Few New Yorkers know Sunset Park was once 'Finntown,' home to thousands of Finnish immigrants whose Alku co-op buildings on 43rd Street — opened in 1916 — pioneered cooperative housing in America. This free hour unpacks that story steps from where it happened: the halls, the saunas, the socialist bakeries, the streets nicknamed in Finnish. For history nerds and co-op dwellers alike, it's the best kind of hyperlocal deep cut.
What to expect
An hour-long outdoor talk-and-stories session on the park's center lawn, likely with images and pointers to surviving Finntown landmarks you can walk past afterward. Casual, standing-or-lawn-seating format.
Good to know
- Sunset Park's center lawn crowns the hill at 6th Ave and 43rd St
- D/N/R to 36th St or R to 45th St, then walk uphill
- Free — no registration for open park history programs
- The Alku co-op buildings on 43rd St are a two-minute walk for after
- The lawn's harbor-and-skyline view is among Brooklyn's best
Planning Sep 12–13, 2026 in NYC?
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Common questions
What was Finntown?
Sunset Park's Finnish enclave of the early 1900s — thousands of immigrants who built cooperative housing (including America's first nonprofit co-ops), halls and saunas in the neighborhood.
Is anything from Finntown still standing?
Yes — most famously the Alku and Alku Toinen co-op buildings on 43rd Street, plus other co-ops the community built; the program points you to them.
