Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northeastern part of the
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
boroughNew York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is segmented into five boroughs. A borough is a unique form of government that administers the five fundamental constituent parts of the consolidated city...
of
BrooklynBrooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located southwest of Queens on the western tip of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area...
. It is bounded by
East WilliamsburgEast Williamsburg is a name for the area in the northwestern portion of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States, which lies between Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and Bushwick. Much of this area has been and still is referred to as either Bushwick, Williamsburg, or Greenpoint with the...
to the northwest,
Bed-StuyBedford-Stuyvesant is a neighborhood in the central portion of the New York City, USA, borough of Brooklyn. Formed in 1930, the neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 3, Brooklyn Community Board 8 and Brooklyn Community Board 16...
to the southwest, the
Cemetery of the EvergreensThe Cemetery of the Evergreens is a non-denominational cemetery in Brooklyn and Queens, New York, colloquially called Evergreen Cemetery. It was incorporated in 1849, not long after the passage of New York's Rural Cemetery Act spurred development of cemeteries outside Manhattan...
and other cemeteries to the southeast, and
Ridgewood, QueensRidgewood is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens, that borders the neighborhoods of Maspeth, Middle Village and Glendale, as well as the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick. Historically, the neighborhood straddled the Queens-Brooklyn boundary...
to the northeast. The neighborhood, formerly Brooklyn's 18th Ward, is now part of
Brooklyn Community Board 4Brooklyn Community Board 4 is a local governmental body in the New York City borough of Brooklyn that encompasses the neighborhood of Bushwick. It is delimited by Broadway on the west, Flushing Avenue on the north, the Queens Borough line and Vermont Avenue on the east, as well as by Highland...
. New York City Council Member
Diana ReynaDiana Reyna is currently the New York City Council Member who represents the 34th Council District, which includes Williamsburg and Bushwick as well as Ridgewood in Queens, USA. Council Member Reyna was born and raised in New York City...
represents this area. The neighborhood is served by the NYPD's 83rd Precinct.
People
Bushwick's population in 2007 was 129,980, 38.9% of that population was foreign born.
Though an ethnic neighborhood, Bushwick's population is relatively homogeneous, scoring a 0.5 on the Furman Center's racial diversity index, making it the City's 35th most diverse neighborhood in 2007. The neighborhood's median household income was $31,531, making it the 45th highest earning neighborhood in the City. 32% of the population falls under the poverty line, making Bushwick the 7th most impoverished neighborhood in New York City. 40.3% of students in Bushwick read at grade level, making it the 49th most literate neighborhood in the City in 2007. 58.2% of students do math at grade level in Bushwick, 41st best in the City. Bushwick experienced 0.0252 violent crimes per person in 2007, in line with the City's overall rate of 0.0250 violent crimes per person.
Housing
Bushwick's diverse housing stock includes six family apartment buildings and two- and three-family converted townhouses.
Vacant land fills 4.1% of Bushwick, making it the 21st emptiest neighborhood in the City. The median age of the housing stock is 76 years. Over 91% of housing units are within 400 meters of a park, and over 97% of housing units are within 800 meters of a subway.
About one-out-of-six rental units is subsidized, and greater than one-out-of-three units is rent regulated. Median rent in 2007 was $795, the 40th highest median rent in the city. 4% of renters live in in severely overcrowded conditions.
In 2007, the neighborhood had a 18.7% home ownership rate, though roughly 1 out of 20 owners of a 1-4 unit building received a notice of foreclosure.
Transportation
Major subway stops include,
Jefferson StreetJefferson Street is a station on the BMT Canarsie Line of the New York City Subway. Located in Brooklyn at the intersection of Jefferson Street and Wyckoff Avenue, it is served by the ' train at all times....
,
DeKalb AvenueDeKalb Avenue is a station on the BMT Canarsie Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Wyckoff and DeKalb Avenues in Brooklyn, it is served by the ' train at all times....
, Myrtle–Wyckoff Avenues and
Halsey StreetHalsey Street is a station on the BMT Canarsie Line of the New York City Subway. Located on the border of Queens at the intersection of Halsey Street and Wyckoff Avenue, it is served at all times by the ' train. The station has side platforms, with exits at Halsey Street and Covert Street. The exit...
on the
BMT Canarsie LineThe Canarsie Line is a rapid transit line of the BMT Division of the New York City Subway system, named after its terminus in the Canarsie neighborhood of Brooklyn...
,
Central AvenueCentral Avenue is a station on the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Its entrance is at Myrtle Avenue and Cedar Street, off of Central and DeKalb Avenues. The train serves the station at all times....
on the
BMT Myrtle Avenue LineThe Myrtle Avenue Line, also called the Myrtle Avenue El., is a fully elevated line of the New York City Subway, as part of the BMT division. The extant line is the final remnant of one of the original Brooklyn elevated railroads...
, and
Flushing AvFlushing Avenue is a station on the BMT Jamaica Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Flushing Avenue and Broadway in Brooklyn, it is served by the train at all times except rush hours and middays in the peak direction, and the train at all times except weekends and...
,
Myrtle AvenueMyrtle Avenue is a two-level elevated express station on the BMT Jamaica Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Myrtle Avenue and Broadway in Brooklyn, it is served by and trains at all times, and the train during rush hours...
,
Koscuisko StreetKosciuszko Street is a skip-stop station on the BMT Jamaica Line of the New York City Subway. It is served at all times by the train. The train bypasses this station...
,
Gates AvenueGates Avenue is a skip-stop station on the BMT Jamaica Line of the New York City Subway, located in Brooklyn. It is served by the train during rush hours and the train at all other times...
, and
Halsey StreetHalsey Street is a skip-stop station on the BMT Jamaica Line of the New York City Subway. It is served at all times by the train. The train bypasses this station...
on the
BMT Jamaica LineThe Jamaica Line is an elevated rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway, in Brooklyn and Queens, New York City, United States. It runs from the Williamsburg Bridge southeast over Broadway to East New York, Brooklyn, and then east over Fulton Street and Jamaica Avenue to...
and (Z). Bus lines serving Bushwick include the B15, B26, B38, B52, B54, and B60. The Myrtle Avenue/Wyckoff Avenue bus and subway hub was renovated into a state-of-the-art transportation center in 2007.
Four Villages
In 1638, the
Dutch West India CompanyDutch West India Company was a chartered company of Dutch merchants. Among its founding fathers was Willem Usselincx . On June 3, 1621, it was granted a charter for a trade monopoly in the West Indies by the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands and given jurisdiction over the African slave...
secured a deed from the local
LenapeThe "Lenape", pronounced IPA: , , or in English, means "the people." Sometimes the name is spelled Lenape or Lenapi. Also known as the Lenni Lenape, the "true people", or as the "Delaware Indians", they are organized bands of Native American peoples with shared cultural and linguistic...
people for the Bushwick area, and
Peter StuyvesantPeter Stuyvesant served as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664...
, chartered the area in 1661, naming it "
Boswijck," meaning "little town in the woods" or "Heavy Woods" in 17th Century Dutch. Its area included the modern day communities of Bushwick,
WilliamsburgWilliamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordering Greenpoint, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Bushwick. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 1. The neighborhood is served by the NYPD's 90th Precinct....
, and
GreenpointGreenpoint is the northernmost neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bordered on the southwest by Williamsburg at the Bushwick inlet, on the southeast by the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and East Williamsburg, on the north by Newtown Creek and Long Island City, Queens at the...
. Bushwick was the last of the original six
Dutch towns of BrooklynThe history of Brooklyn, a present-day borough of New York City, spans more than 350 years. The settlement began in the seventeenth century as the small Dutch-founded town of "Breuckelen" on the East River shore of Long Island, grew to be a sizable city in the nineteenth century, and, in 1898, was...
to be established within
New NetherlandNew Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the seventeenth-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
.
The community was settled, though unchartered, on February 16, 1660 on a plot of land between the Bushwick and Newtown Creeks by fourteen
FrenchFrench people can refer to:* The legal residents and citizens of France, regardless of ancestry. For a legal discussion, see French nationality law.* People whose ancestors lived in France or the area that later became France....
and
HuguenotThe Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Since the eighteenth century, Huguenots have been commonly designated "French Protestants", the title being suggested by their German co-religionists or "Calvinists"...
settlers, a
DutchThe Dutch people are the dominant ethnic group of the Netherlands.Dutch people, or descendants of Dutch people, are also found in migrant communities world wide, notably in Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and the United States....
translator named Peter Jan De Witt, and Franciscus the Negro, one of the original eleven slaves brought to New Netherland who had worked his way to freedom.. The group centered their settlement around a church located near today's Bushwick and Metropolitan Avenues. The major thoroughfare was Woodpoint road, which allowed farmers to bring their goods to the town dock. This original settlement came to be known as
Het Dorp by the Dutch, and, later, Bushwick Green by the British. The
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
would take over the six towns three years later and unite the towns under Kings County in 1683.
At the turn of the 19th century, Bushwick consisted of four villages, Green Point, Bushwick Shore, later to be known as Williamsburg, Bushwick Green, and Bushwick Crossroads, at the spot today's Bushwick Avenue turns southeast at Flushing Avenue..
Land annexation
Bushwick's first major expansion occurred after it annexed The New Lots of Bushwick, a hilly upland originally claimed by the
Native AmericansNative Americans in the United States is the phrase that describes indigenous peoples from North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of...
in the first treaties they signed with European
colonistsIn politics and in history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their...
providing the settlers rights to the lowland on the water. After the second war between the natives and the settlers broke out, the natives fled, leaving the area to be divided among the six towns in Kings County. Bushwick had the prime location to absorb their new tract of land in a contiguous fashion. New Bushwick Lane (Evergreen Ave), a former native American trail, was a key thoroughfare to access this new tract suitable mostly for
potatoThe potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species. Potatoes are the world's fourth largest food...
and
cabbageThe cabbage is a popular cultivar of the species Brassica oleracea Linne of the Family Brassicaceae , and is used as a leafy green vegetable...
agriculture. This area is bound roughly by Flushing Avenue to the north, and Evergreen Cemetery to the south.
In the 1850s, the New Lots of Bushwick area began to develop. References to the town of Bowronville, a new neighborhood contained within the area south of Lafayette Ave and Stanhope Street begin to appear dating to the 1850s.
Bushwick Shore and Williamsburgh
The area known as Bushwick Shore was so called for about 140 years. Bushwick residents called Bushwick Shore "the Strand," another term for "beach". Bushwick Creek, in the north, and Cripplebush, a region of thick,
bogA bog or mire is a wetland type that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—usually mosses, but also lichens in Arctic climates....
gy shrubland extending from Wallabout Creek to
Newtown CreekNewtown Creek, is a estuary that forms part of the border between the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, in New York City, New York, United States. It derives its name from New Town , which was the name for the Dutch and British settlement in what is now Elmhurst, Queens...
, in the south and east, cut Bushwick Shore from the other villages in Bushwick. Farmers and
gardenersGardening is the practice of growing ornamental or useful plants. Ornamental plants are normally grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance. Useful plants may be grown for consumption or for a variety of other purposes, such as medicines or dyes...
from the other Bushwick villages sent their goods to Bushwick Shore to be ferried to New York City for sale via a
marketFarmers
' markets, sometimes called greenmarkets, are markets, usually held out-of-doors, in public spaces, where farmers can sell produce to the public.-History:...
at present day Grand St. Bushwick Shore's favorable location close to New York City lead to the creation of several farming developments. Originally a development within Bushwick Shore, Williamsburgh rapidly expanded during the first half of the nineteenth century and eventually seceded from Bushwick to form its own independent city.
Early Industry
When Bushwick was founded, it was primarily an area for farming food and tobacco. As Brooklyn and New York City grew, factories that manufactured sugar, oil, and chemicals were built. The inventor
Peter CooperPeter Cooper was an American industrialist, inventor, philanthropist, and candidate for President of the United States.-Biography:...
built a
glueThis is a list of various types of glue. Historically, the term "glue" only referred to protein colloids prepared from animal flesh. The meaning has been extended to refer to any fluid adhesive....
manufacturing plant, his first factory, in Bushwick. Immigrants from
western EuropeWestern Europe is the collection of countries in the westernmost region of Europe, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a cultural entity—the region lying west of Central Europe...
joined the original Dutch settlers. The Bushwick Chemical Works, at Metropolitan Avenue and
Grand StreetGrand Street and Grand Avenue are the respective names of a street which runs through the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, New York City, United States...
on the English Kills channel, was another early industry among the lime, plaster, and brick works, coal yards, and other factories which developed along English Kills, which was dredged and made an important commercial waterway. In October, 1867, the American Institute awarded The Bushwick Chemical Works the first premium for commercial acids of greatest purity and strength. The Bushwick Glass Company, later to be known as Brookfield glass company established itself in 1869, when a local brewer sold it to James Brookfield. The Bushwick Glass Company made a variety both bottle and jars. Around the same time, in 1868, the
Long Island Rail RoadThe Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York that has been classified as a Class II railroad by the Surface Transportation Board. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, servicing around 81 million passengers each year, and...
built the Bushwick Branch from its hub in
JamaicaJamaica is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York, United States. It was settled under Dutch rule in 1656 in New Netherland as Rustdorp. Under British rule, the Village of Jamaica became the center of the Town of Jamaica...
via Maspeth to Bushwick Terminal at the intersection of Montrose and Bushwick Avenues, allowing easy movement of passengers, raw materials, and finished goods.
In the 1840s and 1850s, a majority of the immigrants were
GermanGerman Americans are Americans of German descent. They form the largest self-reported ancestry group in the United States, outnumbering the Irish and English. They account for 50 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population...
, which became the dominant population. Bushwick established a considerable
breweryA brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made in the home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....
industry, including "Brewer's Row": 14 breweries operating in a 14 block area by 1890. Thus, Bushwick was dubbed the "beer capital of the Northeast." The last Bushwick brewery closed its doors in 1976.
As late as 1883, Bushwick maintained open farming land east of Flushing Avenue.. In fact, a synergy developed between the brewers and the farmers during this period, as the dairy farmers collected spent grain and hops for cow feed. The dairy farmers sold the milk, and other dairy products, to consumers in Brooklyn. Both industries supported blacksmiths, wheelwrights, and feed stores along Flushing Avenue.
Streetcar Suburb
The first elevated railway in Brooklyn, known as the Lexington Avenue Elevated, opened in 1885. Its eastern terminus was at the edge of Bushwick, at
Gates Avenue and BroadwayGates Avenue is a skip-stop station on the BMT Jamaica Line of the New York City Subway, located in Brooklyn. It is served by the train during rush hours and the train at all other times...
. This line was extended southeastward into
East New YorkEast New York is a residential neighborhood located in eastern Brooklyn, a borough of New York City. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 5. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: Cypress Hills Cemetery to the north, the neighborhood of City Line to the...
shortly thereafter. By the end of 1889, the
Broadway ElevatedThe Jamaica Line is an elevated rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway, in Brooklyn and Queens, New York City, United States. It runs from the Williamsburg Bridge southeast over Broadway to East New York, Brooklyn, and then east over Fulton Street and Jamaica Avenue to...
and the
Myrtle Avenue ElevatedThe Myrtle Avenue Line, also called the Myrtle Avenue El., is a fully elevated line of the New York City Subway, as part of the BMT division. The extant line is the final remnant of one of the original Brooklyn elevated railroads...
were completed, enabling easier access to
Downtown BrooklynDowntown Brooklyn is the third largest central business district in New York City , and is located in the northwestern section of the borough of Brooklyn...
and
ManhattanManhattan is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located primarily on Manhattan Island at the mouth of the Hudson River.New York County, which has the same boundaries as the Borough of Manhattan , is the most densely populated county in the United States, with a 2008 population of 1,634,795...
and the rapid residential development of Bushwick from farmland.
With the success of the brewery industry and the presence of the Els, another wave of European immigrants settled in the neighborhood. Also, parts of Bushwick became affluent. Brewery owners and doctors commissioned mansions along Bushwick and Irving Avenues at the turn of the 20th century. New York mayor John Francis Hylan kept a townhouse on Bushwick Avenue during this period. Bushwick homes were designed in the Italianate, Neo Greco, Romanesque Revival, and Queen Anne styles by well known architects. Bushwick was a center of culture with several Vaudeville era playhouses, including the Amphion Theatre, the nation's first theatre with electric lighting. The wealth of the neighborhood peaked between
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
and
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, even when events such as
ProhibitionProhibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is a sumptuary law which prohibits alcohol. Typically, the manufacture, transportation, import, export, and sale of alcoholic beverages is restricted or illegal. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries...
and the Great Depression were taking place. After the WWI, the German enclave was steadily replaced by a significant proportion of
Italian AmericanAn Italian American is an American of Italian ancestry, and/or may also refer to someone possessing Italian/American dual citizenship. Italian Americans are the fourth largest European ethnic group in the United States.-History:...
. By 1950 Bushwick was one of Brooklyn's largest Italian American neighborhoods, although some German Americans remained.
1950s, 1960s, and 1970s: White flight and economic depression
Beginning in the mid 1950s and particularly in the 1960s, poor working class
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. In the United States, the terms are generally used for Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry...
and Puerto Rican migrants began to move into Bushwick.
http://www.upfromflames.com/uff_path/uff_path_demographic_changes.html Small apartment buildings were built to accommodate the incoming residents. The change in
demographicsDemographics or demographic data are selected population characteristics as used in government, marketing or opinion research, or the demographic profiles used in such research...
coincided with changes in the local economy. At the same time, locally rising energy costs, advances in transportation, and the invention of the steel can encouraged beer companies to move out of New York City. As the breweries closed, the neighborhood deteriorated along with much of
BrooklynBrooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located southwest of Queens on the western tip of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area...
and
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
. Racial discrimination stopped most investment as it changed from a mostly white community to an African-American and Hispanic community. Discussions of
urban renewalUrban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of reconstruction...
took place in the 1960s, but never materialized. In 1960 Bushwick was 70% white; by 1977 it was over 70% Black and Puerto Rican (Goodman 180). The U.S. Census records that it went from almost 90% white in 1960 to less than 40% in 1970.
http://www.upfromflames.com/uff_path/uff_path_demographic_changes.html A contributor to this drastic change was the Lindsay administration's policy of raising rent for welfare recipients, which encouraged Bushwick landlords to fill vacant units with such tenants, since they now brought higher rents than ordinary tenants would pay on the open market. By the mid-seventies, half of Bushwick’s residents were on public assistance. Another contributor to the drastic change was the practice of blockbusting which encouraged speculators to buy homes from Bushwick residents for an average of $8,000 apiece and then sell them to poor blacks and Puerto Ricans at the unaffordable average price of $20,000 per home, using fraudulent appraisals and a Great Society federal mortgage program that insured home loans to low-income buyers. Many defaulted, abandoning their homes and massively depressing local property values.
According to the
New York Times, "In a five-year period in the late 1960s and early 70's, the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn was transformed from a neatly maintained community of wood houses into what often approached a no man's land of abandoned buildings, empty lots, drugs and arson."
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE2DF1530F931A35751C0A960948260 One out of every 8 buildings was damaged or destroyed by fire every year from 1969 to 1977 (Goodman 122).
Blackout: Riots and Looting
On the night of July 13, 1977,
a major blackoutThe New York City Blackout of 1977 was an electricity blackout that affected most of New York City from July 13, 1977 to July 14, 1977. The only neighborhoods in New York City that were not affected were the Southern Queens neighborhoods of the Rockaways, which are part of the Long Island Lighting...
occurred in New York City.
ArsonArson is the crime of deliberately and maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires caused by lightning for example. The study of the causes is the subject of fire investigation...
,
lootingLooting , to rob, sacking, plundering, despoiling, or pillaging is the indiscriminate taking of goods by force as part of a military or political victory, or during a catastrophe or riot, such as during war, natural disaster, or rioting...
, and
vandalismVandalism is the behaviour attributed to the Vandals, by the Romans, in respect of culture: ruthless destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or venerable...
followed in low income neighborhoods across the city. Bushwick, however, saw some of the most devastating damages and losses. While local owners in the predominantly Puerto Rican Knickerbocker Avenue and Graham Avenue shopping districts were able to defend their stores with force, suburban owners with stores on the Broadway shopping district saw their shops looted and burned. Twenty-seven stores, some of which were of mixed use, along Broadway had burned (Goodman 104). Looters (and residents who bought from looters) saw the blackout as an opportunity to get what they otherwise could not afford. Fires spread to many residential buildings as well. After the riots were over and the fires were put out, residents saw "some streets that looked like
Brooklyn HeightsBrooklyn Heights is a neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn; originally designated through popular reference as 'Brooklyn Village', it has, since 1834, become a prominent area of the Brooklyn borough. As of 2000, the Brooklyn Heights sustained a population of 22,493 people. The...
, and others that looked like
DresdenDresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
in 1945" (Goodman 181): unsafe dwellings and empty lots among surviving buildings. Broadway business space had a 43% Vacancy rate in the wake of the riots.
Late 20th century: Blight and Poverty
Bushwick was left with a lack of both retail stores and housing. After the blackout, residents who could afford to leave abandoned the area. But new immigrants were coming into the area during the late 1960s and early 1970s, many of whom were from Puerto Rico, and more recently the
Dominican RepublicThe Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are occupied by two countries...
. However, apartment renovation and new construction did not keep pace with the demolition of unsafe buildings, forcing overcrowded conditions at first. As buildings came down, the vacant lots made parts of the neighborhood look and feel desolate, and more residents left. The neighborhood was a hotbed of poverty and crime through the 1980s. During this period, the Knickerbocker Ave shopping district was nicknamed "The Well" for its seemingly unending supply of drugs. In the 1990s, it remained a poor and relatively dangerous area, with 77 murders, 80 rapes, and 2,242 robberies in 1990.
2000s: Rebirth
Starting in the middle of the 2000s, the City and State of New York have been pouring many resources into the Bushwick neighborhood, primarily through a program called the
Bushwick Initiative. The Bushwick Initiative was a two-year pilot program spearheaded by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council (Ridgewood Bushwick), and the Office of Assemblyman Vito Lopez. The program goal is to improve the lives of Bushwick residents in the twenty-three square blocks surrounding Maria Hernandez Park through various housing and quality of life programs. The Bushwick Initiative aims to address deteriorated housing conditions, increase economic development opportunities, reduce drug dealing activities, and enhance the quality of life in the twenty-three square blocks surrounding Maria Hernandez Park.
Crime Reduction
One of the most critical pieces of the Bushwick Initiative is the strengthened relationship between HPD’s Narcotics Control Unit (NCU) and the New York City Police Department’s 83rd Precinct and Narcotics Division, who have joined together to reduce the extensive drug dealing operations within the target area.
Housing Improvement
In an effort to reduce lead hazards in buildings, HPD and DOHMH created a grant program focusing on residential buildings in the Bushwick Initiative target area. As a result of this outreach, 64 buildings received lead abatement work worth approximately $750,000. 150 buildings were referred to HPD’s Housing Litigation Division (HLD) for action. HLD brought cases to compel the owners of those buildings to correct outstanding violations; to obtain civil penalties for the owners’ failure to comply with the Housing Maintenance Code and the Multiple Dwelling Law where appropriate; and to compel those owners who had failed to register with HPD to do so. In addition,in situations where the owners had failed to correct emergency conditions, including lead paint hazards, and had denied HPD’s inspectors and contractors access to scope and complete the necessary work to remediate the conditions, the Housing Litigation Division obtained access warrants ordering the owners to allow HPD’s inspectors and contractors into the buildings to complete necessary emergency repairs.
Commercial Revitalization
Many of the Bushwick Initiative’s eff orts towards economic development are focused on revitalizing Knickerbocker Avenue, the primary commercial strip in the area. Ridgewood Bushwick spoke to business owners in the area about reviving the now-defunct Knickerbocker Avenue Merchant’s Association. Through this organization, Ridgewood Bushwick hopes to utilize SBS’s resources to increase economic opportunities for local business owners in the area.
Sanitation Improvement
In addition to DOHMH’s lead prevention work, the Bushwick Initiative has benefited from a series of public health programs addressing pest control, infant health, and fitness. DOHMH spent $25,000 purchasing 1,000 rodent-resistant trash cans, which were distributed to buildings with a high number of rodent complaints. Educational information in both English and Spanish concerning rodent control was distributed at the same time, and cans were plastered with the flyyers reading “CAN IT – Keep Rats Out of Your Community.”
Cheap Rents
The last half of the 20th century transformed Bushwick into a home for low-income renters in a primarily white-Hispanic, immigrant community. Ethnic groups common in the neighborhood are Puerto Ricans, Hondurans, Dominicans, Mexicans, Ecuadorians, African Americans, Haitians, Jamaicans, and Afro-Caribbean. There are also smaller number of Chinese, Koreans, Indo-Caribbeans (Guyana and Trinidad), Filipinos, Arabs. Since 2000, the rise of real estate prices in nearby Manhattan has made the neighborhood more attractive to younger professionals.
In the wake of lower crime rates citywide and a shortage of cheap housing in "hip" neighborhoods such as
WilliamsburgWilliamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordering Greenpoint, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Bushwick. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 1. The neighborhood is served by the NYPD's 90th Precinct....
, Greenpoint, and Gowanus, an influx of young professionals and artists moved into converted warehouse lofts, brownstones, limestone-brick townhouses and other renovated buildings. Bushwick's 83d Precinct has a similar crime rate to neighboring Williamsburg's 90th Precinct.
Parks and public land
Bushwick Pool & Park is a park located on Flushing and Bushwick avenues. The park which is administered by the
New York City Department of Parks and RecreationThe City of New York Department of Parks & Recreation is the department of government of the City of New York responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecological diversity of the city's natural areas, and furnishing recreational opportunities for city's...
has a free public pool (a large pool as well as a children's pool is available), basketball courts, a handball court and a children's playground. According to the NYC Parks Department Website the park was originally owned by the NYC Housing Authority from 1956 until 1983 when it was transferred to the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation
Bushwick Playground is a Park under the jurisdiction of NYC Department of Parks and is located at Knickerbocker Avenue and Putnam Avenue. Bushwick Playground park features basketball courts, sitting areas and a children's playground.
Bushwick Green Park, also known as "Green Central Noll Park" is a park located on Flushing Avenue and Central Avenue. According to the Parks department website, the park is located on the former site of the Rheingold beer brewery. New York City took ownership of the property after the beer company closed due to failure to pay taxes but it wasn't given to the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation until 1997. The park includes a baseball field, sitting areas and a children's playground.
Ridgewood/Bushwick Youth Center is a youth activity center administered by the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation located between Gates Avenue and Palmetto Street.
Memorial Gore Park is a granite monument located in a small park at the intersection where Bushwick Avenue, Metropolitan avenue and Maspeth Avenues meet in the Bushwick / Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. It is dedicated to the Bushwick residents who fought and died in the world war. The monument is owned and cared for by the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation.
Hope Gardens Multi Service Center is a building located on Wilson and Linden, it serves as an elderly bingo game building, an after school program for children grades kindergarten to fifth grade, a karate class host, and a summer day camp for the neighborhood children.
Public housing
Three
New York City Housing AuthorityThe New York City Housing Authority , created by urbanist Charles Abrams, provides housing for low and moderate income residents throughout the five boroughs of New York City. NYCHA also administers a citywide Section 8 Leased Housing Program in rental apartments. Many of its facilities are known...
(NYCHA) developments are located in Bushwick. They are mainly occupied by low-income families:
- Bushwick II CDA (Group E); five three-story buildings.
- Hope Gardens; four seven- and fourteen-story buildings.
- Palmetto Gardens; one six-story building.
Educational facilities
Bushwick has a robust educational infrastructure of thirty-three public and private, primary and secondary schools. This includes 14 public elementary schools, one
charter schoolCharter schools are elementary or secondary schools in the United States that receive public money but have been freed from some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other public schools in exchange for some type of accountability for producing certain results, which are set forth...
, four
parochial schoolParochial school is one term used to describe a school that engages in religious education in addition to conventional education. In a narrow sense, parochial schools are Christian grammar schools or high schools run by parishes, but this distinction is not universally made.-United Kingdom:In...
s, seven high schools, and one
secondary schoolSecondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of compulsory schooling, known as secondary education, takes place. It follows on from elementary or primary education....
.
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Public
- Achievement First Bushwick Charter School
- PS 45 Horace E Greene School
- PS 75 Mayda Cortiella School
- PS 86 Irvington School
- PS 106 Edward Everett Hale
- PS 116 Elizabeth L Farrell School
- PS 120 Carlos Tapia School
- PS 123 Suydam School
- PS 145 Andrew Jackson School
- PS 151 Lyndon B Johnson School
- PS 274 Kosciusko School
- PS 299 Thomas Warren Field School
- PS 376 Felisa Rincon De Gautier
- PS 377 Alejandina Benitez De Gautier
- PS 384 Frances E Carter School
Private/parochial
- Saint Brigid School
- Saint Elizabeth Seton School
- Saint Frances Cabrini School
- Saint Mark's Lutheran School
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Middle schools
- IS 291 Roland Hayes
- IS 347 School of Humanities
- IS 349 School for Math, Science and Tech
- JHS 162 Willoughby
- JHS 296 The Halsey
- JHS 383 Philippa Schuyler Junior High School
High schools
- Academy for Environmental Leadership
- Academy of Urban Planning
Academy of Urban Planning is a small high school located in Brooklyn, New York on the Bushwick High School Campus. Academy of Urban Planning shares a building with three other schools including Academy of Environmental Leadership, Bushwick School for Social Justice and New York Harbor School...
- Bushwick Community High School
- Bushwick School for Social Justice
The Bushwick School for Social Justice is a small public high school in Bushwick, Brooklyn, one of four schools currently occupying the Bushwick Campus. It was founded by Mark Rush, Matthew Ritter, and Matt Carvallo. It opened its doors in 2003, graduated its first class in 2007, and has received...
- Bushwick Leaders' HS for Academic Excellence
- EBC for Public Service-Bushwick
- New York Harbor High School
Notable residents
Notable current and former residents of Bushwick include:
- Tod "Tod A." Ashley
Tod Ashley is a musician better known by the stage name Tod A. He founded the rock music groups Cop Shoot Cop and Firewater, and is a singer-songwriter and bass guitarist ....
, musician.
- Da Beatminerz
Da Beatminerz are a hip-hop production crew from Bushwick - Brooklyn, New York, and are known for their dark, gritty sound that is very popular with the underground hip-hop scene.The crew, originally composed of brothers Mr...
, hip hop production team
- Ryan J. Davis
Ryan J. Davis is an American theater director, writer, political consultant and progressive activist. In 2006 his musical, White Noise, received good reviews and was featured on Good Morning America and ABC Primetime Live...
(born 1982), theater director and liberal activist
- D-Stroy
Antonio Flags was born and raised in Bushwick, Brooklyn.-Discography:* "Session"/"Halloween" Arsonists 12', "Fondle Em Records"* "Blaze"/"Geembo's Theme"/"FlashBack" Arsonists 12' "Fondle Em Records"...
, Arsonists (rap group)The Arsonists are an underground hip hop group. Their album, As the World Burns , reached #78 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and yielded the single "Pyromaniax", which went to #43 on Billboard's Hot Rap Singles chart.-History:...
- Jackie Gleason
Herbert Walton Gleason, Jr. , baptized as John Herbert "Jackie" Gleason, was an American comedian, actor and musician....
(1916-1987), actor.
- Rick Gonzalez
Rick Gonzalez is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the films Old School, Coach Carter, Biker Boyz, Pulse and Roll Bounce, and in the TV show Reaper.-Early life:...
(born 1979), actor.
- John Francis Hylan (1868-1936), Mayor of New York City
The Mayor of the City of New York is head of the executive branch of New York City's government. The Mayor's office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within New York City.The budget overseen by the...
.
- Julius La Rosa
Julius La Rosa is an American traditional popular music singer who has worked in both radio and television since the nineteen fifties.-Early years and big break:...
(born 1930), singer
- Henry Matyjewicz, artist and spokesperson for Poster Boy (street artist)
Poster Boy is an anonymous New York City based street artist whose only utensil is a razor. He is known for satiric collage-like works created by cutting out sections of the self-adhesive advertisement posters in the platforms of New York City subway stations, and pasting them back in different...
collective
- Kenneth McMillan
Kenneth McMillan was an American actor. Portly and ruddy-faced, with an often aggressive and cantankerous demeanor, McMillan was usually cast as gruff, hostile and unfriendly characters.-Personal life:...
(1932-1989), actor
- Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American actor, voice actor, film director, producer, comedian and singer. He is the second-highest grossing actor in motion picture history. He was a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1980 to 1984, and has worked as a stand-up comedian...
(born 1961), comedian, actor.
- Charlie Murphy
Charles Quinton "Charlie" Murphy is an American actor, comedian, and writer, best known for his role on the sketch-comedy series, Chappelle's Show. He is the older brother of actor and comedian Eddie Murphy. -Early life:...
(born 1959), Eddie Murphy's brother
- Harry Nilsson
Harry Edward Nilsson III was an American songwriter, singer, pianist, and guitarist who achieved the height of his fame during the 1960s and 1970s...
, singer/songwriter
- Jeannie Ortega
Jeannette Ortega is an American recording artist, actress, dancer, and songwriter.- Biography :Ortega was born in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York of Puerto Rican descent. While attending the Brooklyn High School of the Performing Arts, Ortega's song "Got What It Takes," placed on the soundtrack of...
, singer
- OC
Omar Credle , known by his stage name, O.C., is an American rapper who has been involved with several renowned underground hip-hop groups and also released many solo albums....
, rapper
- Rosie Perez
Rosa María "Rosie" Pérez is an American actress, dancer, choreographer, director, and community activist.-Early life:...
, actress
- Vincent Schiavelli
Vincent Andrew Schiavelli was an American character actor, noted for his work on stage, screen and television. He was often described as "the man with the sad eyes".-Early life:...
, actor/writer
- Connie Stevens
Connie Stevens is an American actress and singer.-On-Set:When Connie was with her pals in the making of "Saving Grace B Jones", she met a few people...
, actress
- Tony Touch
Tony Touch , also known as Tony Toca, is an American hip hop DJ, MC, rapper, B-boy and producer.-Discography:* 1995: 50 MCs, Vol. 1: Power Cypha* 1996: Guatauba ...
, rapper and DJ
- Rachel Trachtenburg
Rachel Sage Piña Trachtenburg is an American musician, singer, political and animal activist and actress from New York City. Trachtenburg is most notable for her key role as drummer and backup vocalist of the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, a family band consisting of herself and her...
, singer, musician and actress
- Mae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter, and sex symbol.Known for her bawdy double entendres, West made a name for herself in Vaudeville and on the stage in New York before moving to Hollywood to become a comedienne, actress and writer in the motion picture industry...
, actress
- Dondre Whitfield
Dondre T. Whitfield is an American television actor.-Career:Whitfield attended the Performing Arts High School in New York City, New York. He was featured on the sitcom The Cosby Show as Robert Foreman...
, actor
- Krystina Maola
- Emanuel Xavier
Emanuel Xavier , is an American poet, spoken word artist, author, editor, literary events curator, activist, and actor born and raised in the Bushwick area of Brooklyn...
, poet/actor
- André' Pierre Charles
André' the Charles born 1968 the artist known for his urban bugged eyed baby Brandon. His work made its first debut as graffiti on New York's subways and streets...
, graffiti artisthttp://acharlesny.com/aboutac/aboutac.htm
Sources
- Goodman, James, Blackout. North Point Press. New York, NY 2003 ISBN 0865476586
- Jackson, Kenneth T. and John B. Manbeck, The Neighborhoods of Brooklyn, 2nd ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004, 4448. ISBN 0300103107
External links
See also
- Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow (OBT)
Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow is a nonprofit located in Brooklyn, New York. OBT's mission is to educate, train, and support those who are at risk, helping them to acquire the personal and professional skills they need to achieve rewarding employment, self-sufficiency, and productive futures...