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Bay Ridge’s Doctors’ Row gets historic district protections

Doctors' Row in Bay Ridge has been largely unchanged for more than a century, according to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Doctors’ Row in Bay Ridge has been largely unchanged for more than a century, according to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Photo Credit: Gregg Richards/Brooklyn Public Library

Vital signs are positive for Bay Ridge’s Doctors’ Row, now that the area is landmarked. 

The city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission voted Tuesday to designate the section of Bay Ridge known as Doctors’ Row, and protect its turn of the 20th-century look for future generations.

The district includes 54 houses on Bay Ridge Parkway between Fourth and Fifth avenues that were built between 1906 and 1913, according to the LPC. The two-story houses were popular among the medical professionals moving into Brooklyn at the time, many of whom opened doctors’ offices in the basements.

For more than 100 years, the houses — constructed by one builder — have embodied the Renaissance Revival style, according to LPC chair Sarah Carroll. 

"The historic district stands out in the neighborhood because of the high architectural quality of the limestone-fronted buildings in combination with the parkway’s boulevard feeling, and for its significant association with the historical development of the area, notably as a ‘doctor’s row,’" Carroll said in a statement.

This marks the first time the government opted to landmark a location in Bay Ridge, according to LPC. Any modification to designated properties in the landmarked district must be approved by the commission.

The LPC also announced Tuesday that it will hold a hearing to consider landmarking five manufacturing buildings in Gowanus, including the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company Central Power Station Engine House at 153 Second St.