Bushwick Goes National
Like Williamsburg before it, the Bushwick brand is spreading beyond New York City’s borders. This weekend, The Philadelphia Inquirer brought news of the gritty but increasingly arty nabe to its readers in the City of Brotherly Love. “Over the last few years, the two-square-mile Brooklyn neighborhood has been attracting visionaries outpriced by neighboring Williamsburg or…
Like Williamsburg before it, the Bushwick brand is spreading beyond New York City’s borders. This weekend, The Philadelphia Inquirer brought news of the gritty but increasingly arty nabe to its readers in the City of Brotherly Love. “Over the last few years, the two-square-mile Brooklyn neighborhood has been attracting visionaries outpriced by neighboring Williamsburg or disillusioned by Chelsea’s artiste scene,” writes the paper. “Studios, galleries and spaces that defy categorization are appearing in former bodegas, 99-cent stores, and other unglamorous structures.” The ‘Wick manages to maintain its street cred with a killer quotation from Laura Braslow of non-profit Arts in Bushwick: “The Bushwick art scene is not about sipping wine and looking at white walls,” she said. A few of the recommended galleries include English Kills, Ad Hoc and Factory Fresh.
Art Grows in Bushwick [Philadelphia Inquirer]
The only person who gives me shit about moving to BedStuy is the What. He’s even worse when it comes to brownstoner and where he lives. When he speaks of “neighborhood makeup,” for lack of a better phrase, he sounds as ridiculous as you do.
I don’t think Dave has ever said this about any group of people:
“these “new Central and South American Latinos” can f*ck off. they are TERRIBLE for our society.”
The fact that you see nothing wrong with this statement boggles my mind.
winelover, for the entire time we thought you were actually a descent human being….yeah that comment makes you lose all credibility here. Absolute garbage you know? We can only hope that you were consuming too much wine for your own good.
MM it was a very light er “fluff” article about art and intended to be that way. You read way too much into it my friend. Again no need to bring in the racial make up of the hood… la vie ne doit pas etre si dure! Sorry about winelover hopefully he/she doesn’t blame it on French wine.
I know many illegal immigrants. This country would be far better off if everyone worked as hard as they do.
dave – only in this upside down liberal town that we share would my opinion be considered “psycho.” since when is stating the truth the wrong thing to do? are you white? if so, isn’t some one out there saying that you were wrong to move to bed-stuy? of course. that is exactly The What’s point. He calls you an idiot almost daily. you argue with him, but aren’t you saying as much to him, as I said in my post. ie: that you have the right to live anywhere you want?
As both a resident and landlord in Bushwick, I would like to add a few thoughts.
Yes, the neighborhood is mostly latino, south and central American. I find these folks are hard working, friendly and make excellent tenants. The new hipsters (young, white, skinny jeans) generally keep to themselves and generally live in Bushwick for the same reason as the Latinos – its cheap, has good services, and is reasonably close to Manhattan (especially if you are near the L). Certainly things are changing – buildings are being renovated and a few new bars and restaurants have come in but by and large, I find that the two groups tend to co-exist fairly peacefully and I don’t see rapid gentrification driving folks out of the area.
One last note: Bushwick is a big neighborhood – on the west end it is mostly industrial and has a number of loft buildings inhabited by artists. Along Broadway, under the train, the area has much more in common with Bed-Stuy. Along the L train, it is mostly Latin, solidly working class with a sprinkling of young folks looking for cheap rent and in the East, near Broadway Junction, it is pretty rough with more in common with East NY. This area also has great brick rowhouses that can be had for less than $500K.
Bushwick is a real Brooklyn neighborhood with thriving retail and solid residential blocks. I encourage Brownstoner readers to come and explore my neighborhood.
montrose – really? hmmm you don’t know me. americans vs. illegal aliens? that’s racist? it’s the black americans who are most affected by illegal aliens btw. and i don’t care what color these illegals are. they are criminals. anyone who hires an illegal alien, (including brooklyn parents) is also breaking the law.
if you don’t think that they are especially a drain on poor african americans, you are incorrect. they eat up our tax dollars by attending our schools and getting free lunch and free after school care. they clog up the emergency rooms and other social services.
they do not pay taxes and do not re-invest in our economy. the statistics on the money flowing out of our company prove this.
also, i disagree about the art not being very good. some of it is terrific.
The area was Italian in the 1950s. Current property owners are mostly “people of color,” both hispanic and black and from a wide variety of countries, such as Dominica, Puerto Rico, and the U.S.. Also Italians, Chinese, East Indians.
But it’s true the hype about artists in Bushwick seems to have reached an insane level of hype in the last two weeks. I was eating dinner in a restaurant in the West Village last week and talking about how much attention Bushwick has been getting, when suddenly we noticed the table of ten old friends behind us were toasting to Bushwick and talking about how they have to get out there and visit the galleries. I think they were being sarcastic. Maybe they heard us or maybe they didn’t. It weirded us out.