Bushwick, Brooklyn
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History
Bushwick is a neighborhood in the borough of Brooklyn, New York, USA. Founded in 1661 by Dutch Director-General Peter Stuyvesant as Boswijck, (Dutch for "little town in the woods"), it is the site of some of the earliest settlements in Brooklyn. Bushwick officially became a part of Brooklyn in 1854. [link title]
The first El reached Bushwick in 1885 [link]. This el ran from York Street in in Downtown Brooklyn through Bed-Stuy to Gates Avenue where it turned Southeast on Broadway to Broadway Junction (BMT Jamaica Line). In [1888] and [1889] the remaning portion of Broadway El and the Myrtle Ave were completed, leaving Bushwick with transportation recreated today by the JZ and M trains.
At the turn of the centery, Bushwick had a considerable brewery industry. In fact, some had called Bushwick "The Beer capital of the Northeast" [link] with 14 breweries in a 14 block area by 1890.
Affluence abounded in Bushwick after the creation of the Els with many mansions being erected by brewery owners and doctors along Bushwick and Irving Avenue. [link]. This affluence is reflected in the superior nature of its remaining original housing stock. The neighborhood hit a peak in the time between World War I and World War II as the German enclave was replaced by Italian immigrants.
After World War II the neighborhood was subject to significant white flight as Italians moved to Long Island (Goodman 180) and Puerto Ricans and African Americans moved into the Northwest and Southeast sections of the neighborhood.
Urban Decay
By 1965, the last Brewery had closed. The neighboorhood declined along with much of Brooklyn and New York City, at this time even the Upper West Side was in need of urban renewal. In 1960 Bushwick was 70% white, by 1977 it was over 70% Black and Puerto Rican (Goodman 180). 1 out of every 8 buildings burned every year fom 1969 to 1977 (Goddman 122). That renewal never came, and, in 1977, the lights went out in New York City. Absentee, suburban, owners with stores on the Broadway shopping district saw their shops looted and burned, whereas local owners in the predominantely Puerto-Rican Knickerbocker Av and Graham Av shopping districts were able to defend their stores with force. Twenty-seven stores along Broadway had burned (Goodman 104). Owner of Al-Berts store summed up the motivation for the looting with the quote, "Window shoppers finally got the chance to fulfill their desires and not just live with the bare neccessities" (Goodman 121). After the riots were over, residets saw "some streets that looked like Brooklyn Heights, and others that looked like Dresden in 1945" (Goodman 181).
After the riots, those who could afford to leave left. And the neighborhood was a hotbed of poverty and crime though the 80's and 90's, and continues to remain a poor and comparatively dangerous area.
Gentrification
Beginning in the first half of the 2000s real artists priced out of neighbooring Williamsburg, Brooklyn moved to lofts east of Bushwick Av. and north of Flushing Av. In this area, art spaces, vintage stores, organic markets, and music venues are more common than bodegas in this area served by the Montrose and Morgan Av stops of the BMT Canarsie Line. This area is well on its way to becoming yet another high rent district. Its various lofts contain an indoor skate parks, yoga studio, archives, a film library and coffee shop, hosting screenings, chats, and occasional music. [link]
The adventerous sort can cross Flushing Av stroll down Knickerbocker Avenue, the main shopping drag, and take the sights in at Maria Hernandez Park, or continue through this shopping district, filled with yellow brick buildings that only seem to have their ground floor occupied. After crossing under the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line, the housing stock improves dramatically. The neighborhood's character becomes less like Williamsburg and more similiar to that of neighboring Bed-Stuy and Brownsville, Brooklyn once crossing Gates Ave.
Fine shopping can be done on Knickerbocker Avenue, whether for clothes, appliances, or food.
Major subway stops include Jefferson Street, DeKalb Avenue, and Myrtle–Wyckoff Avenues on the BMT Canarsie Line (L), Central Avenue on the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line (M), and Koscuisko Street of the BMT Jamaica Line (J). Bus lines serving Bushwick include the B38, B13, B26, B52, B54 and B60. The Myrtle Avenue/Wyckoff Avenue bus and subway hub is currently being renovated into a state-of-the-art transportation center, expected to be completed in 2007.
Notable Bushwick residents/former residents
- Eddie Murphy, Comedian and Actor
- Tod "Tod A." Ashley, musician
- Bushwick Bill, entertainer
- Rick Gonzalez, actor
- Julius La Rosa, singer
- Rosie Perez, actress
- Eric West, actor and singer
- Mae West, actress
- Pastor Bill Wilson, pastor America's largest Sunday School
- Harry Nilsson, singer/songwriter
- Connie Stevens, actress
See also
Ridgewood, Queens, which has an interconnected history with Bushwick
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[Bushwiki]
James Goodwin. Blackout. North Point Press. New York, NY 2003 ISBN 0-86547-658-6
http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0550,lagorio,70798,15.html
http://www.geocities.com/cb4brooklyn/rapiddevelopment.htm
http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/hpd/html/about/bushwick-walking-tour.shtml
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