Bridgeport

Understand

Bridgeport is a victim of deindustrialization that has been trying to reinvent itself. After European settlement around 1639 by Roger Ludlow and the English Connecticut Colony and incorporation in 1821, it took off as a manufacturing mecca by the 19th and early 20th centuries, with iron foundries and companies churning out sewing machines, automobiles, ammunition, and numerous other products. The famed showman PT Barnum was mayor here during the time of the Civil War.

Since about the 1960s, as industrialization declined and restructured, Bridgeport saw a decline with an accompanying increase in crime. It has attempted to renew itself with service and financial sectors of commerce, and can boast gastronomic exuberance due to all of the various ethnicities that have migrated here.

• Bridgeport tourism information

Get in

By plane

For commercial flights, there are several airports within a 2 hours drive:

• Tweed-New Haven Regional Airport is a very small airport in New Haven, offering flights from Philadelphia. It is 40 minutes away.
• Westchester County Airport is an airport in Westchester County, New York, offering flights nationwide. It is 50 minutes away
• LaGuardia Airport is a major airport in Queens, offering flights worldwide. It is 70 minutes away.
• JFK International Airport is a major airport in Queens, offering flights worldwide. It is 80 minutes away.
• Newark Airport is a major airport in Newark, NJ, offering flights worldwide. It is 90 minutes away
• Stewart International Airport is an airport in Newburgh, NY. It is 100 minutes away.

By train

• Train operators:

• Routes stopping at Bridgeport:

• Northeast Regional is Amtrak's busiest regional service, connecting Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and the many towns and cities in-between. Toward the east end of the route, some trips terminate at Springfield instead of Boston. Some services also continue south into Virginia towards Newport News, Roanoke and Norfolk on three separate branch routes from Alexandria. This is also Amtrak's most frequent service, with multiple daily departures, and the longest trip takes 12.5 hours.
• Vermonter operates daily between St. Albans and Washington, D.C. including stops in Essex Junction, Waterbury, Montpelier, White River Junction, Claremont, Bellows Falls, Brattleboro, Greenfield, Northampton, Holyoke, Springfield, Windsor Locks, Hartford, Meriden, New Haven, Bridgeport, Stamford, New York City, Newark, Trenton, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore, and New Carrollton.
• Metro-North

By bus

Greyhound provides intercity bus service to Bridgeport.

By car

• I-95 goes through Bridgeport.

By ferry

The Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Ferry runs approximately every hour between Bridgeport and Port Jefferson, New York, on Long Island.

Stay safe

In the late 1980s and early 90s, Bridgeport had a notable crime rate. The Gangster Disciples, Latin Kings, and drug dealers from New York all battled for control of the city's many housing projects, places like Father Panik Village, Pequonnock village, Marina Village and the PT Barnum Housing Projects. Today, for the tourist staying for a few days or weeks, Bridgeport's bark is bigger than its bite. The main attractions for tourists like the Harboryard and the PT Barnum Museum are in areas that are not to be considered high crime. Traveling to the East Side or East End is considered to be the Spanish harlem of the city, as that is where all the Spanish restaurants and shops are located along with a strong Catholic religious background indicative of the churches located within this area as well.