What's Killing Sheepshead Bay?

A frequent refrain we hear from those who hop the train to Williamsburg and the Lower East Side is that Sheepshead Bay is a “dead” neighborhood. Wrong as they be when it comes to the growing nightlife and local economy, they may have an unfortunate and unintentional point.

According to a recent article on YourNabe.com, Sheepshead Bay has the highest death toll of all communities in Brooklyn, leading the borough with a staggering 1,292 in 2008. Only Bensonhurst came close to being as morbid with 1,289. Borough Park, Coney Island, Canarsie, Bed Stuy and East New York are the only other communities to even break the 1,000 mark.

The most concentrated of all causes? Heart disease. Already the #1 killer of women and one of the top threats to your mortality regardless of gender or locale, Sheepshead Bay’s heart disease rate is, well, heartbreaking.

February is American Heart Month, so here’s urging you to step away from the computer and take your health into your own hands. Check out these five tips for preventing heart disease from the Mayo Clinic.

And for the truly lazy, walk to your local pharmacy and re-up on those Lipitor scripts, and try to resist the big, shiny Russell Stover boxes.

Unless they’re dark chocolate.