Sea Gate Association

I live in Sea Gate for more than 25 years. The previous review is too harsh. Let’s start with negative. Bad neighbors happen anywhere. The houses are sitting rather close together. Mandated 5 to 8 ft distance between adjacent houses is common. There are a lot of town houses where the neighbor is only party wall away. There are 2-​family or multifamily houses where neighbors are 12″ inches of ceiling or floor away. Sorry, but this is Brooklyn, not Hamptons. There are avenues that are hub of local traffic, where cars move regularly. A good thing is that these avenues service only us. Even if you live on one, there is a good chance that your bedroom is in the rear of the house facing your backyard.
Let’s go to neutral things.
Our community is highly integrated. We appreciate and welcome this. It is typical slice of Brooklyn that is concentrated within the Gates. All colors, all religious denominations are here. There is some emphasis on Jewish Orthodox community. You do not want to be close, go somewhere else. High Holidays are somewhat noisy but if you do not like Brooklyn, move somewhere else.
The community is not as safe as it was earlier. Demographic pressure from outside (tough neighborhood outside the gate) and growing up youngsters inside make the difference. But we are community. When homeowners are a majority of population, rowdy parties meet unwelcome attention. We have and pay for our own police. They come within minutes. They know personally everybody, and we know them. A lot of our people work in law enforcement. A lot of them are Jewish Orthodox people. When there was an intrusion of a burglar on our street a few years ago, I was surprised, how many people were involved in law enforcement effort. The guy was apprehended within minutes in a backyard. Another couple — male and female — looked around one night and they were noticed in backyards on our street. We have quickly found out that they are strangers, and police officers have taken them away.
Real estate is old. If you buy a house, you will have to gut renovate it or pay a premium for freshly renovated one. I think that real estate is still undervalued here.
Let’s go to good things.
Private beach with security. It is not perfect. Army Corps of Engineers does major beach renovation. So we have to use small (about 150′ wide) strip of beach for swimming. There are stones on the bottom. But the beach itself is huge. There is safety guard, obviously. The beach is not free — $ 40/​owner, somewhat more expensive for renters. A lot of people go outside but I like to go to the beach in my swimsuit, dive, and get back home.
You have country privacy inside the city (with some limitations, see above). You can walk at all hours in safety INSIDE the gate. If you do not drive and rely on public transportation, then there is a bus to Manhattan. Subway is minutes away in a local bus, car service of 3 different kinds (green, gypsy, and car service).
Schools. If you have a bright kid, then local school has special program and there is a local magnet junior high school. If your kid cannot compete, then I do not know.
Food. Key Food just outside the gate. Local market within a few blocks from the gate. You can get fruit and vegetable products within close neighborhoods but not within the Gate. There is a spa and restaurant that is part of the gate but we have locked the inside door from community to this spa for safety. You have to walk outside to get there.
Summary: this is the best neighborhood in Brooklyn for one who is rather private and likes the beach, and who can pay our dues.

My husband and I moved into this neighborhood last summer. We were insanely excited to be moving into what seemed to be such a pretty, clean neighborhood at the southern edge of Coney Island. Not to mention the excitement of being literally 1 block from a private, pretty beach had me boiling over with anticipation.
That excitement faded faster than a $ 5 in a crackheads hand.
Upon moving into our new place we were met with the worlds trashiest neighbors. I mean the type who scream and fight all night long and expose the entire block to their dysfunctional crap. The type who literally toss their garbage off of their balconies into the abandoned yard next door, which is also a haven for an entire family of raccoons that the association will do NOTHING about. I mean what do the owners pay dues for? Our mail is stolen constantly and I was informed by the Sea Gate Police that they can do nothing about it. There is dog shit EVERYWHERE in the streets as people do not clean up after their dogs and nothing is enforced. A lot of the properties are dilapidated and and uncared for, bringing down the property value in all surrounding homes. I could go on and on and on, but I won’t.
What I will tell you this is… visit in the summer. Go to the Beach Club (and pay out the ass for a membership) and then do yourself a favor and go home. Living in this place is no different than living in Coney Island. It is JUST as ghetto, the only difference is it’s more expensive and for no good reason.
This is the most miserable I have ever been in a neighborhood in my life. We will be moving the second we can and not a moment later.