs as well as senior citizen services. Annually, BBYO celebrates the seasons with a harvest festival and holiday tree lighting, providing both culture and activity to one of Brooklyn's smaller neighborhoods.
The Bergen Beach Youth Organization is at 2335 Bergen Ave., 718- 531-6600 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . The website is www.bbyosports.com.
Adults may not pay too much attention to it, but kids know all about the Bergen Beach Playground, bordered by Aves. T and N and East 71st and East 72nd streets. The site was infused with $121,000 in city money eight years ago for new safety surfacing, work on the guardrails and fences, and general upgrades.
The popular playground features cheerful, multi-colored play equipment, tot swings, basketball and handball courts, and more.
It’s fitting that Bergen Beach has a pleasant recreational area. In the earlier days of New York City, Bergen Beach – originally Bergen Island until a landfill connected it to the mainland in 1918 – was designed as a resort destination, complete with an amusement park, roller rink, a vaudeville theater, and even a casino.
But Bergen Beach couldn’t hold a lantern to nearby Coney Island, and the resort area shut down in 1920. In 1925, Manhattan developers planned to develop Bergen Beach into a combined residential-amusement area, with bathing facilities and new amusements (sound familiar, Coney Island?). But even with a $2 million investment – quite a tidy sum in 1925 – the project never took hold.
