Bushwick, Brooklyn
Encyclopedia
Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City
borough
of Brooklyn
. The neighborhood, formerly Brooklyn's 18th Ward, is now part of Brooklyn Community Board 4
. It is served by the NYPD's 83rd Precinct and is represented in the New York City Council as part of Districts 34 and 37.
Bushwick is bound by Williamsburg
to the west, East New York to the east, Bed-Stuy
and Brownsville
to the south, and Ridgewood, Queens
to the north. It is served by Postal Service zip codes 11207, 11221 and 11237. Bushwick was once an independent town and has undergone various territorial changes throughout its history.
Median rent in 2007 was $795, the 40th highest median rent in the city. About one out of six rental units is subsidized, and greater than one out of three units is rent regulated. 4% of renters live in severely overcrowded conditions. Vacant land fills 4.1% of Bushwick, rating it the 21st most vacant neighborhood in the city.
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.
s from the Caribbean
island of Puerto Rico
and from the Dominican Republic
but more recent years have seen an increase in native-born Americans as well as other Latino groups. In 2008 the neighborhood's median household income was $28,802. 32% of the population falls under the poverty line, making Bushwick the 7th most impoverished neighborhood in New York City. Over 75% of children in the neighborhood are born in poverty. Only 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 in the city. In 2007, Bushwick averaged with 25 felonies per 1000 persons, the 25th, out of 55, most felonious community district in the city.
Bushwick is the largest hub of Brooklyn's Hispanic-American community. Like other neighborhoods in New York City, Bushwick's Hispanic population is mainly Puerto Rican and Dominican with a sizable South American population as well. As nearly 80% of Bushwick's population is Hispanic, residents have created many businesses to support their various national and distinct traditions in food and other items. The neighborhood's major commercial streets are Knickerbocker Avenue, Myrtle Avenue, Wyckoff Avenue, and Broadway
.
secured a deed from the local Lenape
people for the Bushwick area, and Peter Stuyvesant
, 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, Williamsburg
, and Greenpoint
. Bushwick was the last of the original six Dutch towns of Brooklyn
to be established within New Netherland
.
The community was settled, though unchartered, on February 16, 1660, on a plot of land between the Bushwick and Newtown Creeks by fourteen French
and Huguenot
settlers, a Dutch
translator named Peter Jan De Witt, and one of the original eleven slaves brought to New Netherland
, Franciscus the Negro, 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 English
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
.
in the first treaties they signed with European colonists
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 its 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 potato
and cabbage
agriculture. This area is bounded 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 Avenue and Stanhope Street begin to appear dating to the 1850s.
gy shrubland
extending from Wallabout Creek to Newtown Creek
, in the south and east, cut Bushwick Shore from the other villages in Bushwick. Farmers and gardeners
from the other Bushwick villages sent their goods to Bushwick Shore to be ferried to New York City for sale via a market
at present day Grand St. Bushwick Shore's favorable location close to New York City led to the creation of several farming developments. Originally a 13 acres (52,609.2 m²) 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.
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 Cooper
built a glue manufacturing plant, his first factory, in Bushwick. Immigrants from western Europe
joined the original Dutch settlers. The Bushwick Chemical Works, at Metropolitan Avenue and Grand Street
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 of both bottles and jars. Around the same time, in 1868, the Long Island Rail Road
built the Bushwick Branch
from its hub in 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 German
, which became the dominant population. Bushwick established a considerable brewery
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. 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.
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 Broadway
. This line was extended southeastward into East New York
shortly thereafter. By the end of 1889, the Broadway Elevated
and the Myrtle Avenue Elevated
were completed, enabling easier access to Downtown Brooklyn
and Manhattan
and the rapid residential development of Bushwick from farmland.
With the success of the brewing 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 I
and World War II
, even when events such as Prohibition
and the Great Depression were taking place. After WWI, the German enclave was steadily replaced by a significant proportion of Italian American
s. By 1950, Bushwick was one of New York City's largest Italian American neighborhoods, although some German Americans remained.
Interestingly, the Italian community was comprised nearly entirely of Sicilians, most all of whom came from the Palermo, Trapani, and Agrigento provinces in Sicily. In particular, the Sicilian townsfolk of Menfi, Santa Margherita di Belice, Trapani, Castelvetrano, and many other paesi had their own clubs, or "clubbu", in the area. Il Circolo di Santa Margherita di Belice remains the oldest operating Sicilian organization in the United States but began here. These clubs often started as mutual benevolance associations or funeral societies but transformed as the needs of their communities did from the late 1800s until the 1960s, when many began to fade away. St. Joseph Patron of the Universal Church Roman Catholic Parish was the hub of this Sicilian community, and held five feasts during the year, complete with processions of saints or Our Lady of Trapani. St. Joseph opened in 1923 because the Italian community had been rapidly growing in Bushwick since 1900. This Sicilian community first was centered in Our Lady of Pompeii parish on Siegel St. in Williamsburgh, however as industry expanded along Flushing Ave. the Sicilian population expanded with the growing need for labor by factory operators. St. Leonard's parish was the large German Catholic parish in the area, however the Italian community was not welcome there and thus compelled to open their own parish. St. Leonard's closed in 1973. St. Joseph's is now a large and vibrant Latino parish run by the Scalabrini Order of priests, an Italian missionary order that caters to migrants.
. Beginning in the mid 1950s and particularly in the 1960s, an influx of less affluent African American
and Puerto Rican migrants began to move into central Bushwick. "While poorer than the previous residents, Black Bushwickites were working class and strongly oriented to home ownership and forming block associations. These blocks were in a better position to withstand the devastations of the 1970's" (John A. Dereszewski). http://www.upfromflames.com/uff_path/uff_path_demographic_changes.html This change in demographics
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 Brooklyn
and New York City
. Discussions of urban renewal
took place in the 1960s, but never materialized. 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 John 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.
According to the New York Times, "In a five-year period in the late 1960's 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
occurred in New York City. Arson
, looting
, and vandalism
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 Heights
, and others that looked like Dresden
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.
, the Dominican Republic
and more recently Central America
. 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.
(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 efforts 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 Merchants’ 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 flyers reading "CAN IT – Keep Rats Out of Your Community."
Comparatively low rents
The last half of the 20th century transformed Bushwick into a home for low-income renters in a primarily 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 numbers of Chinese, Koreans, Indo-Caribbeans (Guyana and Trinidad), Filipinos, and Arabs in the area. Since 2000, the rise of real estate prices in nearby Manhattan has made the neighborhood more attractive to younger professionals. In the wake of reduced crime rates citywide and a shortage of cheap housing in nearby neighborhoods such as Park Slope
and Williamsburg
, an influx of young professionals and artists moved into converted warehouse lofts, brownstones, limestone-brick townhouses and other renovated buildings.
Major subway stops include: Jefferson Street
, DeKalb Avenue
, Myrtle–Wyckoff Avenues, Halsey Street
, Wilson Ave
, and Bushwick-Aberdeen on the BMT Canarsie Line
; Central Avenue
, Knickerbocker Avenue
, Myrtle–Wyckoff Avenues on the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line
; and Flushing Av
, Myrtle Avenue
, Koscuisko Street
, Gates Avenue
, Halsey Street
, Chauncey
on the BMT Jamaica Line
and (Z). The Myrtle Avenue/Wyckoff Avenue bus and subway hub was renovated into a state-of-the-art transportation center in 2007. Bus lines serving Bushwick include the B13, B26, B38, B52, B54, and B60.
During the 1960's under the direction of Robert Moses
, there were plans to build an extension of I-78
through Bushwick, to connect lower Manhattan with the southern shore of Long Island
. The extension was to be called the Bushwick Expressway, yet was never built due to then Mayor John V. Lindsay's concerns, that traffic leaving Manhattan should bypass it via the Verrazano Bridge
.
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.
Bushwick Playground is located on Knickerbocker Avenue between Woodbine Street and Putnam Avenue, and encompasses 2.78 acres (11,250.3 m²). Bushwick Playground park features handball courts, spray showers, a sitting areas and a children's playground.
Green Central Knoll Park is a 2.6 acres (10,521.8 m²) park located between Flushing and Central Avenues and Knoll and Evergreen Streets. 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 was not given to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation until 1997. The park includes a baseball field, sitting areas and a children's playground.
Heisser Triangle is located at the intersections of Knickerbocker and Myrtle Avenues and Bleecker Street. The triangle is named after Charles Heisser, a World War I sergeant with the 106th Infantry, that was killed in action in France on September 27, 1918. The bronze war memorial at the center of the plot was sculpted by Pietro Montana in 1921.
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 from kindergarten to fifth grade, a karate class host, and a summer day camp for the neighborhood children.
Irving Square Park is bound between Wilson and Knickerbocker Avenues and Halsey and Weirfield Streets. The park encompasses 2.78 acres (11,250.3 m²). The park is believed to be named after Washington Irving
. The park features swings, a sandpit, spray shower, a handball court and a basketball court. After renovations in 2006 and 2008 the park also features a public plaza and gardening space.
Maria Hernandez Park
is a municipal park
in Bushwick. It is located between Knickerbocker and Irving Avenues and between Starr and Suydam Streets. It has a newly renovated basketball court, handball court, fitness equipment, spray showers and benches, and a newly built performance stage. The park encompasses 6.87 acres (27,801.9 m²).
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 and run by the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council (RBSCC).
Bushwick has a robust educational infrastructure of thirty-three public and private, primary and secondary schools. This includes 14 public elementary schools, one charter school
, four parochial school
s, seven high schools, and one secondary school
.
{|
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(NYCHA) developments are located in Bushwick. They are mainly occupied by low-income families:
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
borough
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. The neighborhood, formerly Brooklyn's 18th Ward, is now part of Brooklyn Community Board 4
Brooklyn Community Board 4
Brooklyn 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...
. It is served by the NYPD's 83rd Precinct and is represented in the New York City Council as part of Districts 34 and 37.
Bushwick is bound by Williamsburg
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordering Greenpoint to the north, Bedford-Stuyvesant to the south, Bushwick to the east and the East River to the west. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 1. The neighborhood is served by the NYPD's 90th ...
to the west, East New York to the east, Bed-Stuy
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
Bedford-Stuyvesant is a neighborhood in the central portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Formed in 1930, the neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 3, Brooklyn Community Board 8 and Brooklyn Community Board 16. The neighborhood is patrolled by the NYPD's 79th and 81st...
and Brownsville
Brownsville, Brooklyn
Brownsville is a residential neighborhood located in eastern Brooklyn, New York City.The total land area is one square mile, and the ZIP code for the neighborhood is 11212....
to the south, and Ridgewood, Queens
Ridgewood, Queens
Ridgewood is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It 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. The neighborhood is part of Queens...
to the north. It is served by Postal Service zip codes 11207, 11221 and 11237. Bushwick was once an independent town and has undergone various territorial changes throughout its history.
Housing
Bushwick's diverse housing stock includes six-family apartment buildings and two- and three-family townhouses. The median age of the housing stock is 76 years. Over 91% of housing units are within 440 yards of a park, and over 97% of housing units are within 880 yards of a subway.Median rent in 2007 was $795, the 40th highest median rent in the city. About one out of six rental units is subsidized, and greater than one out of three units is rent regulated. 4% of renters live in severely overcrowded conditions. Vacant land fills 4.1% of Bushwick, rating it the 21st most vacant neighborhood in the city.
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.
Demographics
Bushwick's population in 2007 was 129,980. 38.9% of that population was foreign born. Though an ethnic neighborhood, Bushwick's population is, for a New York City neighborhood, relatively heterogeneous scoring a 0.5 on the Furman Center's racial diversity index, making it the city's 35th most diverse neighborhood in 2007. Most residents are LatinoLatino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
s from the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
island of Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
and from the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La 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 shared by two countries...
but more recent years have seen an increase in native-born Americans as well as other Latino groups. In 2008 the neighborhood's median household income was $28,802. 32% of the population falls under the poverty line, making Bushwick the 7th most impoverished neighborhood in New York City. Over 75% of children in the neighborhood are born in poverty. Only 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 in the city. In 2007, Bushwick averaged with 25 felonies per 1000 persons, the 25th, out of 55, most felonious community district in the city.
Bushwick is the largest hub of Brooklyn's Hispanic-American community. Like other neighborhoods in New York City, Bushwick's Hispanic population is mainly Puerto Rican and Dominican with a sizable South American population as well. As nearly 80% of Bushwick's population is Hispanic, residents have created many businesses to support their various national and distinct traditions in food and other items. The neighborhood's major commercial streets are Knickerbocker Avenue, Myrtle Avenue, Wyckoff Avenue, and Broadway
Broadway (Brooklyn)
Broadway is an avenue in the New York City borough of Brooklyn that extends from the East River in the neighborhood of Williamsburg in a southeasterly direction to East New York for a length of 4.32 miles . It was named for Broadway in Manhattan. The East New York terminus is a complicated...
.
Four villages
In 1638, the Dutch West India CompanyDutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company was a chartered company of Dutch merchants. Among its founding fathers was Willem Usselincx...
secured a deed from the local Lenape
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
people for the Bushwick area, and Peter Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant
Peter 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, after which it was renamed New York...
, 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, Williamsburg
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordering Greenpoint to the north, Bedford-Stuyvesant to the south, Bushwick to the east and the East River to the west. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 1. The neighborhood is served by the NYPD's 90th ...
, and Greenpoint
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Greenpoint 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 Brooklyn
History of Brooklyn
The history of Brooklyn, a present-day borough of New York City, spans more than 350 years. The settlement began in the 17th 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 19th century, and was consolidated in 1898...
to be established within New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-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 French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
and Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
settlers, a Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
translator named Peter Jan De Witt, and one of the original eleven slaves brought to New Netherland
History of slavery in New York
Slavery in New York was instituted when the New Amsterdam fur trading-post developed into a farming colony in the 17th century; the first African slaves were imported by the Dutch West Indies Company to New Amsterdam in 1626...
, Franciscus the Negro, 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 English
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
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
Flushing Avenue
Flushing Avenue is an approximately five mile street running through northern Brooklyn and west central Queens beginning at the termination of Nassau Street, on the northern fringe of Fort Greene, Brooklyn, and ending where it merges with Grand Avenue, in Maspeth. It divides the neighborhood of...
.
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
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
in the first treaties they signed with European colonists
Colony
In politics and 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 inception....
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 its 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 potato
Potato
The 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 as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
and cabbage
Cabbage
Cabbage is a popular cultivar of the species Brassica oleracea Linne of the Family Brassicaceae and is a leafy green vegetable...
agriculture. This area is bounded 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 Avenue 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, bogBog
A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....
gy shrubland
Shrubland
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub or brush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity...
extending from Wallabout Creek to Newtown Creek
Newtown Creek
Newtown 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 gardeners
Gardening
Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants. Ornamental plants are normally grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants are grown for consumption , for their dyes, or for medicinal or cosmetic use...
from the other Bushwick villages sent their goods to Bushwick Shore to be ferried to New York City for sale via a market
Farmers' market
A farmers' market consists of individual vendors—mostly farmers—who set up booths, tables or stands, outdoors or indoors, to sell produce, meat products, fruits and sometimes prepared foods and beverages...
at present day Grand St. Bushwick Shore's favorable location close to New York City led to the creation of several farming developments. Originally a 13 acres (52,609.2 m²) 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
Peter Cooper
Peter Cooper was an American industrialist, inventor, philanthropist, and candidate for President of the United States...
built a glue manufacturing plant, his first factory, in Bushwick. Immigrants from western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
joined the original Dutch settlers. The Bushwick Chemical Works, at Metropolitan Avenue and Grand Street
Grand Street (Brooklyn)
Grand 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
American Institute
The American Institute of the City of New York was an organization to promote, by means of exhibitions and fairs, the interests of agriculture, commerce, manufactures, and arts in New York State and the United States.-History:...
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 of both bottles and jars. Around the same time, in 1868, the Long Island Rail Road
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, serving about 81.5 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US...
built the Bushwick Branch
Bushwick Branch
The Bushwick Branch, also called the Bushwick Lead Track, is a freight railroad branch that runs from Bushwick, Brooklyn, to Fresh Pond Junction in Queens, New York, where it connects with the Montauk Branch of the Long Island Rail Road...
from its hub in Jamaica
Jamaica, Queens
Jamaica 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 German
German American
German Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
, which became the dominant population. Bushwick established a considerable brewery
Brewery
A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at 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. 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
Gates Avenue (BMT Jamaica Line)
Gates Avenue is a skip-stop station on the elevated BMT Jamaica Line of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of Gates Avenue and Broadway in Bushwick, Brooklyn...
. This line was extended southeastward into East New York
East New York, Brooklyn
East New York is a residential neighborhood located in the Eastern section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 5...
shortly thereafter. By the end of 1889, the Broadway Elevated
BMT Jamaica Line
The 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 Elevated
BMT Myrtle Avenue Line
The Myrtle Avenue Line, also called the Myrtle Avenue Elevated, 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 Brooklyn
Downtown Brooklyn
Downtown 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 Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
and the rapid residential development of Bushwick from farmland.
With the success of the brewing 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 I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, even when events such as Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
and the Great Depression were taking place. After WWI, the German enclave was steadily replaced by a significant proportion of Italian American
Italian American
An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...
s. By 1950, Bushwick was one of New York City's largest Italian American neighborhoods, although some German Americans remained.
Interestingly, the Italian community was comprised nearly entirely of Sicilians, most all of whom came from the Palermo, Trapani, and Agrigento provinces in Sicily. In particular, the Sicilian townsfolk of Menfi, Santa Margherita di Belice, Trapani, Castelvetrano, and many other paesi had their own clubs, or "clubbu", in the area. Il Circolo di Santa Margherita di Belice remains the oldest operating Sicilian organization in the United States but began here. These clubs often started as mutual benevolance associations or funeral societies but transformed as the needs of their communities did from the late 1800s until the 1960s, when many began to fade away. St. Joseph Patron of the Universal Church Roman Catholic Parish was the hub of this Sicilian community, and held five feasts during the year, complete with processions of saints or Our Lady of Trapani. St. Joseph opened in 1923 because the Italian community had been rapidly growing in Bushwick since 1900. This Sicilian community first was centered in Our Lady of Pompeii parish on Siegel St. in Williamsburgh, however as industry expanded along Flushing Ave. the Sicilian population expanded with the growing need for labor by factory operators. St. Leonard's parish was the large German Catholic parish in the area, however the Italian community was not welcome there and thus compelled to open their own parish. St. Leonard's closed in 1973. St. Joseph's is now a large and vibrant Latino parish run by the Scalabrini Order of priests, an Italian missionary order that caters to migrants.
1950s, 1960s, and 1970s: white-flight and loss of the brewing industry
The demographic transition of Bushwick mirrored many Brooklyn neighborhoods after WWII. Initially, working class African American and Caribbean American families took over homes in the southeastern edge of the neighborhood, closest to Eastern ParkwayEastern Parkway (Brooklyn)
Eastern Parkway is a major boulevard that runs through a portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The road begins at Grand Army Plaza and extends east, running parallel to Atlantic Avenue, along the crest of the moraine that separates northern from southern Long Island, to Ralph Avenue...
. Beginning in the mid 1950s and particularly in the 1960s, an influx of less affluent African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
and Puerto Rican migrants began to move into central Bushwick. "While poorer than the previous residents, Black Bushwickites were working class and strongly oriented to home ownership and forming block associations. These blocks were in a better position to withstand the devastations of the 1970's" (John A. Dereszewski). http://www.upfromflames.com/uff_path/uff_path_demographic_changes.html This change in demographics
Demographics
Demographics are the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology , public policy, and marketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, and even location...
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 Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Discussions of urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. 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...
took place in the 1960s, but never materialized. 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 John Lindsay
John Lindsay
John Vliet Lindsay was an American politician, lawyer and broadcaster who was a U.S. Congressman, Mayor of New York City, candidate for U.S...
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.
According to the New York Times, "In a five-year period in the late 1960's 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
Blackout: riots and looting
On the night of July 13, 1977, a major blackoutNew York City blackout of 1977
The New York City blackout of 1977 was an electricity blackout 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 in southern Queens, and neighborhoods of the Rockaways, which are part of the Long Island Lighting...
occurred in New York City. Arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
, looting
Looting
Looting —also referred to as sacking, plundering, despoiling, despoliation, and pillaging—is the indiscriminate taking of goods by force as part of a military or political victory, or during a catastrophe, such as during war, natural disaster, or rioting...
, and vandalism
Vandalism
Vandalism is the behaviour attributed originally 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 Heights
Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn
Brooklyn Heights is a culturally diverse neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Originally referred to as 'Brooklyn Village', it has been a prominent area of Brooklyn since 1834. As of 2000, Brooklyn Heights sustained a population of 22,594 people. The neighborhood is part of...
, and others that looked like Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. 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, early 1970s and 1980s, many of whom were from Puerto RicoPuerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La 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 shared by two countries...
and more recently Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
. 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: State and local government funded revitalization
Starting in the middle of the 2000s, the City and State of New York began pouring 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 DevelopmentNew York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development
The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development is the mayoral agency of New York City responsible for developing and maintaining the city's stock of affordable housing. HPD is headquartered in Lower Manhattan, and includes smaller branch offices in each of the city's five...
(HPD), the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council (Ridgewood Bushwick), and the Office of Assemblyman Vito Lopez
Vito Lopez
Vito Joseph Lopez is an American politician, member of the New York State Assembly, and chairman of the Democratic Party of Kings County.-Personal life:...
. The program goal is to improve the lives of Bushwick residents in the twenty-three square blocks surrounding Maria Hernandez Park
Maria Hernandez park
Maria Hernandez Park is a municipal park in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York. It is located between Knickerbocker Avenue on the southwest to Irving Avenue on the northeast, and Starr Street on the northwest to Suydam Street on the southeast. The park is and is near the Jefferson Street station and...
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.
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 efforts 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 Merchants’ 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 flyers reading "CAN IT – Keep Rats Out of Your Community."
Comparatively low rents
The last half of the 20th century transformed Bushwick into a home for low-income renters in a primarily 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 numbers of Chinese, Koreans, Indo-Caribbeans (Guyana and Trinidad), Filipinos, and Arabs in the area. Since 2000, the rise of real estate prices in nearby Manhattan has made the neighborhood more attractive to younger professionals. In the wake of reduced crime rates citywide and a shortage of cheap housing in nearby neighborhoods such as Park Slope
Park Slope, Brooklyn
Park Slope is a neighborhood in western Brooklyn, New York City's most populous borough. Park Slope is roughly bounded by Prospect Park West to the east, Fourth Avenue to the west, Flatbush Avenue to the north, and 15th Street to the south, though other definitions are sometimes offered. Generally...
and Williamsburg
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordering Greenpoint to the north, Bedford-Stuyvesant to the south, Bushwick to the east and the East River to the west. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 1. The neighborhood is served by the NYPD's 90th ...
, an influx of young professionals and artists moved into converted warehouse lofts, brownstones, limestone-brick townhouses and other renovated buildings.
Elected officials
- U.S. Congress
- House of Representatives of New York’s 12th Congressional District – Nydia Velasquez
- House of Representatives of New York’s 10th Congressional District – Edolphus Towns
- New York State SenateNew York State SenateThe New York State Senate is one of two houses in the New York State Legislature and has members each elected to two-year terms. There are no limits on the number of terms one may serve...
- New York’s 17th Senatorial District – Martin Malave DilanMartin Malave DilanMartin Malave Dilan is a member of the New York State Senate representing the 17th Senatorial District. The 17th Senate District encompasses the North Brooklyn communities of Bushwick, Brooklyn, Williamsburg Brooklyn, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Cypress Hills, Brooklyn, City-Line, East New York,...
- New York’s 17th Senatorial District – Martin Malave Dilan
- New York State AssemblyNew York State AssemblyThe New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...
- New York’s 53rd Assembly District – Vito LopezVito LopezVito Joseph Lopez is an American politician, member of the New York State Assembly, and chairman of the Democratic Party of Kings County.-Personal life:...
- New York’s 54th Assembly District – Vacant
- New York’s 55th Assembly District – William Boyland, Jr.William Boyland, Jr.William Frank Boyland Jr. represents District 55 in the New York State Assembly, which comprises Ocean Hill, Brownsville, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights and Bushwick....
- New York’s 56th Assembly District – Annette RobinsonAnnette RobinsonAnnette Robinson represents District 56 in the New York State Assembly, which includes most of Bedford-Stuyvesant.Chosen in a special election held in 2002, in which she garnered over 90% of the vote, she currently serves as the District Leader/State Committeewoman for the 56th Assembly District...
- New York’s 53rd Assembly District – Vito Lopez
- New York City CouncilNew York City CouncilThe New York City Council is the lawmaking body of the City of New York. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The Council serves as a check against the mayor in a "strong" mayor-council government model. The council monitors performance of city agencies and...
- New York’s 34th Council District – Diana ReynaDiana 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...
- New York’s 37th Council District – Erik Martin DilanErik Martin DilanErik Martin Dilan currently represents District 37 in the New York City Council, which comprises the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bushwick, Cypress Hills, East New York, Ocean Hill, and Brownsville....
- New York’s 34th Council District – Diana Reyna
Community-based organizations
- Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens CouncilRidgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens CouncilRidgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council is a non-profit organization in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Founded in 1973 by Vito Lopez , RBSCC offers housing and family services to neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens.-Investigations:...
- East Brooklyn CongregationsEast Brooklyn CongregationsEast Brooklyn Congregations is an example of congregation-based community organizing serving several neighborhoods in New York City. Formed in 1980, it is affiliated with the Industrial Areas Foundation and headed by Michael Gecan. EBC is best known for founding Nehemiah Homes and building 2,100...
Civic services
- NYPD – 83rd Precinct
- FDNY – Engine Company 277/Ladder Company 112 "House of Pain," Engine Company 218 "Bushwick Bomberos," Engine Company 237 and Squad 252
- Hospitals – Wyckoff Heights Medical CenterWyckoff Heights Medical CenterWyckoff Heights Medical Center is a 350-bed teaching hospital located in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City. The hospital is part of the NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System.-History:...
and Woodhull Medical CenterWoodhull Medical and Mental Health CenterWoodhull Medical and Mental Health Center is a health care system located in Brooklyn, New York City, United States. Its focus is on preventing disease and promoting healthy lifestyles in the community of North Brooklyn through its fifteen centers. Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center is...
, which is physically in Bed-Stuy but also serves the Bushwick community - Brooklyn Public LibraryBrooklyn Public LibraryThe Brooklyn Public Library is the public library system of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. It is the fifth largest public library system in the United States. Like the two other public library systems in New York City, it is an independent nonprofit organization that is funded by the...
– Dekalb Branch, Bushwick Branch, and the Washington Irving Branch - United States Post Office – Wyckoff Heights Station and the Bushwick Station
Transportation
Jefferson Street (BMT Canarsie Line)
Jefferson Street is a station on the BMT Canarsie Line of the New York City Subway. Located in Bushwick, Brooklyn at the intersection of Jefferson Street and Wyckoff Avenue, it is served by the L train at all times....
, DeKalb Avenue
DeKalb Avenue (BMT Canarsie Line)
DeKalb 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 Bushwick, Brooklyn, it is served by the L train at all times....
, Myrtle–Wyckoff Avenues, Halsey Street
Halsey Street (BMT Canarsie Line)
Halsey Street is a station on the BMT Canarsie Line of the New York City Subway. Located on the border of Brooklyn and Queens at the intersection of Halsey Street and Wyckoff Avenue, it is served by the L train at all times....
, Wilson Ave
Wilson Avenue (BMT Canarsie Line)
Wilson Avenue is a station on the BMT Canarsie Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Wilson Avenue and Moffat Street in Brooklyn, it is served by the L train at all times.- Layout :The station's design has some unusual features...
, and Bushwick-Aberdeen on the BMT Canarsie Line
BMT Canarsie Line
The 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 Avenue
Central Avenue (BMT Myrtle Avenue Line)
Central Avenue is a station on the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at Myrtle Avenue and Cedar Street in Bushwick, Brooklyn, it is served by the M train at all times....
, Knickerbocker Avenue
Knickerbocker Avenue (BMT Myrtle Avenue Line)
Knickerbocker Avenue is a station on the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Myrtle and Knickerbocker Avenues in Bushwick, Brooklyn, it is served by the M train at all times....
, Myrtle–Wyckoff Avenues on the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line
BMT Myrtle Avenue Line
The Myrtle Avenue Line, also called the Myrtle Avenue Elevated, 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 Av
Flushing Avenue (BMT Jamaica Line)
Flushing Avenue is a local 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 J train at all times except rush hours and middays in the peak direction and the M at all times except weekends and...
, Myrtle Avenue
Myrtle Avenue (BMT Jamaica Line)
Myrtle Avenue is a two-level express station on the BMT Jamaica Line of the New York City Subway...
, Koscuisko Street
Kosciuszko Street (BMT Jamaica Line)
Kosciuszko 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 J train. The Z train bypasses this station when it operates...
, Gates Avenue
Gates Avenue (BMT Jamaica Line)
Gates Avenue is a skip-stop station on the elevated BMT Jamaica Line of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of Gates Avenue and Broadway in Bushwick, Brooklyn...
, Halsey Street
Halsey Street (BMT Jamaica Line)
Halsey 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 J train. The Z train bypasses this station when it operates...
, Chauncey
Chauncey Street (BMT Jamaica Line)
Chauncey Street is a renovated skip-stop station on the BMT Jamaica Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Chauncey Street and Broadway in Brooklyn, it is served by the Z train during rush hours in the peak direction and the J train at all other times...
on the BMT Jamaica Line
BMT Jamaica Line
The 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). The Myrtle Avenue/Wyckoff Avenue bus and subway hub was renovated into a state-of-the-art transportation center in 2007. Bus lines serving Bushwick include the B13, B26, B38, B52, B54, and B60.
During the 1960's under the direction of Robert Moses
Robert Moses
Robert Moses was the "master builder" of mid-20th century New York City, Long Island, Rockland County, and Westchester County, New York. As the shaper of a modern city, he is sometimes compared to Baron Haussmann of Second Empire Paris, and is one of the most polarizing figures in the history of...
, there were plans to build an extension of I-78
Interstate 78
Interstate 78 is an Interstate Highway in the Northeast United States, running 144 miles from Interstate 81 northeast of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, through Allentown, Pennsylvania, and western and northern New Jersey to the Holland Tunnel and Lower Manhattan in New York City.I-78 is a major road...
through Bushwick, to connect lower Manhattan with the southern shore of Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. The extension was to be called the Bushwick Expressway, yet was never built due to then Mayor John V. Lindsay's concerns, that traffic leaving Manhattan should bypass it via the Verrazano Bridge
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge that connects the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City at the Narrows, the reach connecting the relatively protected upper bay with the larger lower bay....
.
Parks and recreation
Bushwick Park and Pool is located on Flushing Avenue between Beaver and Garden Streets, and encompasses 1.29 acres (5,220.4 m²). The park which is administered by the New York City Department of Parks and RecreationNew York City Department of Parks and Recreation
The 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.
Bushwick Playground is located on Knickerbocker Avenue between Woodbine Street and Putnam Avenue, and encompasses 2.78 acres (11,250.3 m²). Bushwick Playground park features handball courts, spray showers, a sitting areas and a children's playground.
Green Central Knoll Park is a 2.6 acres (10,521.8 m²) park located between Flushing and Central Avenues and Knoll and Evergreen Streets. 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 was not given to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation until 1997. The park includes a baseball field, sitting areas and a children's playground.
Heisser Triangle is located at the intersections of Knickerbocker and Myrtle Avenues and Bleecker Street. The triangle is named after Charles Heisser, a World War I sergeant with the 106th Infantry, that was killed in action in France on September 27, 1918. The bronze war memorial at the center of the plot was sculpted by Pietro Montana in 1921.
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 from kindergarten to fifth grade, a karate class host, and a summer day camp for the neighborhood children.
Irving Square Park is bound between Wilson and Knickerbocker Avenues and Halsey and Weirfield Streets. The park encompasses 2.78 acres (11,250.3 m²). The park is believed to be named after Washington Irving
Washington Irving
Washington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works...
. The park features swings, a sandpit, spray shower, a handball court and a basketball court. After renovations in 2006 and 2008 the park also features a public plaza and gardening space.
Maria Hernandez Park
Maria Hernandez park
Maria Hernandez Park is a municipal park in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York. It is located between Knickerbocker Avenue on the southwest to Irving Avenue on the northeast, and Starr Street on the northwest to Suydam Street on the southeast. The park is and is near the Jefferson Street station and...
is a municipal park
Park
A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...
in Bushwick. It is located between Knickerbocker and Irving Avenues and between Starr and Suydam Streets. It has a newly renovated basketball court, handball court, fitness equipment, spray showers and benches, and a newly built performance stage. The park encompasses 6.87 acres (27,801.9 m²).
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 and run by the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council (RBSCC).
Education
Charter school
Charter schools are primary or secondary schools that receive public money but are not subject to 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 in each school's charter...
, four parochial school
Parochial school
A parochial school is a school that provides religious education in addition to conventional education. In a narrower sense, a parochial school is a Christian grammar school or high school which is part of, and run by, a parish.-United Kingdom:...
s, seven high schools, and one secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
.
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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 147 Isacc Remsen
- PS 151 Lyndon B Johnson School
- ps 257 john f hylan
- 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 SchoolSaint Frances Cabrini School, BrooklynSaint Frances Cabrini School in Brooklyn, New York is a small Catholic elementary and middle school. The grades go from pre-K through the eighth grade. The school is associated with the National Catholic Educational Association ....
- Saint Mark's Lutheran School
- Saint Nicholas Elementary School (Grades Pre-K to 8)
- Pope John Paul II Family Academy (tuition-free Catholic Covenant Academy, located at St. Barbara's RC Church)
- Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School
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Middle schools
- IS 291 Roland Hayes
- IS 296 The Halsey
- IS 318 Eugenio Maria De Hostos
- IS 347 School of Humanities
- IS 349 School for Math, Science and Tech
- JHS 162 Willoughby
- P.S./I.S. 377 Alejandrina B. De Gautier
- JHS 383 Philippa Schuyler Junior High School
- P.S./I.S. 384 Frances E. Carter
- MS 582
High schools
- Academy for Environmental Leadership
- Academy of Urban PlanningAcademy of Urban PlanningAcademy 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...
- Brooklyn Latin SchoolBrooklyn Latin SchoolThe Brooklyn Latin School is a specialized high school in New York City, founded in 2006.The ideals governing Brooklyn Latin are borrowed largely from the Boston Latin School, and popular society's Ideals...
- Bushwick Community High School
- Bushwick School for Social JusticeBushwick School for Social JusticeThe Bushwick School for Social Justice is a small public high school in the neighborhood of Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York City, one of four schools currently occupying the Bushwick Campus. Enrollment is approximately 425 students. The school is partnered with Make the Road New York, Brooklyn...
- Bushwick Leaders' HS for Academic Excellence
- EBC for Public Service-Bushwick
- Grand street campus containing:
- High school for legal studies
- Progress High
- EBT High school
Public housing
Three New York City Housing AuthorityNew York City Housing Authority
The New York City Housing Authority provides public 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...
(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; seven four- and one fourteen-story buildings.
- Palmetto Gardens; one six-story building.
Actors
- Jackie GleasonJackie GleasonJackie Gleason was an American comedian, actor and musician. He was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy style, especially by his character Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners, a situation-comedy television series. His most noted film roles were as Minnesota Fats in the drama film The...
(1916–1987), actor. - Rick GonzalezRick GonzalezRick Gonzalez is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Timo Cruz in the motion picture Coach Carter, and as Ben Gonzalez on the CW supernatural drama television series Reaper.-Early life:...
(born 1979), actor. - Kenneth McMillanKenneth McMillan (actor)Kenneth McMillan was an American actor. McMillan was usually cast as gruff, hostile and unfriendly characters due to his rough image...
(1932–1989), actor - Eddie MurphyEddie MurphyEdward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
(born 1961), comedian, actor. - Charlie MurphyCharlie MurphyCharles Quinton "Charlie" Murphy is an American actor, comedian, and writer notable as being a cast member and writer on the Comedy Central sketch-comedy series Chappelle's Show...
(born 1959), comedian, actor - Rosie PerezRosie PerezRosa María "Rosie" Pérez is an American actress, dancer, choreographer, director and community activist.- Early life :...
(born 1964), actress - Vincent SchiavelliVincent SchiavelliVincent Andrew Schiavelli was an American character actor noted for his work on stage, screen, and television often described as "the man with the sad eyes." He was notable for his numerous and often critically acclaimed cameo appearances.-Early life:Schiavelli was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a...
(1948-2005), actor/writer - Connie StevensConnie StevensConnie Stevens is an American actress and singer, best known for her roles in the television series Hawaiian Eye and other TV and film work.-Early life:...
(born 1938), actress - Mae WestMae WestMae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
(1893-1980), actress - Dondre WhitfieldDondre WhitfieldDondre 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...
(born 1969), actor - Emanuel XavierEmanuel XavierIn 2005, Suspect Thoughts Press published Bullets & Butterflies: queer spoken word poetry, a collection Emanuel Xavier edited. The anthology featured the work of thirteen openly queer spoken word artists and new work by the editor himself including: "Legendary", "Outside" and "A Simple Poem." The...
(born 1970), poet/actor
Artists
- Jules de BalincourtJules de BalincourtJules de Balincourt is a French painter. He was educated at the California College of Arts and Crafts, San Francisco receiving a BFA in ceramics and went on to study at the Hunter College, New York graduating in 2005 with an MFA. He lives and works in Brooklyn, New York...
- Henry Matyjewicz, artist and spokesperson for Poster Boy (street artist)Poster Boy (street artist)Poster Boy is a New York City based street artist named Henry Matyjewicz 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...
collective - André' Pierre CharlesAndré' Pierre CharlesAndré' 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 artist http://acharlesny.com/aboutac/aboutac.htm
Music
- Da BeatminerzDa BeatminerzDa Beatminerz are a hip-hop production crew from Bushwick, Brooklyn, and are known for their dark, gritty sound that is very popular with the underground hip-hop scene.-History:The crew, originally composed of brothers Mr...
, hip hop production team - D-StroyD-StroyD-Stroy is an American hip hop Host, rapper, DJ, producer and actor of Puerto Rican descent. He is a founding member of and current CEO of Play Big Inc. and a former artist of Matador Records,...
, Arsonists (rap group)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:... - Julius La RosaJulius La RosaJulius La Rosa is an American traditional popular music singer who has worked in both radio and television since the 1950s.-Early years and big break:...
(born 1930), singer - Harry NilssonHarry NilssonHarry Edward Nilsson III was an American singer-songwriter who achieved the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. On all but his earliest recordings he is credited as Nilsson...
, singer/songwriter - Jeannie OrtegaJeannie OrtegaJeannette "Jeannie" Ortega is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress. She made her recording debut in 2006 with the album No Place Like Brooklyn at the age of 19. The album featured the hit single "Crowded," which topped the Billboard Hot 100.- Biography :Jeannie Ortega was born in...
, singer - OCO.C. (rapper)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.-Recording career:...
, rapper - Tony TouchTony TouchTony Touch is an American hip hop break dancer, rapper, DJ, producer and actor of Puerto Rican descent.Tony Touch began as a B-boy during the rap music renaissance era of the early 1980s...
, rapper and DJ - Timbo King, rapper
- Q-UniqueQ-UniqueAnthony Quiles, better known by his stage name Q-Unique is an Puerto rican-American rapper, record producer and a member of rap group Arsonists and the hard rock band StillWell...
, rapper - Daptone RecordsDaptone RecordsDaptone Records is a funk and soul independent record label formed by Gabriel Roth and Neal Sugarman and based in Brooklyn, New York.After the demise of the Desco label Gabriel Roth teamed up with Neal Sugarman to create a new label, Daptone Records...
, indie Music Label
Politics
- John Francis Hylan (1868–1936), Mayor of New York CityMayor of New York CityThe 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...
. - Ryan J. Davis (1982-), Theatre director & Social Media Director at Blue State DigitalBlue State DigitalBlue State Digital is a Washington, D.C.-based Internet strategy and technology firm. The company was founded in early 2004 by four former staffers of Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign: Clay A. Johnson, Jascha Franklin-Hodge, Joe Rospars, and Ben Self...
.
External links
- The Death and Life of Bushwick, City Journal, Spring 2008
- Brownstoner: Bushwick
- Poverty In Bushwick
- The Bushwick Renaissance Initiative
- Bushwiki
- Make The Road By Walking Community Center and Organizing Project.
- Nonprofit Organization for Bushwick Artists and Community
- Ridgewood Bushwick Seniors Citizens Council
- BushwickBK.com
- Photos of Bushwick
- The Bushwick Dream
- Bushwick Homecomings Documentary Film, 2006
- Bushwick Daily: Photo-Inspired Blog