White Sands, Brooklyn

White Sands is a tiny and obscure neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, located between Coney Island and Bath Beach. It is located in the area of the modern Brooklyn Community Board 13, however most of the former neighborhood no longer exists due to redevelopment.Duffy, Peter. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9904EEDE1131F933A25753C1A96F958260&scp=8&sq=White%20Sands&st=cse] , "The New York Times", October 10, 1999. Accessed June 24, 2008. - New York Times article on the history and redevelopment of White Sands.] Walsh, Kevin. [http://www.forgotten-ny.com/STREET%20SCENES/whitesands/whitsand.html] , "Forgotten NY". Accessed June 24, 2008. - Forgotten NY article about White Sands.]

Geography

White Sands is located on the north shore of Coney Island Creek between the neighborhoods of Coney Island and Bath Beach. It is separated from Bath Beach by the Belt Parkway. Dreier-Offerman Park is located to the west of the neighborhood. Originally, White Sands consisted of a collection of short, dead-end streets with no through-routes within the neighborhood. Currently, the neighborhood has been reduced to only two blocks of residential properties.

History

White Sands' namesake is derived from the white sand which used to cover the shore and the mouth of Coney Island Creek. The first houses to be built in the neighborhood were bungalows that were raised on stilts above the sand. As development slowly progressed, much of the sand was removed, and replaced with landfill. In 1993, The Home Depot became interested in White Sands as the location for a new store, due to its preferable location near Cropsey Avenue and the Belt Parkway. Residents were approached, and by the year 2000 The Home Depot had acquired almost two thirds of the properties in White Sands. By 2002, the acquired properties had been razed and replaced by a new Home Depot location.

References

External Links

* [http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/THDStoreFinder?storeId=10051&URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.homedepot.com%2Fwebapp%2Fwcs%2Fstores%2Fservlet%2FHomePageView%3FstoreId%3D10051%26catalogId%3D10053%26langId%3D-1&errorViewName=StoreFinderView&headerStoreFinder=&List=List&catalogId=10053&zip=&distance_1=10&city=New+York&state_1=NY&distance_2=10&store=1256] - Home Depot store finder: White Sands, or "Cropsey" location