Bushwick is a
neighborhood
A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...
in the northern part of the
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
of
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. It is bounded by the neighborhood of
Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast;
Williamsburg
Williamsburg may refer to:
Places
*Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia
*Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City
*Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California
*Williams ...
to the northwest;
East New York and the cemeteries of
Highland Park to the southeast;
Brownsville to the south; and
Bedford–Stuyvesant to the southwest.
The town was first founded by the Dutch during the
Dutch colonization of the Americas in the 17th century. In the 19th century, the neighborhood became a community of German immigrants and their descendants. The 20th century saw an influx of
Italian immigrants
The Italian diaspora is the large-scale emigration of Italians from Italy.
There were two major Italian diasporas in Italian history. The first diaspora began around 1880, two decades after the Risorgimento, Unification of Italy, and ended in the ...
and Italian-Americans up to the 1980s. By the late 20th century, the neighborhood became predominantly
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
as another wave of immigrants arrived. Formerly Brooklyn's 18th Ward, the neighborhood was once an independent town and has undergone various territorial changes throughout its history.
Bushwick is part of
Brooklyn Community District 4, and its primary
ZIP Codes are 11206, 11207, 11221, and 11237.
It is patrolled by the 83rd Precinct of the
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
.
Politically it is represented by the
New York City Council
The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs.
The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...
's 34th and 37th Districts.
[Current City Council Districts for Kings County](_blank)
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Accessed May 5, 2017.
Geography
![Bushwick](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Bushwick.png)
Bushwick's borders largely overlap those of
Brooklyn Community Board 4
Brooklyn Community Board 4 is a New York City community board that encompasses the Brooklyn 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, ...
, which is delineated by
Flushing Avenue
Flushing Avenue is a street running through northern Brooklyn and western Queens, beginning at Nassau Street in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, and ending at Grand Avenue in Maspeth. It divides the neighborhood of Williamsburg from Clinton Hill an ...
on the north,
Broadway on the southwest, the border with
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
to the northeast, and the
Cemetery of the Evergreens on the southeast. The industrial area north of Flushing Avenue, east of Bushwick Avenue, and south of Grand Street is commonly considered part of
East Williamsburg
East Williamsburg is a name for the area in the northwestern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. East Williamsburg consists roughly of what was the 3rd District of the Village of Williamsburgh and what is now called the East Williamsburg In-Plac ...
. However, it is also commonly included in Bushwick, occasionally with the modifier "Industrial Bushwick".
The town of Bushwick—which, along with Breukelen and Bedford, became incorporated as the city of Brooklyn on January 1, 1854—included present-day Williamsburg and Greenpoint.
[DOCUMENTARY STUDY: 55 GOODWIN PLACE HOUSING SITE](_blank)
Borough of Brooklyn, for New York city Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Revised October 1989. Prior to the merger, in the early 19th century, residential development in the area had begun when the new district of Williamsburg was laid out in western Bushwick. Williamsburg was incorporated in 1827 and officially severed from Bushwick in 1839.
[ Present-day ]East Williamsburg
East Williamsburg is a name for the area in the northwestern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. East Williamsburg consists roughly of what was the 3rd District of the Village of Williamsburgh and what is now called the East Williamsburg In-Plac ...
, which was not part of the city of Williamsburg, was originally organized primarily as Brooklyn's 18th Ward from the annexation of Bushwick. Now part of Brooklyn Community District 1, sections of East Williamsburg are sometimes considered to be part of Bushwick.
The centroid, or geographic center
In geography, the centroid of the two-dimensional shape of a region of the Earth's surface (projected radially to sea level or onto a geoid surface) is known as its geographic centre or geographical centre or (less commonly) gravitational centre. I ...
, of New York City is located on Stockholm Street in Bushwick, on the block between Wyckoff and St. Nicholas Avenues.
History
Bushwick township
In 1638, the Dutch West India Company
The Dutch West India Company ( nl, Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie, ''WIC'' or ''GWC''; ; en, Chartered West India Company) was a chartered company of Dutch merchants as well as foreign investors. Among its founders was Willem Usselincx ( ...
secured a deed from the local Lenape
The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...
people for the Bushwick area, and Peter Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant (; in Dutch also ''Pieter'' and ''Petrus'' Stuyvesant, ; 1610 – August 1672)Mooney, James E. "Stuyvesant, Peter" in p.1256 was a Dutch colonial officer who served as the last Dutch director-general of the colony of New Net ...
chartered the area in 1661, naming it ''Boswijck'', meaning "neighborhood in the woods" in 17th-century Dutch. Its area included the modern-day communities of Bushwick, Williamsburg
Williamsburg may refer to:
Places
*Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia
*Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City
*Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California
*Williams ...
, and Greenpoint. Bushwick was the last of the original six Dutch towns of Brooklyn to be established within New Netherland
New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the East Coast of the United States, east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territor ...
.
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 (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
and Huguenot
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
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 on 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
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
would take over the six towns three years later and unite them under Kings County in 1683.
Many of Bushwick's Dutch records were lost after its annexation by Brooklyn in 1854.[ Contemporary reports differ on the reason: T. W. Field writes that "a nice functionary of the rooklynCity Hall ... contemptuously thrust them into his waste-paper sacks", while Eugene Armbruster claims that the movable bookcase containing the records "was coveted by some municipal officer, who turned its contents upon the floor".
At the turn of the 19th century, Bushwick consisted of four villages: Green Point, Bushwick Shore (later known as Williamsburg), Bushwick Green, and Bushwick Crossroads (at the spot where today's Bushwick Avenue turns southeast at ]Flushing Avenue
Flushing Avenue is a street running through northern Brooklyn and western Queens, beginning at Nassau Street in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, and ending at Grand Avenue in Maspeth. It divides the neighborhood of Williamsburg from Clinton Hill an ...
).
Bushwick's first major expansion occurred after it annexed the New Lots of Bushwick, a hilly upland originally claimed by Native Americans in the first treaties they signed with European colonists
A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area.
A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer.
Settle ...
granting 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 Avenue), a former Native American trail, was a key thoroughfare for accessing this new tract, which was suitable mostly for potato
The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae.
Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...
and cabbage
Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of ''Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.&nb ...
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, began to appear in the 1850s.
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, bog
A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...
gy shrubland
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush 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. It m ...
extending from Wallabout Creek to Newtown Creek
Newtown Creek, a long tributary of the East River, is an estuary that forms part of the border between the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, in New York City. Channelization made it one of the most heavily-used bodies of water in the Port of N ...
, in the south and east, cut Bushwick Shore off from the other villages in Bushwick. Farmers
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mi ...
and gardeners
A gardener is someone who practices gardening, either professionally or as a hobby.
Description
A gardener is any person involved in gardening, arguably the oldest occupation, from the hobbyist in a residential garden, the home-owner supplem ...
from the other Bushwick villages sent their goods to Bushwick Shore to be ferried to New York City for sale at a market
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
* Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
* Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
Geography
*Märket, a ...
located at the present-day Grand Street. Bushwick Shore's favorable location close to New York City led to the creation of several farming developments. Originally a development within Bushwick Shore, Williamsburgh rapidly expanded during the first half of the 19th century and eventually seceded from Bushwick to form its own independent city in 1852. Both Bushwick and Williamsburgh were annexed to the City of Brooklyn in 1854.
Early industry
When Bushwick was founded, it was primarily an area for farming food and tobacco. As Brooklyn and New York City grew, factories that manufactured sugar, oil, and chemicals were built. The inventor Peter Cooper built a glue manufacturing plant, his first factory, in Bushwick. Immigrants from western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
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 brickworks, coal yards, and other factories that developed along English Kills, which was dredged and made an important commercial waterway.
In October 1867, the American Institute awarded Bushwick Chemical Works the first premium for commercial acids of the greatest purity and strength. The Bushwick Glass Company, later known as Brookfield Glass Company
Brookfield Glass Company was an American glass company based in Brooklyn, New York, from 1864 to , and in Old Bridge, New Jersey, from to 1921. it was known for producing industrial glassware such as jars, bottles, and electrical insulators. The ...
, established itself in 1869, when a local brewer sold it to James Brookfield. It made a variety of bottles and jars, as well as large numbers of glass electrical insulators for telegraph, telephone and power lines.
In the 1840s and 1850s, a majority of the immigrants were German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
, which became the dominant population. Bushwick established a considerable brewery
A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...
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 breweries, the Schaefer's and Rheingold Breweries, closed its doors in 1976. As late as the 1980s, there were unsuccessful efforts to revive the Rheingold Brewery. The William Ulmer Brewery at Beaver and Belvidere Streets was given landmark status by the city in 2010, becoming the first brewery with such a status.
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 milk and other dairy products to consumers in Brooklyn. Both industries supported blacksmiths, wheelwrights, and feed stores along Flushing Avenue.
Railway hub
In 1868, the Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...
built the Bushwick Branch
The Bushwick Branch, also called the Bushwick Lead Track, is a freight railroad branch in New York City. It runs from Bushwick in Brooklyn to Fresh Pond Junction in Glendale, Queens, where it connects with the Montauk Branch of the Long Islan ...
from its hub in Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
via Maspeth
Maspeth is a residential and commercial community in the borough of Queens in New York City. It was founded in the early 17th century by Dutch and English settlers. Neighborhoods sharing borders with Maspeth are Woodside to the north; Sunnyside t ...
to Bushwick Terminal, at the intersection of Montrose and Bushwick avenues, allowing easy movement of passengers, raw materials, and finished goods. Routes also radiated to Flushing, Queens
Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and the ...
.
The first elevated railway ("el") in Brooklyn, known as the Lexington Avenue Elevated
The BMT Lexington Avenue Line (also called the Lexington Avenue elevated) was the first standard elevated railway in Brooklyn, New York, operated in its later days by the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporat ...
, 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
The BMT Jamaica Line, also known as the Broadway - Brooklyn 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 southea ...
and the Myrtle Avenue Elevated
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 line is the last surviving remnant of one of the original Brooklyn elevated railroads. The re ...
were completed, enabling easier access to Downtown Brooklyn and Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
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 (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, even when events such as Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
and the Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
were taking place. After World War I, the German enclave was steadily replaced by a significant proportion of Italian American
Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...
s. By 1950, Bushwick was one of New York City's largest Italian American neighborhoods, although some German Americans remained.
The Italian community was composed almost entirely of Sicilians, mostly from the Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
, Trapani
Trapani ( , ; scn, Tràpani ; lat, Drepanum; grc, Δρέπανον) is a city and municipality (''comune'') on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an impor ...
, and Agrigento
Agrigento (; scn, Girgenti or ; grc, Ἀκράγας, translit=Akrágas; la, Agrigentum or ; ar, كركنت, Kirkant, or ''Jirjant'') is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. It was one of ...
provinces in Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
. In particular, the Sicilian townsfolk of Menfi, Santa Margherita di Belice, Trapani, Castelvetrano, and many other ''paesi'' had their own clubs (''clubbu'') in the area. ''Il Circolo di Santa Margherita di Belice'', founded in Bushwick, remains the oldest operating Sicilian organization in the United States. These clubs often started as mutual benevolence associations or funeral societies. They transformed along with the needs of their communities 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 the 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 Street in Williamsburgh.
As industry expanded along Flushing Avenue
Flushing Avenue is a street running through northern Brooklyn and western Queens, beginning at Nassau Street in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, and ending at Grand Avenue in Maspeth. It divides the neighborhood of Williamsburg from Clinton Hill an ...
, 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, but the Italian community was not welcome there and was thus compelled to open its 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.
Postwar transition and decline
The demographic transition of Bushwick after World War II was similar to that of many Brooklyn neighborhoods. The U.S. Census records show that the neighborhood's population was almost 90% white in 1960, but dropped to less than 40% white by 1970. During this transition, white-collar workers were being replaced by those migrating from the south. Puerto Ricans
Puerto Ricans ( es, Puertorriqueños; or boricuas) are the people of Puerto Rico, the inhabitants, and citizens of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and their descendants.
Overview
The culture held in common by most Puerto Ricans is referred t ...
, African Americans
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, among other Caribbean American families, moved into homes in the southeastern edge of the neighborhood, closest to Eastern Parkway. By the mid-1950s, migrants began settling into central Bushwick. The availability of block association housing helped many neighborhoods survive the economic and social distress of the 1970s.
This change in demographics coincided with changes in the local economy. Rising energy costs, advances in transportation and the change to the use of aluminum cans encouraged beer companies to move out of New York City. As breweries in Bushwick closed, the neighborhood's economic base eroded. Discussions of urban renewal
Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...
took place in the 1960s, but never materialized, resulting in the demolition of many residential buildings with the intent of replacing these structures with public housing, but nothing new was built in its place as these proposals were scrapped. Another contribution to the change in the socioeconomic profile of the neighborhood was the John Lindsay administration's policy of raising available rent for welfare recipients. Since these tenants could now bring higher rents than tenants would on the open market, landlords began filling vacant units with such tenants. By the mid-1970s, half of Bushwick's residents were on public assistance.
According to ''The New York Times'', Bushwick was "a neatly maintained community of wood houses" by the mid-1960s. Within five years, it had become "what often approached a no man's land of abandoned buildings, empty lots, drugs and arson."
On the night of July 13, 1977, a major blackout cut power to nearly all of New York City, and arson
Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...
, looting
Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...
, and vandalism
Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property.
The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The term f ...
occurred in low-income neighborhoods across the city. Bushwick suffered some of the most devastating damage and losses. While store owners along Knickerbocker and Graham avenues were able to defend their stores, the Broadway shopping district was heavily looted and burned. Twenty-seven stores along Broadway were burned, and looters and some residents saw the blackout as an opportunity to get what they otherwise could not afford.
Newspapers around the country published UPI and the Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
's photos of Bushwick residents with stolen items and a police officer beating a suspected looter, and Bushwick became known for riots and looting. Fires spread to many residential buildings as well. After the riots were over and the fires were put out, residents saw unsafe dwellings and empty lots among surviving buildings, leading one author to describe the scene as "some streets that looked like Brooklyn Heights, and others that looked like Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
in 1945": The business vacancy rate on Broadway reached 43% in the wake of the riots.
The 1977 blackout and resulting riots left Bushwick without a commercial retail hub. Middle-class residents who could afford to leave did so, in some cases abandoning their homes. New immigrants continued to move to the area, many from Hispanic America, but renovation and new construction was outpaced by 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, resulting in a greater outflow of residents and a growth of the illegal drug trade due to a lack of job opportunities.
Author Jonathan Mahler described the social and economic hardships of Bushwick after the blackout in his book ''Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning'', explaining that the majority of neighborhood residents were living on less than $4,000 a year, and had to rely on some form of public assistance. By the 1980s, the Knickerbocker Avenue shopping district was nicknamed "The Well" for its seemingly unending supply of drugs. Even through the 1990s, it remained a poor and relatively dangerous area, with 77 murders, 80 rapes, and 2,242 robberies in 1990.
Gentrification
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 affordable housing in nearby neighborhoods such as Park Slope and Williamsburg
Williamsburg may refer to:
Places
*Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia
*Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City
*Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California
*Williams ...
, numerous young professionals and artists have moved into converted warehouse lofts, brownstones, limestone-brick townhouses, and other renovated buildings in Bushwick.
A flourishing artist community has existed in Bushwick for decades and has become more visible in the neighborhood. Dozens of art studios and galleries are scattered throughout the neighborhood. Several open studios programs are conducted that enable the public to visit artist studios and galleries, and several websites are devoted to promoting neighborhood art and events. Bushwick artists display their works in galleries and private spaces throughout the neighborhood. The borough's first and only trailer park, a 20-person art collective established by founder, Hayden Cummings and ZenoRadio's Baruch Herzfeld, was established within a former nut roasting factory for live/work spaces. A Bushwick-centered news site, entitled ''Bushwick Daily'', was founded in 2010 by Katarina Hybenova, and features community issues, events, food, art and culture.
Starting in the mid-2000s, the city and state governments began the Bushwick Initiative, a two-year pilot program spearheaded by the (HPD) and various community projects. The group's goal was to improve quality of life in the twenty-three square blocks surrounding Maria Hernandez Park
Maria Hernandez Park is a municipal park in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York City. 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 ...
through various programs such as addressing deteriorated housing conditions, increasing economic development opportunities, and reducing drug dealing activities.[Bushwick Initiative Draft.indd](_blank)
(PDF). The group's crime-reduction activities included collaboration with the HPD's Narcotics Control Unit and the New York City Police Department's 83rd Precinct and Narcotics Division to reduce drug-dealing.
To reduce lead hazards in buildings, HPD and DOHMH created a grant program focusing on residential buildings in the initiative's coverage area, which resulted in fines for dozens of landlords with lead paint hazards. The Bushwick Initiative's economic development efforts were also focused on revitalizing the Knickerbocker Avenue commercial district, and adding a thousand rat-resistant public trash cans to reduce litter.
In 2019, the New York City Department of City Planning
The Department of City Planning (DCP) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for setting the framework of city's physical and socioeconomic planning. The department is responsible for land use and environmental review, p ...
released a Bushwick rezoning plan covering 300 city blocks. The plan would allow for high-density development on Broadway and Myrtle and Wyckoff Avenues.
Demographics
The entirety of Community Board 4 had 112,388 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 80.4 years. This is lower than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are middle-aged adults and youth: 24% are between the ages of 0–17, 35% between 25 and 44, and 20% between 45 and 64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 12% and 9% respectively.
As of 2016, the median household income in Community Board 4 was $50,656. In 2018, an estimated 25% of Bushwick residents lived in poverty, compared to 21% in all of Brooklyn and 20% in all of New York City. One in eight residents (13%) were unemployed, compared to 9% in the rest of both Brooklyn and New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 55% in Bushwick, higher than the citywide and boroughwide rates of 52% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, , Bushwick is considered to be gentrifying
Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ec ...
.
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 Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
American citizens from the island of Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
and immigrants from the Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
. Since the turn of the 21st century, the population of native-born Americans has increased, as have other Latino groups, particularly immigrants from Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
and El Salvador
El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...
.
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. More than 75% of children in the neighborhood are born in poverty. Some 40.3% of students in Bushwick read at grade level in 2007, making it the 49th most literate neighborhood in the city that year. 58.2% of students could work math at grade level in Bushwick, and it ranked as 41st in the city.
Bushwick is the most populous Hispanic-American community in Brooklyn, although Sunset Park also has a large Hispanic population. As in other neighborhoods in New York City, Bushwick's Hispanic population is mainly from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. It also has a sizable population from South American nations. As nearly 70% 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.
Neighborhood tabulation areas
There are two neighborhood tabulation areas that covered Bushwick as of the 2010 United States Census
The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...
. The total population of these districts was 129,239.
Bushwick North
Based on data from the 2010 United States Census
The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...
, the population of Bushwick North was 57,138, an increase of 1,045 (1.9%) from the 56,093 counted in 2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
. Covering an area of , the neighborhood had a population density of .[Table PL-P5 NTA: Total Population and Persons Per Acre - New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010](_blank)
Population Division - New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
Department of City Planning, February 2012. Accessed June 16, 2016.
The ethnic and racial makeup of the neighborhood as of 2010 was 10.7% (6,098) non-Hispanic white
Non-Hispanic whites or Non-Latino whites are Americans who are classified as "white", and are not of Hispanic (also known as "Latino") heritage. The United States Census Bureau defines ''white'' to include European Americans, Middle Eastern Amer ...
, 9.7% (5,533) non-Hispanic black, 0.1% (82) Native American, 6.0% (3,417) Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.0% (11) Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 0.7% (380) from other races, and 1.0% (582) from two or more races. Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 71.8% (41,035) of the population.[Table PL-P3A NTA: Total Population by Mutually Exclusive Race and Hispanic Origin - New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010](_blank)
Population Division - New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
Department of City Planning, March 29, 2011. Accessed June 14, 2016.
Bushwick South
Based on data from the 2010 United States Census
The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...
, the population of Bushwick South was 72,101, an increase of 7,484 (11.6%) from the 64,617 counted in 2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
. Covering an area of , the neighborhood had a population density of .
The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 9.5% (6,819) non-Hispanic white
Non-Hispanic whites or Non-Latino whites are Americans who are classified as "white", and are not of Hispanic (also known as "Latino") heritage. The United States Census Bureau defines ''white'' to include European Americans, Middle Eastern Amer ...
, 28.1% (20,281) black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
, 0.2% (155) Native American, 2.4% (1,734) Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.0% (21) Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 0.4% (268) from other races, and 1.1% (809) from two or more races. Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 58.3% (42,014) of the population.
2020 Census Tabulation
In the 2020 census data from New York City Department of City Planning
The Department of City Planning (DCP) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for setting the framework of city's physical and socioeconomic planning. The department is responsible for land use and environmental review, p ...
, they split up the tabulations between west and east Bushwick. West Bushwick had between 30,000 to 39,999 Hispanic residents and 10,000 to 19,999 White residents, meanwhile the Black and Asian populations were each under 5000 residents. East Bushwick had between 30,000 to 39,999 Hispanic residents, 10,000 to 19,999 White residents, and 5,000 to 9,999 Black residents while the Asian residents were less than 5000.
Puerto Rican and Dominican communities
Bushwick and neighboring East New York are the center for the Hispanic community in Brooklyn. In the post-World War II period, Bushwick was still a predominantly Irish and Italian-American community. Puerto Ricans began to migrate to New York for greater opportunities, developing Hispanic enclaves in Brooklyn, East Harlem, the Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets.
Traditionally an im ...
or Loisaida
Alphabet City is a neighborhood located within the East Village in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its name comes from Avenues A, B, C, and D, the only avenues in Manhattan to have single-letter names. It is bounded by Houston St ...
, and the Bronx. Many Puerto Ricans also settled in neighboring Williamsburg
Williamsburg may refer to:
Places
*Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia
*Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City
*Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California
*Williams ...
, also known as ''Los Sures'', due to the proximity to jobs at the now defunct Domino Sugar Refinery
The Domino Sugar Refinery is a mixed-use development and former sugar refinery in the neighborhood of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York City, along the East River. When active as a refinery, it was operated by the Havemeyer family's America ...
as well as at the Brooklyn Navy Yard; they expanded into other parts of Brooklyn as many ethnic Irish and some Italians moved to nearby Queens (such as Ridgewood Ridgewood may refer to:
Geography Australia
*Ridgewood, Western Australia
Canada
* Ridgewood, Ontario
*Ridgewood, Edmonton, Alberta
United Kingdom
*Ridgewood, East Sussex
United States
*Ridgewood Heights, California
* Ridgewood, Illinois
*Ridge ...
and Middle Village.)
Salsa music, corner bodegas, and Latin cuisine are part of the cultural dynamic of the Bushwick community. The neighborhood contains the largest concentration of Hispanic Americans in the entire borough, followed closely behind by Sunset Park. The Williamsburg and Bushwick communities are home to their own local Puerto Rican Day Parade. The parade board usually meets at the Orocovis Social Club, located off Myrtle Avenue. La Isla Restaurant, located off Myrtle Avenue and Knickerbocker, is popular for its Puerto Rican and Dominican cuisine. On the corner of Broadway, Flushing Avenue and Graham Avenue, where Bushwick, Williamsburg
Williamsburg may refer to:
Places
*Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia
*Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City
*Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California
*Williams ...
and Bedford–Stuyvesant meet, in the shadow of Woodhull Medical Center
Woodhull Medical Center, branded as NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull, is a health care system located in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, New York City, United States. Its focus is on preventing disease and promoting healthy lifestyles ...
, Graham Avenue becomes the Avenue of Puerto Rico.
A campus of Boricua College
Boricua College is a private college in New York City designed to serve the educational needs of Puerto Ricans and other Hispanics in the United States. It was founded by Victor G. Alicea and several others.
Faculty
The school employs a largely ...
and a branch of the Puerto Rico-based Popular Community Bank are located within the Bushwick area. Make the Road New York, a Latino community group, has a chapter in the neighborhood. So important is the activism of local Latinos that in 2016, Democratic Party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...
campaigned in Bushwick in order to reach Hispanic votes. A web show, ''East Willy B
East Willy B is a comedic Web series that profiles Latinos in the gentrifying neighborhood of Bushwick in Brooklyn, New York City. Described as a Puerto Rican ''Cheers'', its episodes generally run six to nine minutes online and tackle themes suc ...
'', was created to explore the struggles of the local Latino community.
Housing
Bushwick's diverse housing stock includes six-family apartment buildings and two- and three-family townhouses. However, three New York City Housing Authority developments are located in Bushwick for residents of low income.[NYCHA locations in Bushwick](_blank)
. Nyc.gov.
* Bushwick II CDA (Group E); five three-story buildings
* Hope Gardens; seven four- and one fourteen-story buildings
* Palmetto Gardens; one six-story building
Median rent in 2007 was $795, about one in six rental units is subsidized, and greater than one in three units is rent regulated. 4% of renters live in severely overcrowded conditions. In 2007, the neighborhood had an 18.7% homeownership rate while roughly 1 in 20 owners of 1–4 unit buildings received a notice of foreclosure. Between 1990 and 2014, rental costs in Bushwick increased by 44%, the fourth-highest rise in New York City.
Police and crime
The NYPD's 83rd Precinct is located at 480 Knickerbocker Avenue. The 83rd Precinct ranked 52nd safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. The crime rate is lower than in the late 20th century, where there were a high number of drug-related crimes. , with a non-fatal assault rate of 72 per 100,000 people, Bushwick's rate of violent crimes per capita is higher that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 610 per 100,000 people is higher than that of the city as a whole.
The 83rd Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 80.3% between 1990 and 2018. The precinct reported 8 murders, 24 rapes, 265 robberies, 297 felony assaults, 303 burglaries, 471 grand larcenies, and 92 grand larcenies auto in 2018.
Fire safety
The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) operates several firehouse
__NOTOC__
A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire apparatus, fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective eq ...
s in the area. These include Engine Company 271/Ladder Company 124/Battalion 28, located at 392 Himrod Street; Engine Company 277/Ladder Company 112, located at 582 Knickerbocker Avenue; Engine Company 218, the "Bushwick Bomberos", located at 650 Hart Street; and Squad 252, located at 617 Central Avenue. In addition, Engine Company 222 is located at 32 Ralph Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant, southwest of Bushwick, and Engine Company 237 is located at 43 Morgan Avenue in East Williamsburg, north of Bushwick.
Health
Preterm birth
Preterm birth, also known as premature birth, is the Childbirth, birth of a baby at fewer than 37 weeks Gestational age (obstetrics), gestational age, as opposed to full-term delivery at approximately 40 weeks. Extreme preterm is less than 28 we ...
s in Bushwick are about the same as citywide, though births to teenage mothers are less common. In Bushwick, there were 83 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 9.3 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide). Bushwick has a high population of residents who are uninsured, or who receive healthcare through Medicaid
Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and pers ...
.[New York City Health Provider Partnership Brooklyn Community Needs Assessment: Final Report](_blank)
New York Academy of Medicine
The New York Academy of Medicine (the Academy) is a health policy and advocacy organization founded in 1847 by a group of leading New York metropolitan area physicians as a voice for the medical profession in medical practice and public health ...
(October 3, 2014). In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 18%, which is higher than the citywide rate of 12%.
The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant, in Bushwick is , higher than the citywide and boroughwide averages. Seventeen percent of Bushwick residents are smokers, which is higher than the city average of 14% of residents being smokers. In Bushwick, 26% of residents are obese, 13% are diabetic
Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level (hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased app ...
, and 26% have high blood pressure
Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Long-term high bl ...
—compared to the citywide averages of 24%, 11%, and 28% respectively. In addition, 28% of children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%.
Eighty-two percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is slightly lower than the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 71% of residents described their health as "good," "very good," or "excellent," less than the city's average of 78%. For every supermarket in Bushwick, there are 31 bodegas.
The primary hospital in the neighborhood is Wyckoff Heights Medical Center. The Woodhull Medical Center
Woodhull Medical Center, branded as NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull, is a health care system located in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, New York City, United States. Its focus is on preventing disease and promoting healthy lifestyles ...
is located in Bedford–Stuyvesant, but also serves Bushwick.
Post offices and ZIP Codes
Bushwick is covered by ZIP Codes 11237 northeast of Wilson Avenue, 11221 southwest of Wilson Avenue, and 11207 southeast of Halsey Street. The United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...
operates three post offices in Bushwick: the Wyckoff Heights Station at 86 Wyckoff Avenue, the Bushwick Station at 1369 Broadway, and the Halsey Station at 805 MacDonough Street.
Border with Ridgewood
Bushwick's land area lies within Kings County (Brooklyn), but shares a political boundary with Queens to the northeast. Previously, the boundary had caused confusion and debate about whether the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood Ridgewood may refer to:
Geography Australia
*Ridgewood, Western Australia
Canada
* Ridgewood, Ontario
*Ridgewood, Edmonton, Alberta
United Kingdom
*Ridgewood, East Sussex
United States
*Ridgewood Heights, California
* Ridgewood, Illinois
*Ridge ...
was also located partly in Brooklyn. The political dispute dates to the 17th century, when Newtown, Queens
Elmhurst (formerly Newtown) is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City. It is bounded by Roosevelt Avenue on the north; the Long Island Expressway on the south; Junction Boulevard on the east; and the New York Connecting Railr ...
(now Elmhurst) was under English rule and Boswijck was under Dutch rule. Disputes over the boundary between the two settlements continued until 1769, when a boundary line was drawn through what later became known as the Arbitration Rock.
The street grid plan
In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid.
Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orthogona ...
in Ridgewood and Bushwick was laid out in the late 19th century. Because the Arbitration Rock lay along a diagonal with this grid plan, numerous houses were built on the Brooklyn-Queens boundary, their owners sometimes subject to taxes from both counties. During the 19th century, this resulted in situations where some houses received water and fire protection from what was then the city of Brooklyn, while their neighbors in Queens had to rely on volunteer firefighting squads and paid exorbitant water bills to private utilities in Elmhurst.
In 1925, the political boundary was adapted to the street grid, resulting in a zig-zag pattern. The change resulted in 2,543 persons' addresses being reassigned from Queens to Brooklyn, and 135 persons' addresses reassigned from Brooklyn to Queens. Modern addresses in the two boroughs can be distinguished by the presence or absence of a hyphen in the house number. Queens's house numbering system uses a hyphen between the closest cross-street (which comes before the hyphen) and the actual address (which comes after the hyphen). Streets in this area that run northeast–southwest, perpendicular to the county line, are demarcated by a jump in numbering sequence between the two boroughs. However, several avenues running northwest–southeast within Queens, parallel to the county line, follow the Brooklyn house numbering system.
ZIP Code changes
When ZIP Codes were assigned in 1963, all areas whose mail was routed through a Brooklyn post office were given the 112 prefix. The neighboring areas of Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''.
It may refer to:
Places Australia
* Glendale, New South Wales
** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre
*Glendale, Queensland, ...
and Ridgewood Ridgewood may refer to:
Geography Australia
*Ridgewood, Western Australia
Canada
* Ridgewood, Ontario
*Ridgewood, Edmonton, Alberta
United Kingdom
*Ridgewood, East Sussex
United States
*Ridgewood Heights, California
* Ridgewood, Illinois
*Ridge ...
in Queens were given a Brooklyn mailing address, 11227, shared with Bushwick. In addition, part of Bushwick was in ZIP Code 11237. After the 1977 blackout, the communities of Ridgewood and Glendale expressed a desire to disassociate themselves from Bushwick.[ Lee, Jennifer 8. (November 2, 2007).]
Is Ridgewood the New East Bushwick?
. ''The New York Times''. Retrieved August 21, 2009. .
Following complaints from residents, Postmaster General William Bolger
William F. Bolger (March 13, 1923 – August 21, 1989) was the 65th Postmaster General of the United States from March 15, 1978 to January 1, 1985. He was born in Waterbury, Connecticut. Bolger served in the United States Army Air Forces dur ...
proposed that the ZIP Codes would be changed if United States Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
Geraldine Ferraro could produce evidence that 70% of residents supported it. After Ferraro's office distributed ballots to residents, 93 percent of the returned ballots voted for the change. The change of the Queens side to ZIP Code 11385 was made effective January 13, 1980. 11237 was reassigned to cover only Bushwick, and 11227 was eliminated.
Politics
Bushwick is part of New York's 7th congressional district
New York's 7th congressional district is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives in New York City. It includes parts of Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan. Democrat Nydia Velázquez represents the district in Congre ...
, represented by Democrat Nydia Velázquez
Nydia Margarita Velázquez Serrano (born March 28, 1953) is a politician serving in the United States House of Representatives since 1993. A Democrat from New York, Velázquez chaired the Congressional Hispanic Caucus until January 3, 2011. Her ...
. It is also part of the 18th State Senate district, represented by Democrat Julia Salazar , and the 53rd, 54th, 55th, and 56th State Assembly
State Assembly is the name given to various legislatures, especially lower houses or full legislatures in states in federal systems of government.
Channel Islands
States Assembly is the name of the legislature of the Bailiwick of Jersey. The Baili ...
districts, represented respectively by Democrats Maritza Davila
Maritza Davila (born November 16, 1963) is an American politician from the state of New York. A member of the Democratic Party, she represents the 53rd district in the New York State Assembly.
According to her self-described biography, Davila ...
, Erik Dilan
Erik Martin Dilan (born May 11, 1974) is an American politician. A Democrat, Dilan represents the 54th district of the New York Assembly which comprises the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bushwick, Cypress Hills, East New York, Ocean Hill, and ...
, Latrice Walker
Latrice Monique Walker is the Assembly member for the 55th District of the New York State Assembly. She is a Democrat. The district includes portions of Brownsville in Brooklyn.
Life and career
Walker was born and raised in Brownsville, Brookl ...
, and Stefani Zinerman
Stefani Zinerman is an American Democratic Party politician who currently represents New York State Assembly district 56, which includes Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights in Brooklyn, New York.
Personal life
Zinerman grew up in Downtown ...
. Bushwick is located in the New York City Council
The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs.
The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...
's 34th and 37th districts, represented respectively by Democrats Jennifer Gutiérrez and Sandy Nurse
Sandra Nurse (born April 3, 1984) is a Panamanian-born American carpenter and Democratic politician from New York City who has served as the New York City Council member for the 37th district since 2022. District 37 covers Bushwick and other nei ...
.
Community-based organizations
Wellfare
* Coalition for Hispanic Family Services
A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces.
Formation
According to ''A Gui ...
* RiseBoro Community Partnership Inc
* East Brooklyn Congregations
East Brooklyn Congregations (often abbreviated EBC) is a 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 ...
* Make the Road New York
Make the Road New York (MRNY) is the largest progressive grassroots immigrant-led organization in New York state. The organization works on issues of workers' rights; immigrant and civil rights; environmental and housing justice; justice for trans ...
Parks and recreation
All parks are operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...
.
* Beaver Noll Park is located on Bushwick Avenue and Beaver Street. Planning started in 2012, and construction was finished in June 2019. It includes seating and a tot lot.
* Bushwick Park and Pool is located on Flushing Avenue between Beaver and Garden Streets, and encompasses . The park has a free public pool as well as a children's pool, 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 . The park features handball courts, spray showers, sitting areas, and a children's playground.
* Green Central Knoll Park is a 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. A new comfort station was built in 2018–2019.
* 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 who 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
Pietro Montana (June 29, 1890 – July 6, 1978) was a 20th-century Italian-American sculptor, painter and teacher, noted for his war memorials and religious works.
Biography
He was born in Alcamo, Sicily, the third of six children of Ignazio ...
in 1921.
* Irving Square Park is bound by Wilson and Knickerbocker Avenues and Halsey and Weirfield Streets. It encompasses and is believed to be named after Washington Irving
Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...
. The park features swings, a sandpit, a spray shower, a handball court, and a basketball court. Since being renovated in 2006 and 2008, the park also features a public plaza and gardening space.
* Maria Hernandez Park
Maria Hernandez Park is a municipal park in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York City. 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 ...
is a municipal park; formerly known as Bushwick Park, it is located between Knickerbocker and Irving Avenues and between Starr and Suydam Streets, near the Jefferson Street station on the . It has a newly renovated basketball court, a handball court, fitness equipment, spray showers, benches, and a newly built performance stage. The park encompasses .
There are also community centers
* Hope Gardens Multi Service Center is a building located on Wilson Avenue and Linden Street that serves as an elderly bingo game building, an after-school program for children from kindergarten to fifth grade, a site for karate classes, and a summer day camp for local children.
* Ridgewood Bushwick Youth Center is a youth activity center located between Gates Avenue and Palmetto Street and run by the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council
RiseBoro Community Partnership, formerly known as Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, is a non-profit organization in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Founded in 1973 by Vito Lopez
Vito Joseph Lopez (June 5, 1941 – November 9, 2015) was an Amer ...
(RBSCC).
Nightclubs include
* Mood Ring
A mood ring is a finger ring that contains a thermochromic element, or "mood stone", that changes colors based on the temperature of the finger of the wearer. Finger temperature, as long as the ambient temperature is relatively constant, is si ...
, an astrology-themed LGBTQ-friendly bar
* House of Yes, a nightclub and event space known for aerial acts and go-go dancers
* Elsewhere, a venue for live music and other events
Education
Bushwick generally has lower ratios of college-educated residents than the rest of the city . Only 29% of residents age 25 and older have a college education or higher, but 35% have less than a high school education and 37% are high school graduates or have some college education. By contrast, 38% of Brooklynites and 41% of city residents have a college education or higher. The percentage of Bushwick students excelling in reading and math has been increasing, with reading achievement rising from 34 percent in 2000 to 35 percent in 2011, and math achievement rising from 27 percent to 47 percent within the same time period.
Bushwick's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is higher than in the rest of New York City. In Bushwick, 22 percent of elementary school students miss twenty or more days per school year, compared to the citywide average of 20% of students. Additionally, 70% of high school students in Bushwick graduate on time, lower than the citywide average of 75% of students.
Bushwick has thirty-three public and private schools. This includes 14 public elementary schools, one charter school, four parochial school
A parochial school is a private primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathematics and language arts. The ...
s, seven high schools, and one secondary school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...
.
High schools:
* Academy for Environmental Leadership
* Brooklyn Latin School
The Brooklyn Latin School is a public specialized high school in New York City. It opened in September 2006. The ideals governing Brooklyn Latin are borrowed largely from the Boston Latin School, and popular society's ideals. The school’s found ...
* Bushwick Campus (formerly Bushwick High School
Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg to the northwest; East New York and the cemeteries of Highland Pa ...
) containing:
** Academy of Urban Planning
** Academy for Environmental Leadership
The Academy for Excellence in Leadership (AEL), formerly the Academy for Environmental Leadership, is a small high school located in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City. It was founded in September 2006, and is located on the ...
** The Brooklyn School for Math and Research
** Bushwick School for Social Justice
The Bushwick School for Social Justice (BSSJ) 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 schoo ...
* Bushwick Community High School
* Bushwick Leaders' HS for Academic Excellence
* EBC for Public Service-Bushwick
* Grand Street Campus
The Grand Street Campus is a building used as the home for three high schools in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City. The current building at 850 Grand Street opened in 1981; its identity as the Grand Street Campus dates to 1996. It is current ...
containing:
** High school for Legal Studies
** Progress High School
** High School of Enterprise, Business, & Technology
* MESA Charter High School
Combined middle and high schools:
* All City Leadership Secondary School
* Achievement First University Prep High School
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brooklyn
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
operates Catholic schools in that borough. St. Brigid-St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Academy formed from the 2019 merger of the St. Brigid and St. Frances Cabrini schools, with students at St. Brigid. In 2019 it had about 100 students.
Libraries
The Brooklyn Public Library
The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) is the public library system of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is the sixteenth largest public library system in the United States by holding and the seventh by number of visitors. Like the two othe ...
(BPL) has two branches in Bushwick. The DeKalb branch is located at 790 Bushwick Avenue near DeKalb Avenue. It is a Carnegie library that opened in 1905. The Washington Irving branch, located at 360 Irving Avenue near Woodbine Street, opened in 1923 and was Brooklyn's final Carnegie library.
In addition, the Saratoga branch is located at 8 Thomas S. Boyland Street near Macon Street, just outside Bushwick. The branch is a Carnegie library that opened in 1909. The Bushwick branch, which is actually located in East Williamsburg, is located at 340 Bushwick Avenue near Seigel Street, four blocks of Bushwick's northern border at Flushing Avenue. The Bushwick branch was founded in 1903 and its current building opened in 1908.
Transportation
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...
lines running through Bushwick include the BMT Jamaica Line
The BMT Jamaica Line, also known as the Broadway - Brooklyn 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 southea ...
(), the 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 line is the last surviving remnant of one of the original Brooklyn elevated railroads. The rem ...
(), and the BMT Canarsie Line (). The Myrtle–Wyckoff Avenues bus and subway hub was renovated into a state-of-the-art transportation center in 2007. New York City Bus lines serving Bushwick include the .
The Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...
's Evergreen Branch
The Evergreen Branch was a branch of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) that ran in Brooklyn and part of Queens in New York City. The line, at its fullest extent, ran between Greenpoint, Brooklyn and Ridgewood, Queens. The line consisted of two ...
used to run from northwest to southeast through Bushwick. The branch opened in 1878, though passenger service on the branch ended in 1896. However, the Evergreen Branch continued to be used as a freight branch until it was abandoned in 1984. Since then, the route of the former railroad branch have been developed, converted to parking lots, or lain vacant.
During the 1960s, under the direction of Robert Moses
Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid 20th century. Despite never being elected to any office, Moses is regarded ...
, there were plans to build an extension of I-78
Interstate 78 (I-78) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Northeastern United States, running from I-81 northeast of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, through Allentown to western and northern New Jersey and terminating at the Holland T ...
through Bushwick, to connect lower Manhattan with the southern shore of Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
. The extension was to be called the Bushwick Expressway, but was never built, due to then Mayor John V. Lindsay
John Vliet Lindsay (; November 24, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American politician and lawyer. During his political career, Lindsay was a U.S. congressman, mayor of New York City, and candidate for U.S. president. He was also a regular ...
's concerns that traffic leaving Manhattan should bypass it via the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.
In 2010, 68% of residents used public transportation, up from 59% in 2000. Almost all residents (96%) live within of the subway.
Notable people
* 6ix9ine
Daniel Hernandez (born May 8, 1996), known professionally as 6ix9ine (stylized 6IX9INE and pronounced "six nine") and also as Tekashi69, is an American rapper. His music has been marked by an aggressive style of rapping, while his controversia ...
(born 1996), rapper who received international attention for his 2017 breakout hit song " Gummo".
* Eric Adams (born 1960), politician and retired police officer who is the 110th Mayor of New York City
The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...
.
* Eugene Armbruster
Eugene L. Armbruster (1865–1943) was a New York City photographer, illustrator, writer, and historian born in Baden-Baden, Germany and based in Bushwick, Brooklyn, where he died. His work includes many buildings, roads, and neighborhoods in ar ...
(1865–1943), New York City photographer, illustrator, writer and historian.
* Jules de Balincourt
Jules de Balincourt (born 1972) is a French-born American contemporary artist, based in Brooklyn, New York. He is best known for his abstract, atmospheric paintings, with saturated colors, blurring the line between fantasy and reality.
Biogra ...
(born 1972), contemporary artist
* Andre Charles (born 1968), graffiti artist
* D-Stroy, rapper
* Da Beatminerz, hip hop production team
* Maritza Davila
Maritza Davila (born November 16, 1963) is an American politician from the state of New York. A member of the Democratic Party, she represents the 53rd district in the New York State Assembly.
According to her self-described biography, Davila ...
(born 1963), politician who represents the 53rd district in the New York State Assembly
The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits.
The Assem ...
.
* Ryan J. Davis (born 1982), theatre director and social media director at Blue State Digital
* Jackie Gleason
John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916June 24, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was know ...
(1916–1987), actor
* Rick Gonzalez (born 1979), actor
* John Francis Hylan (1868–1936), former mayor of New York City
The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...
* Elle King (born 1989), singer.
* Timbo King
Timbo may refer to:
* Timbó, a municipality in Brazil
* Timbo, Arkansas, a town in the United States
* Timbo, Guinea, a town in Guinea
* Timbo blanco or ''Albizia inundata'', a tropical tree with light wood
* Timbo King (born 1973)
See also
* Th ...
, rapper
* Charlie Murphy (1959–2017), comedian and actor
* Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and singer. He rose to fame on the sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', for which he was a regular cast member from 1980 to 1984. Murphy has als ...
(born 1961), comedian and actor
* Harry Nilsson, (1941–1994), singer/songwriter
* O.C., rapper
* Jeannie Ortega (born 1986), singer
* Rosie Perez
Rosa Perez (born September 6, 1964) is an American actress, choreographer, dancer, and activist. Her breakthrough came with her portrayal of Tina in the film ''Do the Right Thing'' (1989), followed by ''White Men Can't Jump'' (1992). Perez's perf ...
(born 1964), actress.
* Q-Unique
Anthony Quiles (born June 27, 1972), better known by his stage name Q-Unique, is an American rapper, record producer and a member of rap group Arsonists and the hard rock band StillWell. He also contributed vocals for dance/hip-hop group C+C M ...
, rapper
* Anthony Ramos
Anthony Paul Ramos Martinez (born November 1, 1991) is an American actor and singer. In 2015, he originated the dual roles of John Laurens and Philip Hamilton in the Broadway musical '' Hamilton''. Ramos also appeared in the 2021 film version o ...
, (born 1991), actor and performer from ''Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
''
* Phil Rizzuto
Philip Francis Rizzuto (September 25, 1917 – August 13, 2007), nicknamed "The Scooter", was an American Major League Baseball shortstop. He spent his entire 13-year baseball career with the New York Yankees (1941–1956), and was elected to th ...
(1917–2007), baseball player and broadcaster
* Chynna Rogers (1994–2020), rapper, disc jockey, and model.
* Salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...
(born 1966 as Cheryl James), rapper
* Bernice Silver (1913–2020), puppeteer and activist.
* Obi Toppin
Obadiah Richard Toppin Jr. (born March 4, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of National Basketball Association (NBA). A power forward, he played college basketball for the Dayton Flyers.
A native of New ...
(born 1998), power forward for the New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...
.
* Mae West (1893–1980), actor.
* Dwight York (born 1945), convicted criminal and leader of the Nuwaubian Nation
The Nuwaubian Nation, Nuwaubian movement, or United Nuwaubian Nation () is an American new religious movement founded and led by Dwight York, also known as Malachi Z. York. York began founding several black Muslim groups in New York in 1967. He ...
movement
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
* Goodman, James, ''Blackout''. North Point Press. New York, NY 2003
* Jackson, Kenneth T. and John B. Manbeck, ''The Neighborhoods of Brooklyn,'' 2nd ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004, 4448.
*
*
*
* Cooper, Mabusha "Push ", PUSH HIP HOP HISTORY- The Brooklyn Scene, 1st Books Library,
External links
*
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