BCF Report: Southern Brooklyn is still smoking
Rates of cigarette smoking and binge drinking are higher in parts of southwest Brooklyn than in the rest of the borough, according to a comprehensive report by the Brooklyn Community Foundation (BCF), though the incidence of both has gone down since 2002.
According to the data made available by BCF for the Bensonhurst/Bay Ridge United Hospital Fund Neighborhood – whose borders are 70th Street to the north, Avenue Z to the east and Gravesend Bay to the south and west 19.4 percent of residents smoked cigarettes in 2009, compared to 16.5 percent borough-wide. In 2002, 23.9 percent of residents said they smoked.
When it comes to binge drinking, stats have slightly improved also. In 2002, 13.4 percent of residents participated in binge drinking. That number was reduced to 10.4 percent in 2009, compared to 12.3 percent borough-wide.