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Bay Ridge is Brooklyn’s bachelor pad

The Brooklyn Paper

If you’re looking for a man, Bay Ridge is a buyer’s market.

The neighborhood once famous for its swinging discos and vibrant party scene is also a veritable meat market of young eligible bachelors with one of the city’s highest ratios of single men to single ladies, according to a new study.

For each single woman between the ages of 20 and 34, there’s somewhere between 1.26 and 1.73 men vying for her attention, according to the number crunchers at the city’s Economic Development Corporation.

Those numbers are great for women, but for men, the highly competitive sausage party that is Bay Ridge nightlife means only the strong survive (and find a nice young lady to bring home to mom).

“It’s like Darwinism — you’re fighting two other guys just to get a girl,” said Mike Nelson, whose dating woes forced him to seek love on the distant shores of Staten Island. “It’s hard to date because it’s a fairly big neighborhood, but everybody knows each other. You’re hard pressed to date someone that your high school friend hasn’t already dated. You’re outnumbered three to one.”

When we stopped by the Third Avenue watering hole the Salty Dog on Saturday night, we found a crush of dudes fighting for the affection of a limited number of women.

“There’s too many guys around,” said Paul Browne, a 26-year-old math teacher who drives a Toyota Corolla. “They get in my way.”

Others said that they had actually given up on the Ridge, looking for love in all the wrong places — like in that other borough, Manhattan.

“This is not an area where a lot of new people can jump into dating,” said Kyle Campion, a 24-year-old financial analyst. “I tend to go out in the city instead where there’s more [single ladies] to choose from.”

The outlook is rosier for women, who say it’s easy to find the right guy — or three or four.

For Krystina Macca, a Bensonhurst speech pathologist who says she’s dating “a few people,” the biggest problem with Bay Ridge men is that they’re just too arrogant and aggressive.

“When guys are very cocky and into themselves that’s big turn off,” she said. “When you go into a bar in Bay Ridge, they kind of attack you. Their eyes are glued to you and they rush over to you to buy you drinks. It’s annoying.”

Macca says guys can stand out from the pack by just toning it down a little.

“[Just] be nice and sweet and genuine — sometimes it’s nice to just have a conversation with another person,” she said.

To win a Bay Ridge woman’s heart, suitors can avoid crowded spots like Trace Restaurant or Cebu Bar & Bistro, choosing quieter lounges like Delia’s on Third Avenue between 92nd and 93rd streets, or Fushimi on Third Avenue between 93rd and 94th streets, she suggested.

Times might be tough for Bay Ridge men, but it’s a different world just a few subway stations away. Single women outnumber single men in neighborhoods including Park Slope, Red Hook, Downtown, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights and Flatbush — and in Brownsville and East New York, the ratio is nearly inverted, according to Census data analyzed by the city.

Reach reporter Dan MacLeod at dmacleod@cnglocal.com or by calling him at (718) 260-4507. You can also follow his Tweets at twitter.com/dsmacleod.

Reader Feedback

Joey from Clinton Hills says:
Bay Ridge = "down low" capital of Brooklyn
Jan. 27, 10:42 am
UmadBro from wat says:
Bay Ridge = Inbreed Italian Irish morons
Jan. 27, 11:32 am
common sense from bay ridge says:
Bay Ridge is the perfect spot for single women that always wanted to date an actual mobster.
Jan. 27, 11:53 am
Bay Ridger from Bay Ridge says:
LOL... Joey. Doubt this crowd gets the DL reference. It's very true.
Jan. 27, 12:41 pm
Bay Ridger from Bay Ridge says:
P.S. I can't imagine single women hanging out at the Salty Dog unless they're looking for a trick. C'mon, you're kidding right??
Jan. 27, 12:45 pm
Brooklyn Don says:
I think they were just there to get drunk and watch tv.
Jan. 27, 1:41 pm
Aiden from Bay Ridge says:
The stats are worse than you think: many Bay Ridge women are looking for Bay Ridge women to date, too. (Lesbianism isn't reserved for Manhattan only.)

The worst part is that most Bay Ridge women are some of the most unattractive females in the city. They start to look like frumpy, overweight, middle-aged housewives when they're still in high school.

Maybe Joey is right: there are so many single men in Bay Ridge in time it'll become the Chelsea of Brooklyn.
Jan. 27, 2:32 pm
Moe from Bay Ridge says:
There are a lot of nice Muslim women, but you will find them in bookstores, not bars!
Jan. 27, 2:52 pm
Iate from Yourmom says:
who would date a guy from Bay Ridge. guiiiidoooo
Jan. 27, 3:24 pm
Tess from Bay Ridge says:
And all the Men are Girly Men with there earrings in both ears!!!!!! Looking to get
Jan. 27, 3:40 pm
Bay Ridger from Bay Ridge says:
I am definitely in favor of Bay Ridge becoming the Chelsea of Brooklyn. And we'll all be buff.
Jan. 27, 3:53 pm
Jack from Bay Ridge says:
It is true that this neighborhood is great for bachelors seeking other bachelors.
Jan. 29, 11:55 am
D$erpz from Dyker Heights says:
As a female I absolutely refuse to go anywhere in Bay Ridge. The guys are all low-life wanna be gangsters and fist pumping degenerate guidos looking to get laid. No thanks! I'd rather sit home and cut out my eye out with a rusty butter knife than to go out and deal with these uncivilized, classless neanderthals. If you want to meet a nice caliber of "gentlemen" I suggest you hang out in classy lounges in the city. Sure you'll run into some jerks but at least they'll be intelligent investment bakers or hedge fund guys with class and large bank accounts instead of the Brooklyn riff-raff who still live in their mom's basement.
Feb. 2, 2:58 pm
Hedge Fund Guy from Classy Lounge in NYC says:
Strange, D$erpz, that's how intelligent investment bankers and hedge fund guys who hang out in classy lounges in the city feel about women from Dyker Heights.
Feb. 3, 1:38 pm
Pat K from Bay Ridge says:
Yea seems there a lot of single immigrants here, a lot.
Feb. 5, 11:01 pm
Elene from Gunset says:
I am a beauty- single and easy. Viva Slovakia. 1 (646) 441-1668
Feb. 6, 8:23 pm
Coca Nostra from Yorkville, yes from says:
I think Elene rebuffed someone in the Salty Dog who got her number from her jealous friend. And she's really Czech, and that's just an extra jab.
Feb. 6, 10:40 pm
j from sheepshead says:
I used to live in bk and there are no "good single ladies" left because of these jersey shore wannabee spray tanned morons. Bay ridge is what people from staten island call home because theirs very little difference plenty of std's very little intelligence and very little hope this is where staten island parents use their "family money" to give their kids apartments to allow them to contract ghonorrea elsewhere... Happy hunting on both sides
Feb. 12, 12:04 pm
nan from bay ridge says:
I've lived here my entire life and I refuse to go out in any of these bars. None of the people who occupy them have the intelligence level that surpasses the seventh grade. They stand on a corner in front of "kettle" watching the time pass. Pure inbred typical neighborhood kids. Morons. Blue collar and below. Not for anyone with a masters or even bachelors level of education. Their vernacular is appalling and choice in attire gives you the shivers. It is unfortunate that I even know these human beings. God shouldn't have wasted human tissue and brain cells on these creatures of the night but planted a tree instead.
Feb. 13, 9:58 am

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