Day: March 3, 2025

The Norwegian Christian Home was filled with festive cheer on Saturday as locals came together for a fundraiser benefiting the upcoming Norwegian Day Parade.

The celebration featured delicious food, lively music and a shared sense of community as residents — of Norwegian descent and not — gathered to support the longstanding cultural event.

Former Brooklyn politico Marty Golden thanked the neighborhood’s Norwegians for helping to lay the foundations of Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, and beyond.

“The Norwegians, many came in, many, many years ago,” Golden told Brooklyn Paper. “They helped build our schools, our churches, our hospitals, our homes. We’ve all come here — my parents came from Ireland, we all came from some place.”

The Norwegians, he said, came and made a mark on southern Brooklyn.

“What you’ve done for our city and our state, from [founding] the Norwegian Christian Home in Dyker Heights to to Lutheran Medical Center [now NYU-Langone Hospital-Brooklyn], what you guys have been able to accomplish, all I can say is, ‘Thank you,'” the former state senator told the crowd.

Among others, Golden thanked longtime parade organizer Arlene Rutuelo and George Jensen of the Norwegian Christian Home for their unwavering support of the annual march, which commemorates the signing of the Norwegian Constitution on May 17, 1814, and honors the Nordic heritage of Bay Ridge.

Formally known as the 17th of May (Syttende Mai) Parade, the march takes place each year, rain or shine, on the closest Sunday to the historic date, excluding Mother’s Day. It is organized by the Scandinavian East Coast Museum.

Bay Ridge was once home to one of the largest Norwegian communities in the United States. By the early 1900s, the area, along with nearby Sunset Park, had a well-established Norwegian enclave. While the Norwegian population in Bay Ridge has declined over the decades, the parade remains a beloved tradition, celebrating the neighborhood’s Scandinavian roots.

Guests at the March 1 pre-parade fundraiser enjoyed an afternoon of entertainment, with music provided by Elen Lindstrom, also known as the “Swedish Meatball.”

The 71st Annual Norwegian Day Parade is scheduled for Sunday, May 18. The procession, which kicks off at 1:30 p.m., follows a route down Third Avenue, beginning at 85th Street, turning up Fifth Avenue, and continuing to 67th Street, passing Leif Ericson Park before finishing between Sixth and Seventh Avenues.

Participants, many of whom don traditional Norwegian bunads, will march alongside floats showcasing Viking ships and scenes from Norwegian history.

For more information on the parade, visit 17thofmayparadecommittee-brooklyn.org.

Additional reporting by Arthur de Gaeta

NYC crime rates fell again in February as city and state officials continue initiatives aimed at maintaining law and order in the streets, subways and beyond, according to the latest data from the NYPD. 

Overall, major crimes, including murder, robbery, assault, burglary, grand larceny, and grand larceny auto (car theft), are down 14.5% across the five boroughs for the third month in a row.

Major highlights from the data last month include subway crime incidents being down 15.1% (135 vs. 159), and shootings down a whopping 20.8% compared to the same month last year (42 vs. 53).

Delving deeper into the shooting stats, there have been 93 shooting incidents year-to-date, representing the fewest number of shooting incidents in January and February since 1993, the data showed.

The downward trend of subway crime occurred throughout the first two months of the year, even as more New Yorkers hopped onto trains after the start of congestion pricing in Manhattan on Jan. 5. 

The drop also comes after state and city officials deployed hundreds of more uniformed police officers to patrol the trains and platforms toward the end of 2024 continuing well into this year. 

Police have also confiscated more than 20,500 illegal firearms since 2022, including more than 900 so far this year, the department reported.

“Whether on the streets or below ground on the subway, New Yorkers are seeing real results,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. “We’re going to continue to make our city safer by listening to our communities, analyzing real-time data, and deploying our resources where they are needed most.”

Robbery saw the most significant decline, down 25.2% (933 vs. 1,248). Grand larceny dropped by 17% (3,081 vs. 3,712), while auto theft decreased by 12.7% (839 vs. 961). Felony assault and burglary also fell, by 6% and 14.7%, respectively.

According to the NYPD, the crime improvements are due to “zone-based” policing, or the deployment of officers to hot-spot locations experiencing spikes in crime, and the three-part subway safety plan that was implemented in January.

“In the first two months of 2025, New York City experienced the fewest number of shooting incidents in the past 30 years, and that, combined with the third consecutive month of double-digit declines in nearly every major crime category, proves that our comprehensive crime-fighting strategies are working,” Tisch said. 

Crime in NYC Housing Authority developments declined 13%, with fewer victims last month compared to February 2024 (400 vs. 460). However, hate crimes being investigated increased by 71% last month compared to the same period in 2024 (41 vs. 24). 

Rape continues to increase 

Rape is the only major index crime that continues to increase, as it sees a nearly 22% increase from February 2024 to the same month this year. However, an NYPD press release notes that the crime is down from January 2025, with nine fewer reported incidents. Additionally, some of these cases took place in 2025, while others were from prior years, the NYPD reported. 

The press release also explained that the increase in rape is partly due to changes in the law.

“The rise in reported incidents is partly attributed to legislative changes broadening the legal definition of rape in New York State, which now includes additional forms of sexual assault,” the press release states.  “Many reported cases involved individuals known to each other.”

Per the NYPD, Rape continues to be underreported. If you are a survivor of sexual assault, please come forward. The 24-hour NYPD Special Victims Division hotline is: 212-267-RAPE (7273).